Sunday, 14 October, 2018 – Very good, low 20s

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We are up early to catch a large van to go to a major station to catch our train out of town to go to Luxembourg. We had been told that it would cost us 50 Euro but it turned out only to be 10. Because we got there too early, again, there was a long wait for our train which we finally board

We know that the trip is going to involve a long ride to Frankfurt station, around 6 hours, roughly an hour stopover there, another train to a town I cannot pronounce, around 3 hours and finally a bus to Luxembourg. Or at least that was the way it was supposed to be.

The trip to Frankfurt was fine and there was good internet which enabled serious Blogging to be done. I had spread out to another seat but at a stop outside of town a guy boarded and claimed the seat. OK, I went to a bigger one across the aisle.

At Frankfurt, Ryan selects a Mexican place at the end of the building because it is largely empty and there is room for all of our suitcases.

The girls wandered away and came back with some food from elsewhere. Julie had a salad to which I was able to add more. Then it was time to board the next train. We had been told that there was a big weekend on in Luxembourg and the trains would be crowded. Well, in this leg there was just one other passenger in our first class carriage.

When we get to the next destination, there is a little trouble finding where our bus should be but Julie eventually finds it. A short time later, our bus pulls up from Luxembourg. The passengers alight and there is confusion in getting the bags out. Then the bus driver, who was a very big black guy, raises the hood over the engine in the back of the bus and tells everybody that the bus will not be leaving. We learn from another passenger it was because the bus motor had overheated.

Some people went off, probably to catch a train but we did not know how to do that, so could only wait and wait and wait. Ryan and Tanika go off and disappear for ages. Finally, a replacement bus shows up. The black driver takes it and the other driver drove away the one that had overheated. Fortunately, the Kids showed up at just the right time or else we might have had to hope for another bus later on. Ryan takes charge of loading the bags in the under storage. We board and it is quite full. I get a seat in front of a black lady and the brat of her kid. What I remember distinctly was her singing some obnoxious repetitive lullaby the whole trip to try to keep him calm.

When we get to Luxembourg station, it is only a short walk to our Hotel. Ryan guides us there. The Hotel was very old and had had awful Trip Advisor reviews. However, they had obviously done a lot of renovations. The Hotel check-in staff were very friendly albeit the Lady only spoke French. The elevator was still small and ancient but got us up the two flights of stairs.

We again selected the room with two single beds and the room reminded me of the modern room we had had in Stockholm, quite small and one had to crawl over the person at the small desk to get to the suitcases. Julie worked out a rearrangement of the room which made it not too bad plus good space for our cases. Photos of the Hotel tomorrow.

Julie went out and bought some supplies and brought them back. We then went out to find some food. The Kids had left us to go out on their own. Again it was a Sunday evening and a number of restaurants were closed. There was an interesting Portuguese place across the street but it was very expensive. Finally we go to a place quite close to our Hotel at the end of the street – Asian. The people there were very friendly and we settled in.

Julie ordered chicken salad but they brought it initially with no chicken.

Back at the Hotel, it is very noisy as celebrations are going on. Turns out that there was a window open, which blew cold air on me, and did not restrict the noise from the big celebrations across the street.

The Kids reported that they had done a lot of wandering through the Old Town, etc. and found the people to be quite friendly, unlike those in Berlin.