I´m actually back in Germany at the moment, with a bit of time to kill on a German pc with a strange keyboard so excuye me if there are few 'z's where 'y's should be.
Back in May I was here for a week, following on from the Swiss Party, and we went on a couple of day trips to Luxembourg, Europapark and Nancy.
Our time in Luxembourg started off great with a drive around the city ring road as we looked for a car park. Eventually succeeding, we took a road-train tour of the city, past the cliffside vaults and through the parks and along the river. Following a traditional meal of doner kebab, we went in search of hillside castletops, and partially succeeded, but prior appointments meant we had to head back to Germany and endure autobahn traffic jam madness along the way. What can i say about Luxembourg after one day? It seems nice, kinda French, but really except for around the city, it was just motorways and forests, much like the rest of the region.
Another day was spent in Nancy where Christina studied for a year, so it was a bit of a nostalgia trip for her, eating at the favourite eatery, seeing the favourite shops, having the French be rude to her again etc. It is a really nice town, and the central St. Stanslas Square is quite impressive with lots of ornate goldwork around. We also visited the museum of Émile Gallé, one of the founders of Art Nouveau, where after spending an hour or so in the museum i realised I don't really like much art nouveau. Perhaps I'm more interested in the art of becoming a nouveau riche...
Not many people look at the back end of a peacock. There was also an open zoo there, with peacocks and various other birds roaming the pavements. The peacocks were cool, kinda acting like radar dishes and rotating in one, then the other direction, hoping to home in on the signal of a peahen.
Another trip south to scaring us into feeling more alive had nothing to do with driving fast on the autobahn. Europapark is a major theme park full of rollercoasters, magic shows, and entertainments. Having not been to a theme park in ages, it was actually quite impressive how they kept the theme through the park. Scariest two rides were the Silver Arrow (below) and Blue Fire which did a few corkscrews and upside down bits. I also hopped back on the Pirate Ship, and concquered my fear from when I was 10 or so and almost cried being on it. Must admit though the highlight of the day was queing for 20mins for the Blue Fire. This was after walking through the queuing area where signs were indicating "queue from this point 90 mins". That's why you go on a wednesday and not during school holidays.
For more pics with minor comments click on the links below
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lEVnh-qiSGQ3-r4aR54flg?feat=directlink
Also, you can see video of the Silver Arrow - Europe's Tallest Rollercoaster, on Youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
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| Luxembourg, Europapark, Nancy |
