Letzebuerg, which is to say Luxembourg

Luxembourg (City) , October 10. Really beautiful and laid back place here. But more expensive than Germany (as far as I can tell), so some fast recollections:

Very international place. In Germany, the vast majority of tourists (maybe not so in Berlin, we´ll see) are German, but here I´ve heard many languages (Portuguese, Italian, German, Russian, French of course since it´s one of the official ones here along with German and “Letzeburgisch,” etc etc). This is neat.

Really, really clean.

There are many, many nonsmoking places here. It´s not as good as Canada in this regard, not even close, but it´s way, way better than Köln. No comparison. My hotel is 100% smoke free.

Louder than I anticipated but my hotel is across from a high school.

They eat late, completely different from Germany. Last night was Nepalese (so-so) and I was the only customer at 6pm.

McDonald´s is insanely popular. Local chain next door (QuickBurger) is almost empty while McD is packed.

Hotel breakfast is not as sumptious as what I had in Köln despite my hotel being much more expensive here, but it´s not bad.

Luxembourg is incredibly, desperately, brilliantly picturesque and built around bluffs. Fall colours are magnificent. The train ride here through the Eifel and along the Rhein and Mosel was like a vacation in itself.

I found an outstanding coffee place with fresh beans, latte art and espresso made with a La Marzocco Mistral. It´s called Cafe Knopes, and thank God I found it yesterday so I could enjoy it more than once.

Off to Berlin tomorrow, Ciao!