TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

So I did not visit the Vianden Castle in Luxembourg because I’ve had enough of large castles. Instead, I went into town on the Our Valley for a late afternoon lunch-snack. I parked the car at the entrance of the village and walked the entire almost a kilometre journey to the village centre where the bridge connects two sides of Vianden. I first walked over to Hotel Victor Hugo, they have a bar-café-restaurant, however the restaurant has closed for lunch and the bar café was not as exciting as I thought it would be. So I went out and crossed the bridge to Café du Pont which interestinly turns out to be a Holland house. The place is full of Dutch people. I mean, what the heck? A café in Vianden, Luxembourg full of Dutch people? Hello? I later found out that the owner of the café restaurant is a Dutch man who’s been living in Vianden for the past 20 years. I didn’t get his name but we had a little chat as he was quite curious why I speak Dutch (with an accent) when I don’t look...

I still love castles but recently I’ve stopped visiting them inside, especially if they are massive like this Vianden Castle in Luxembourg. I just don’t have the patience anymore to inspect every nook and cranny of these monstrous fortresses. Unless it is a one-of-a-kind castle such as the Neuschwanstein (Germany) that I haven’t seen and visited yet but will in the near future, then I will pass. The Vianden Castle was built between the 11th and 14th century and was in the ownership of the House of Nassau (the Dutch Royal Family comes from this house) but fell into ruins in the 19th century. The Grand Duke of Luxembourg transferred the ownership rights to the state in 1977. The state restored the castle to its former glory.  To learn more about this castle, go here: Vianden Castle So that’s what I did when I was at Vianden--I passed. Admiring the lovely castle crowning the bucolic village in the valley from the distance was enough for me. Seriously, I thought of going up...