Travel, 50+, Luxembourg

Before I ever got around to visiting Lëtzebuerg, I visited all of the neighboring countries. In pretty much all of them, people described this one as "a gas station with a tax free shop". To keep up with the theme, we assembled a little entourage for a drive through. At first try, we blinked and missed the cursed thing. The second time around, with the lids taped up, we parked in just the right spot.

Going around the capital in particular was a tad confusing. On the other hand, it was like we accidentally drove all the way to North Portugal (language, people moving about). On the other hand, we were treated like meager panhandlers in some oil sultanate. Even going to restaurant was like nowhere else. We asked whether it's possible to walk in or do we need to book. The guy at the door looked at us head to toe and toe to head, then turned around to go "Podemos deixá-los entrar?" In the end, we were promised "You can come, if you can eat fast and leave before the customers arrive." Yeah. I don't know what they saw us, paying customers, as. But, it was an experience.

After gorging like pigs over good slop, we rolled our fattened bodies on the streets to get the swing of things. Turns out, the the fancy capital folks were really into the swinger lifestyle. Schwing! And high at that.

It was a nice stroll with ups and downs. So steep ups and downs... And rumors. We heard so much about how green Luxembourg can be (just ignore the mining past, in fact, don't go there) and how we most definitely have to see the coin pooping ass (US translation: donkey) and the other asses in the town where it's at. Narrator: They did not. It's right next to a "very nice nature park". I'm guessing they meant Esch-Sauer and the area by it.

Alas, our time was running out and our pockets were full of holes, apparently. We settled with only the lower end of the nation. This time around.

The Judgment:
Luxembourg was a weird experience. Like a friendly cold shoulder by a Canadian who hates you, but cannot help their Canadian-ness. All things were, on the surface, very nice. At the same time, you could see there was something quite different bubbling under. "Upstairs, Downstairs" but with a modern Low Countries twist.

While some things may be cheap, the stay in the country turns out to be quite expensive. You could say Luxembourg is at the second tier of European price range. On the bright side, you can see everything pretty fast and it is possible to save a good pile of pennies by visiting from the neighboring countries. Which we did not do, because someone in the group had "goals". It is also possible to save a pile of pennies by making "tax arrangements" with the local banking and corporation structure. After this, you can take your rich hind to "slum" at the local hostel charging more than most 3* hotels in Europe. In other news, the place felt very safe and whether you fly solo or in a group, it's fine.

Would I go again? Maybe. I still have to inspect every ass in Dikrech. Turns out there are more than just the coin one.