Day 9, part II
After a series of three trains from London (Eurostar/IC/IC), in which one of the connection times was a mere 5 minutes, we pulled into Luxembourg station at 7:49pm to Luxembourg! The travel-worn Dins briefly convened to remind each other of the plans for tomorrow. Carolyn took a tram to stay with her host Deniz. Andrew/Kavi/Kieran were driven by their homestay host William. Ria/Shannon were also driven home by host Thibaut, Ben/Sean/Mattheus/Ethan were driven home to Leticia and Stefan's place, and finally I took a 30 minute train down to Belval where my host Philippe picked me up. I talked to a dude from Delhi on the train and he answered my questions about Luxembourg readily. From the train, I saw colorful houses reminiscent of Nyhavn, Denmark and many construction cranes along the way, as well as vast expanses of fields.
Philippe is a cheerful Luxembourger, well-attuned since young to the quadruple whammy of French, German, Luxembourgish and English. He introduced me to his hometown, which is famous for steel production and for the young University of Luxembourg where he currently works as a fundraiser. The blast furnace is a symbol of Belval's still active steel industry, and his father had worked as an engineer there.
There were different tiers of housing for the directors, the engineers and the workers spread around this steel nucleus from which the city spawned. I expressed interest in exploring the city, and so Philippe brought my luggage and bag home while I walked around. I explored a kebab place, tried out Momo (chicken dumplings) and beef curry at Jay Nepal restaurant (🌶️I love spicy food, if you saw my bio in the 2022-2023 Dins introduction), and entered the Luxembourg Learning Center, where I leafed through some educational comic books about science before the library closed at 10pm.
After arriving at Philippe's house, very close by, I was awestruck by his extensive art collection that featured artists from all different backgrounds, and a missing spot on the wall where Philippe hung his very own artwork, borne from an elaborate print-making process. He used prints to capture the vivid emotions impressed upon him by different cities. We sat to talk and Philippe shared about his journey to Harvard, earning his PhD at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and subsequently working at Stanford, before returning to his hometown to help raise funds for University of Luxembourg. We had a long chat before finally calling it a night.
Day 10
My morning started with a classic breakfast of Quaker oats and warm milk, and I chatted with Philippe's housekeeper, Yolande, who has worked for Philippe's family for more than 60 years.
In preparation for the cycling trips to come, I downloaded the local bike-sharing app vel'OH and got a day pass and took bus 607 to Luxembourg's city center!
Mattheus/Ethan/Ben/Sean walked along the bridge overlooking the lower city, where they encountered some seriously steep inclines! They got some picturesque views so it's all worth it.
During this time, I was on the hunt for magnets and possibly other little gifts and so I wandered about Ville Haute and even window shopped at luxury shops like Cartier to catch a glimpse of some insane jewelry. Then I rode a vel'OH bike all the way down from the city center to the lower town , which was rather regrettable*. While cycling, I bumped into Kavi #279 who was just standing strategically below the Luxembourg flag in front of Casemates du Bock (the caves!).
We entered the caves and explored the pitch-black spiral staircase that led to a little window at the top, giving us the prisoner's POV. There were many other cool things.
I convened with Mattheus/Ethan/Sean/Ben/Andrew (subsequently Ria and Kavi joined) at a lunch spot called The SpoT, a sports bar boasting yummy burgers. I ordered sea bream, which surfed atop a generous portion of mashed potatoes and some veggies. Yum! After lunch, I had to go return my bike as the timer was still running. *When I zipped down to the lower town, I did not know that future me had to carry the bike all the way back up for 600 meters along the steep narrow slope, with cars whizzing past, and up winding steps to the proper bike parking spot. I got hungry and grabbed a chicken kebab from a place recommended by Ethan #237.
I saw the famous bridge and the famous palace guarded by armed soldiers! I also walked to the Golden Lady monument. Soon, we met together at Hamilius station to take a tram together to our venue for the evening!
As we left the station, it started drizzling though it remained curiously sunny. Then we saw it...
Carolyn, Ria, Mattheus and I trailed behind the rest of the group to marvel and gasp at the natural wonder of QUADRUPLE RAINBOWS that formed in the distance.. 🌈This was spotted as we walked from Paräisser Plaz-Place de Paris tram stop along Mnt de la Pretrusse. Here's a photo.
We were delighted to enter the performance venue of Ristorante Il Fragolino, a beautiful terrace surrounded by greenery and decorated with a couple of Harvard™ flags brought by the alumni from Harvard Club of Luxembourg. Some of the taller Dins had draping plants tickle their hair as they sang. We sang an amazing first set with Kavi and Mattheus delivering hilarious introductions, followed by food, drinks and socializing, then a second set to round up the night. The most serendipitous encounter might be Ethan talking to a bartender - whom he not met since 2018 World Tour - on FaceTime via our host (William)'s phone. The Italian food consisted of really delicious sliced zucchini, eggplant, stuffed mushrooms, and focaccia.
Day 11, part I
We said goodbye to Luxembourg! We took the TGV Inoui (absolutely fantabulous, 320km/h speedy train!!!!) bound for our next destination, Switzerland yayayayayayay.
In the limelight,
#275 Simon Ma
