After three days spent in beautiful Regensburg, it was time to head west. After a long overnight bus journey, I found myself in one of the smallest countries in Europe – Luxembourg. Yet again, I was greeted with rainy weather. Are we surprised? – Definitely not! Thankfully, I had three days there as well, so the weather eventually turned out to be perfect.
The very first thing on my agenda for Luxembourg was to meet up with the lovely Claudine who works for OWHC and agreed to greet me and show me Luxembourg City through the eyes of a local. We went on a tour around town and I got to see all the major attractions in one go – this is how small the capital actually is! I made a long list of all the places I wanted to go back to and explore even further, but a quick tour was exactly what I needed in the very beginning, just to get a feel of the place.
Fun fact – Luxembourg is the only Grand Duchy in the world. In the city centre you can see the Grand Ducal Palace, and only during the summer months you can visit it. Luxembourg is also where many European institutions are seated. They even have a whole area dedicated to European Union buildings.
The fortress and the old city centre of Luxembourg have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1994. Because of its strategic position, Luxembourg had one of Europe’s greatest fortifications between the 16th and 19th century. Despite its compactness, the Old Town offers plenty of sites to visit, such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, The Bock and the City casemates, the Lower part of the city (Grund) and much more.
Luxembourg’s population is just about 600 000 people. Did you know that most of the inhabitants are foreigners, mostly Portuguese? The country has an incredibly high standard of living, which makes it the perfect place to settle. On top of that, most locals speak at least 4 languages fluently – Luxembourgish, French, German and English, which makes Luxembourg one of the easiest countries to get around.
One last important thing you shouldn’t miss when visiting Luxembourg – checking out the view from the Chemin de la Corniche, also called “the most beautiful balcony of Europe”. It is definitely not surprising with a view like this.
Bordeaux – the Port of the Moon always has be
ul as it is. The world heritage of Bordeaux includes many 18th houses and shops, which are in use every day. That’s why the regulations for the old town are very strict: f.e. the doors should always be painted in classic
I visited Venice twice before. The first time as a child. I really did not enjoy the city then. Too busy, hot as hell, you can’t move freely and full of street shops and pigeons. Maybe the touristic one day trip with my parents and a bus full of elders wasn`t perfect time to get to know the city either. The second time i went to Venice on a schooltrio. We stayed in Jesolo and visited the 56 Biennial. Even though we ran around around in a big group, it was a different experience. In the evenings after the art exhibitions we wander around with belly’s full of tiramisu and italian vine. Sitting at the water and singing italian songs, well rather butchering them. This time I avoided the busy streets too, went right on a cruse along the shore and visited the Biennial, showing the ever growing evolution of art. 
Born 1725 to two actors, Gaetano Casanova and Zanetta Farussi, not only inherited his acting skills but also mother/father complex. Left by his mother at a young age to tour Europe, and his father died. As a child he was treated by a witch for his involuntarily nosebleeds. The “witch” treated him and told him he’d be visited by a beautiful stranger. Later that night, a dazzling woman climbed down the chimney and spoke to him in words he couldn’t understand, and kissed him. In his book L’Histoire de Ma Vie – The Story of My Life he writes that this was the first of many times, a woman’s touch changed the course of his life. His health improved, and in less than a month he learned to read. Casanova said about himself: “I was born for the sex opposite to mine”.
But Shakespeare might still have taken inspiration for real life. Some Shakespearean scholars believe that the writers patron, Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, inspired Shakespeare’s Romeo. Henry’s stepmother was a descended from the Viscount Montagu. Sounds a lot like Montague. Henry Wriothesley had an unapproved relationship with Elizabeth Vernon. Queen Elizabeth I was not amused about their marriage, the queen put them both in jail as their union was a political threat to her reign. Unlike the real Romeo and Juliet, the Wriothesley and Vernon were later released and lived “happily ever after” outside prison.
The princess stayed and persuaded the shepherd to drink some wine with her. After a while he began to feel very happy. “All right” – he said. “Take the sheep with the fleece of gold. But first you must give me a kiss and be my wife.” – “Very well. But I want only the sheep’s fleece, not the meat” – she answered. The girl took the fleece back to her father. And the Prussian king was very happy.
When my friends arrived later that day at the flat we decided to relax the rest of the day in one of Pests thermal baths: the Széchenyi. Under the city there is a patchwork of almost 125 thermal springs. They are not just popular with tourists, for locals it’s been part of everyday life for a long time. There are still baths standing that date back to the Turkish occupation, others have been updated f.e. in a beautiful Art Nouveau style.
does have typical coffees from all around the world. 
festival with traditional craftsmanship and music was held in the courts of the castle. Once we where in, it was worth it. There where not only local shoemakers, woodworkers, etc but also some from other parts of the world. I had seen similar traditional dresses as our Bavarian ones but i never knew that the Hungarian had a tradition to make gingerbread hearts like we do too. Of course they differ and i was curious to find out why the had a mirror in them. The baker told me that the mirror protects you from bad luck. I found out later that the gingerbread craft is also part of the intangible world heritage since 2010.
After freshening up we explored the night life on the Pest side. The famous Ruin Pubs were just amazing. Rooms with bathtubs to sit in, rooms that looked like an abandoned botanical garden and so much more wondrous things. On the last day we hiked up the Gellért Hill. Named after a christian bishop, which was killed by the people of Budapest at the beginning of christianisation in the city. In the evening we went on a boot tour up and down the river Danube and watched the city by night. I especially liked the neo-gothic parliament, embellished with 40 kilograms of gold. It looked even more majestic lit up at night.
