Luxembourg

We had to be at brekky before 9am, and we were - 10 minutes before 9am, but that still got us some food.  Reasonable selection - breads and spreads, cold meat and cheese, two cereals, juice, tea and coffee.  After that we walked to the city centre.

 First we went down to the valley floor to have a look around.

As we were heading back up, it started raining again.  We grabbed some chips, and then it was time to board the Petrusse Express!

The trip lasts around 50 minutes, and the commentary is excellent.  Each passenger has some earplugs and there is a choice of six languages.  They tell the story of Luxembourg from the perspective of a mythical figure, Melusine the mermaid, who fell in love with the first king, Ziegfried.  Luxembourg has been a city (or fortification) for just over 1000 years.

It was still a bit rainy when we got off, so we did a bit of shopping.  Didn't buy anything, but it was nice to get out of the cold and the rain.  We watched some buskers blowing bubbles in the square.

We had a look inside a couple of churches: Notre Dame a Luxembourg....

....and Saint Michel.

Caelli was tired and went back to the hostel.  Phil and I visited the Bock Casemates (which Caelli has already seen).  The casemates are tunnels inside the fortified walls of the city, and were built in 1745.  They can house 35,000 people in an emergency, and have been used many times in defence of the city.

There are nice views out of the loopholes on both sides of the valley.

There are lots of stairs, including a number of very steep, narrow, spiral staircases.

The Castle Bridge can be crossed on top, underground, or through the middle.  I'm in the middle of the bridge (taking Phil's photo) whilst he's in one of the loopholes taking my photo (he's difficult to spot).

We saw the Petrusse Express from the bridge.

And finally - our room in the hostel is the small window on the bottom right.  Caelli and I are waving madly, but...well...I can't see us, so I don't expect you to be able to!