Green Airs of Luxembourg

Humans have been fascinated by flying since long. Why they should not be? It is fast and comfortable too. But somehow I find travelling by Plane at times very boring. You can not see anything outside the window, except the clouds.

Got tired of finding some meaning the clouds as my plan was about to land in Luxembourg I could not stop myself from clicking the below panoramas. I thought this was the consolation:

On coming out of the Airport I was greeted with not so crowded roads and green belt surrounding the roads. That was miles away from my expectations, Being a cosmopolitan and one of the biggest financial centers on this earth I was expecting a welcome to a concrete jungle and crowded roads. Pretty exciting to start.

I am very sure by the time you will finish reading this blog, you will fall in love with this place; the way I did by the time I finished composing it.

Luxembourg has a population of 450,000 which becomes 650,000 in the morning and comes back to 450,00 at the evening. Strange. No, it’s very simple people from neighbouring countries of Belgium, Germany, France, Portugal drive in daily to attend their workplaces and to refuel their vehicles, thanks to a low taxation rate on fuel in Luxembourg. Do not get too greedy, if you will refuel daily, customs might catch you. "Depending on the time of visit, Luxembourg gives an impression of a BIG CITY or a SMALL TOWN."

Luxembourg is also the headquarters of Arcelor Mittal, biggest steel making company on this earth. While going around the city I kept on looking for the industries, but what I got instead were the captivating "WINE FARMS" in the Moselle valley.

No doubts the wines of this place are so charming that no one can stop praising about them. 

Culture of wine growing is in the Luxembourg for a thousand years and goes back to Roman times. Moselle valley stretches 42 km. from Schengen in the south to Wasserbillig in the north.

Luxembourg is a small country with a stretch of 82km. x 55 km. It has a police force of 1,300 and military of 500. There are several hotels and numerous tour operators which provide customized tour itinerary for Luxembourg. If you plan to visit this place, either you can contact tour operator or arrange yourself by searching "Luxembourg" on www.google.com and booking hotels online. As we were talking on the demographics, we have reached the Schengen border, here Luxembourg shares borders with Germany and France.

There were no check-posts and heavily armed soldiers, but a very beautiful river separating Luxembourg from Germany.

Houses visible on the other side of the river are in Germany.

Germany is on the on the left side of the bridge and on my back side is France.

France is on the other side of the barrage; from where you can see the down coming water 

That's the beauty of European Union that one can drive into the other member nations on the VISA of any of the member nations without any formalities and questioning at the check-posts. How come the borders be so beautiful. Other nations need to learn a lot, Is it so difficult to co-exist peacefully...?

Orderly traffic, imposing architecture makes a visual delight for anyone:

Other day I had to travel to Germany. While I was sitting cozily inside a bus, the drive was no less than a fairy-tale ride with a meandering river, lush green valleys and highlands on both sides of the highway. My binocular which I always keep with me had doubled the joy. At times clicking the scenes was looking dull.

My car would have clocked 200 Kmph  on this road, but I missed the fun of driving at this very sexy road

Its hard to describe in words as I am running out of vocabulary to explain this lovely land.

While returning back we took a break for lunch at a German restaurant.  Apart from the delicious food, we had a lot of fun filled moments.

There was much more outside the restaurant, a parking bay for the boats/ yachts:

And there was a huge grassland waiting to welcome us for a heavenly walk:

It was a lovely drive, back to Luxembourg. Meandering river gambling through the forests offers a multitude of outstanding panoramas; nature is queen in Luxembourg.

No matter how busy we are or how congested our schedule is, we can still take out some time for shopping. Evening was reserved for shopping. Enjoy the fantastic supermarkets for best deals:

Do not miss out on great deal on wines, olive oils, enless variety of cheese and...Chocolates

Here markets close pretty early, but the supermarkets operate till late. Plan accordingly.

There is so much greenery here that many of cities will get jealous. It was hard to believe, but this was the actual view from my hotel's window. Hotel was not situated in a forest:

After cherishing the Luxembourg hospitality, it was the time to return. Every place is different and so are their cultures,  seeking to new places is not only a physical experience it is also a spiritual journey. After all the road is a metaphor for life and we experience so many things in the walk of life. Unless there is some take back from your journey, you might have missed the essence of that place. What inspired me the most the mantra of Luxembourg people:

"We want to remain what we are". Looks simple but has far reaching meaning. 

Time was less this time, but as Mr. Rocky Balboa says - "There is always a second round". Next time lots of time for enjoying mountains, rivers and water sports. 

Since there is no direct flight to Luxembourg, a stopover at Vienna was there for me while returning. 

Got some delicious breads out of a large range available at the Airport shop. Vienna airport has a big shopping arcade and a number of eateries.

Till the next trip; I pray to the GOD that I keep on getting a lot more chances to see and explore this beautiful world.