Well, no they didn’t. They did play a lot of other tunes though, as we sat in a little square in the middle of Luxembourg and ate dinner. The band was a full blown orchestra set up in the middle of the square belting out everything from ‘The Lion King’ to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ and Dean Martin’s ‘Mambo Italiana’. A bit loud, very entertaining though.
And so ended a fairly ordinary day in most respects. We caught the train in Bern first up, made the connection in Mannheim without a problem, and even managed the bus in Saarbrucken with time to spare. Apart from having a nearly 2 km walk from the bus station in Luxembourg to the hotel it seemed like a fairly bland day. No sightseeing, just watching the view from the train or bus window.
Not so quick. There is always a twist. So, what was it?
We got to our hotel, in what seemed like a seedy part of town, at 5pm and find the place is locked. Double check the address, yes this is it. But it’s definitely locked. Eventually a little man appeared, explained that he didn’t speak English, only French (noting that he told us this in English?). He also made us understand that the place didn’t open until 5:30pm and we could sit down and wait.
Just after 5:30pm he unlocks the place, checks us in and shows us our room. We don’t know why he couldn’t do this at 5pm, but there you go. The room could best be described as Spartan, very ordinary. Anyway, we’ve paid our money so we might as well make the best of it. At 6pm we decide to catch the bus into town and have a look around to salvage something from the day.
On the bus trip Michelle and Milly decide that the place is too seedy and they want out. Okay, we’ll look around in Luxembourg and see what might be available. Probably nothing less than a fortune, that’s why we are out of town at the seedy hotel in the first instance. The first place we poked our heads into had an Executive suite available for 270-odd Euro (over $400). Bit pricey, we’ll keep looking. The second didn’t have any vacancies, then the third turns up a terrific little suite for 175€. Bugger it, we’ll take it. It’s already near 7pm and the 270€ room was looking like an option.
So we jump back on the bus, go back out to the original hotel, grab our bags and depart. I’m not sure they know that we’ve gone. I tried to hand the keys back and our French-speaking friend insisted that reception was closed and that these were our keys to get in. Drop them back by 11am tomorrow. Making little pantomimes with my fingers walking across the counter and picking up my bag didn’t seem to enlighten him. Next trip we practice some French, Italian or whatever, to be a little better prepared. We have been spoilt up until now. In any event he has the keys and we have a swanky little apartment in the heart of Luxembourg.
After all that we really enjoyed the meal and the band, even if it didn’t play ‘Waltzing Matilda’.
Tomorrow Paris. I hope I have nothing but travelogue to report.
Cheers, Steve J.
P.S. Dodgy WiFi, no photos today.