Casemates du Bock, Luxembourg

A network of tunnels with magnificent views overlooking the valley is built into this cliff face overlooking the lower part of Luxembourg. The first tunnels were dug out under the castle (that resided above) in 1644 for underground defences.

A walk around Luxembourg’s old walls and a contender for FAIL blog

Today and yesterday I went wandering around Luxembourg, and in particular around the walls and edge between the upper and lower city. Below are lots of photos of my wanderings.

and a contender for FAIL blog. You can vote for this at http://cheezburger.com/View/4805839104

Wine Review: Auxerrois Kohll-Leuck 2009, Luxembourg

I had my first taste of Auxerrois Kohll-Leuck 2009 last night when out to dinner in Luxembourg. I am not familiar at all with this grape but it definitely tasted like a Riesling (potentially with a smidgen of oak) which is quite apt considering it is from the Moselle Luxembourgeoise appellation.

According to Wikipedia however I see that “Auxerrois Blanc or Auxerrois Blanc de Laquenexy is a white wine grape that is important in Alsace, and is also grown in Germany and Luxembourg. It is a full sibling of Chardonnay that is often blended with the similar Pinot Blanc.”. I would have not picked it for a Chardonnay variety.

This wine had light citrus to the nose that followed through to the palate. With a medium sweetness and medium length is was a very pleasurable drink that had enough complexity to keep me coming back for more.

Restaurant Review: Brasserie Speltz, Luxembourg

We decided to try Speltz for dinner in central Luxembourg. The restaurant was about half full when we arrived and there was a quiet ambience.

Jane started with La salade de Crudités, crème aux herbes which she found to be nice and fresh although did find that the Celeriac Remoulade (hiding under the lettuce) was a bit too salty.

I had the Steak Tartare for my main and found this to be a huge portion that was good and Jane had a Vegetable salad that was okay.

For dessert I had a mini crème brulee and a small chocolate ganache, both of which were excellent. These were accompanied by a coffee (which was not so great) and a cookie.

All in all, it was a reasonable meal out although not a stand out by any means.

The magnificent Liège station and some quirky photos of Luxembourg

We headed off today from Maastricht to Luxembourg via the train. Once we had bought our tickets (which couldn’t be bought by credit card from the machines at Maastricht, so we had to go to the ticket counter and pay cash), we grabbed a bite to eat on the train and some water. I also noticed these lovely stained glass windows at the entrance to the station in Maastricht.

We had to change trains in Liège(aka Luik) to get to Luxembourg and had a 40min stopover. Shortly before arriving in Liège, what we think was a group of about five security people (wearing red jumpers) walked through the train, not saying anything at all. The Liège train station is magnificent.

Since Liege is in Belgium, Jane suggested they may have chocolate for sale. They surely did, and I grabbed a couple of chocolates for our onwards journey after determining that French is the language spoken here. My French is very minimal but I got by, and was interested to note that none of the people I spoke to even attempted to converse with me in English. I also picked up a Rhubarb waffle and a nice looking tart. All of these were excellent.

The train trip was very picturesque with lots of greenery and some cute little towns along the way. Just over the Luxembourg border a couple of police wandered through the train (also not saying anything). The ease of which you can be in one country one minute and then be another country, without any passport control at all, still amazes me in Western Europe.

From a short wander around Luxembourg I came across a few quirky things; I’ll save the photos I have taken of city walls and the magnificent view of the valley until we wander around this area more extensively (probably tomorrow).