July 4
Bonjour and Guten tag!
I’ll admit that it is an ambition of mine to visit every
country in the world. However, I try not to be of the mindset of ‘ticking a
box’ and moving on. I remember being told about a man who was attempting to
visit every country in the world within a year without flying. A lovely and
novel idea, but I believe you would miss out on so much. Where do you go in
America, for example? Do you miss out on seeing the Statue of Liberty because
you’re hot-footing it across a border? Do you ignore the seals and sights of
San Francisco because the bus to Mexico leaves soon?
I like to achieve or do something in a country before I say
that I have visited in. I find it difficult to state proudly that I have been
to Mexico when I popped to Tijuana on an afternoon trip with my family from San
Diego. Did I really experience Mexico? I went to Egypt for 12 hours, yet saw
the pyramids, bartered in a market in a market and saw a belly dance that would
make any young teenager slightly uncomfortable. I say I have been to Egypt.
The point of me saying this is that there is more to
travelling than simply ‘travelling’. I will admit, however, that my philosophy
gets tested with certain countries or principalities – mainly the ones that are
really small. So if I said that I was going to Luxembourg, a perfectly
legitimate response might be…why? I wouldn’t have been able to tell you,
instead optimistically retorting: why not?
Actually, there is a reason. Before going, I knew NOTHING
about Luxembourg aside from it being a small country with a royal family and a
royally rubbish football team. We thus derived ten questions which had to be
asked to locals during our time in Luxembourg, NB we only got seven questions answered, the ones that are starred may
have involved my good friend ‘Internet’.
1)
**WHAT IS YOUR SIZE AND POPULATION?**
My answer would have been ‘small’. Alas, Wikipedia can do
this better, and reliably informs me that Luxembourg is 998 square miles –
smaller than the smallest state in the U.S.A, and the 179th biggest
country in the world.
2)
*HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A COUNTRY?*
The answer we were given was ‘since 1945’. However, it has
been a Kingdom before that, and declared independence from the French Empire in
1815. Bad year for the French, that.
3)
WHAT IS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY IN YOUR HOLIDAY?
June 23rd. Possibly to do with question 4, though
I can’t honestly remember. The three ladies in the bank did discuss its
reasoning for a little while.
4)
WHAT IS A FAMOUS EVENT IN YOUR COUNTRY’S
HISTORY?
As I keep referring to question 4, it seems that
Luxembourg’s liberation from Germany in 1945 was a very important event.
5)
WHO IS YOUR MOST FAMOUS PERSON?
“No idea,” said the man in the tourist office. I would have
thought that this would be the very popular royal family, whose palace can be
seen below. Guards were obviously on a break when we arrived! Alas, we were
told the most famous Luxembourgian is actually J.C. Jay. Not a rapper…but the
Prime Minister.
6)
WHAT IS YOUR NATIONAL DISH OR DRINK?
Cue more headscratching in the tourism office. Eventually we
were told Kachkeiss, a cheese, could be the national food. We didn’t find it,
primarily because we couldn’t locate a supermarket. Shops close very early in
central Europe, which caught us out on this day, resulting in a dinner of a
croissant and crisps from a petrol station. Luckily I had earlier located and
devoured the mouth-watering waffles I had hunted for in Belgium, so wasn’t
particularly peckish. The beer is called Bofferding, and seemed fairly average.
7)
WHAT IS YOUR NATIONAL SPORT OR PASTIME?
Collecting nice cars could have easily been the answer here.
I do also faintly remember Luxembourg embarrassing Great Britain at tennis in
the Davis Cup. However, we were told that nine-pins is something that the
locals enjoy to watch and participate in. Though the amount of time it took the
girls to make a decision suggests that it may not be the universal choice.
8)
**WHAT IS YOUR COUNTRY’S OLYMPIC RECORD LIKE?**
Well, they compete. Wikipedia tells me they have competed at
28 Summer Olympiads since 1912, winning a solitary gold in 1952. Take a bow,
Josy Barthel. Interestingly, a runner in the 1930 Olympics won a medal for
France, but was later found to have been born in Luxembourg.
9)
WHAT IS YOUR BEST ATTRACTION?
Luxembourg City, the capital, is an appealing if slightly
artificial place to visit, particularly when the sun glistens off the grand castle
perched imperiously over the valley. Its narrow alleys have many treats hidden
within them, but most will weave their way back to one of the open, bright
plazas. The answer we were given, however, was the sturdy stone fortress that
surrounds the centre of town, and with good reason.
10)
**WHAT’S AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOUR
COUNTRY?**
I’ll take this question. The most interesting thing I learnt
was that, at least for a day trip, Luxembourg is a lovely and worthwhile place
to visit!
Love you all
Matt
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