Conquering a Castle
Today Rich and I were on our own, and we woke up early and took the train and bus to visit the Viandin Castle in greater Luxembourg. It was easier travel than usual because there were no tickets to buy and make sure are properly validated - all public transportation in Luxembourg is free. Find the right track or stop and you are good. And there are apps to make that relatively painless.
We took the ski lift up -
Note Rich’s death grip…he’s not a fan of these sorts of things.
But even once at the top there is some walking to do before you get to the entrance to the castle. We took the long “easy” way - and had the path to ourselves. We stopped for a truffle cheese break on the way amongst the wildflowers.
Having the path to ourselves also meant having to find our own way on the confusing trails - they weren’t always labeled, but even when they were we weren’t quite sure what the signs were telling us.
But we did enjoy the trail, and did find our way eventually.
Th castle has been massively reconstructed after war, earthquake, fire - and a sale to a local merchant who started dismantling and selling off content piecemeal - diminished it to a ruin. It’s been meticulously rebuilt and staged with armature and furniture of the period when it served as a residence.
We’ve toured quite a few castles and palaces in our travels, and seen many a short royal bed, but this was the first time we learned that the beds were not small just because people were smaller… in fact, rich people didn’t sleep prone. They reclined - the better to breath the “good air” higher up…and also to aid digestion. Since our bed at home has a slight incline I guess you can say that everything old is new again.
The well was deep and most likely a strategic resource since residents of this fortress/house had a source for fresh water even when under siege.
It that’s too cliche to end on, so here is a funny sign.
It’s sort of a fairy tale castle - with portions dating to antiquity as a fortress, though it’s use as a residence was more in the Middle Ages.
We took the ski lift up -
Note Rich’s death grip…he’s not a fan of these sorts of things.
But even once at the top there is some walking to do before you get to the entrance to the castle. We took the long “easy” way - and had the path to ourselves. We stopped for a truffle cheese break on the way amongst the wildflowers.
Having the path to ourselves also meant having to find our own way on the confusing trails - they weren’t always labeled, but even when they were we weren’t quite sure what the signs were telling us.
But we did enjoy the trail, and did find our way eventually.
Th castle has been massively reconstructed after war, earthquake, fire - and a sale to a local merchant who started dismantling and selling off content piecemeal - diminished it to a ruin. It’s been meticulously rebuilt and staged with armature and furniture of the period when it served as a residence.
We’ve toured quite a few castles and palaces in our travels, and seen many a short royal bed, but this was the first time we learned that the beds were not small just because people were smaller… in fact, rich people didn’t sleep prone. They reclined - the better to breath the “good air” higher up…and also to aid digestion. Since our bed at home has a slight incline I guess you can say that everything old is new again.
The well was deep and most likely a strategic resource since residents of this fortress/house had a source for fresh water even when under siege.
We had a great day. At the bus stop, we chatted with a nice British couple who had visited Addo Elephant Park in South Africa (Rich as wearing his Addo tshirt today) and we met a Croatian woman and her a Brit partner at dinner and got to reminisce about our Croatian trip too. Travel broadens the mind but shrinks the world. We are all just friends who haven’t met.
It that’s too cliche to end on, so here is a funny sign.
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