Making Oxford home, Catching up on Luxembourg

Greetings friends, readers and miscellaneous others,

I have finally had my first day of snow in England (the 24th of January), this was the sight that greeted me as I was heading off to work - I of course ran back to grab my camera.

Life in Oxford is finally starting to settle in and indeed has proved to be most enjoyable for me over the last month or so. Even in the depths of an English winter the city wears itself unique (and it does help that this has been the warmest January in close to a 100 years). The centre is a hub of University, Church and general Academic & Scholarly life. In this place of dreaming spires one can find anything from delightful back-end cobbled streets, charming gardens and parks (abounding with typical English wildlife), to exquisitely carved college frontage. Oxford also has the rarity of being an English city abounding with the experience and life of a vibrant Christian presence. From High to Low, from Catholic to Protestant the churches in Oxford are full at the seams. Church buildings are everywhere, ancient in their origin, yes, but to still be in such popular use in Britain's post-modern, materialistic and ideologically secular days is some small surprise.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Magdalen College, where such everyday sights as these greet one in the back garden areas. Magdalen College (pronounced Maudlin) was also the home college of one C.S. Lewis when he lectured and taught at the University of Oxford.

The outer suburbs each have their own unique blend and feel as well. North Oxford is the home of the Dons, while my own suburb of Cowley is a veritable multicultural bonanza and delight. The main Cowley Road is a hitchhikers guide to Eastern European, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Indian, Chinese and Thai cuisine. There are restaurants aplenty - Polish (haven't tried it yet Michael), Ethiopian, Lebanese, Italian, Indian, Bangladeshi, Turkish, Thai and more, more, more. Halal shops are also frequent and the sight of a quite large Mosque in Oxford is unexpected, but that is part of the contrast that this city can provide.

The sight of a XXXX can of beer littering a Magdalen College park was a tad disconcerting, and possibly concerning as well. Let's just hope it wasn't an Australian who left it there...


Catching up on Luxembourg:

Well I have been endeavoring to catch people up on my October trip through Western Europe over the past couple of months. A slow catch-up I know, but hopefully one that you will all consider worthwhile as I try to really bring to life the worth of traveling to a particular place.
In the case of Luxembourg city, this Gibraltar of the North, I can only say that the worth is really there - for this is a city where the ancient and the modern combine most splendidly.

As I mentioned in my last post on Brussels, Pria and I set off for Luxembourg by train. Our arrival in Luxembourg City almost immediately brought home to us the friendliness of the locals, which would be confirmed over the rest of our short time there. The friendliness I refer to was exhibited by two lovely ladies who were waiting at the railway bus stop. They were not only very willing to offer us guidance on which bus to catch but even offered to walk with us into the city centre to help us find the right bus. Of course it may have just been our charming Aussie accents...

The right bus finally found Pria and I set off through the wide paved and neat city streets of the central city. The almost Toowoomba esque feeling to the place was abruptly replaced however. As we road the bus down into the valley below we saw suddenly high medieval walls, widely spanned bridges and sandstone smooth dwellings coming into view. With the light of the moon overhead the magical feeling to the setting was accentuated. The crisp and lovely feeling to the air that hit us as we left the bus was a perfect rejoinder to this setting. Now we just had to find our hostel...

Having finally found it we were pleased to discover that the YHA hostel we were staying in for the night had none of the roughness of many a hostel in the wider world. Everything was mod-con, most of the staff professional and friendly (though there was one notable exception) and Pria and I even managed to nab a rather late meal. We also nabbed some showers, some towels and even managed to not wake up most of our fellow roommates. Of course said roommates might strongly deny that version of events... :-)

But enough of hostels. We slept, we ate, we toileted and we planned world domination - all the things one usually does in a hostels. Then we moved on. Having only one day ahead of us we also awakened rather early so as to get the most of the day - groan! With the beautiful morning air to stir us however I was soon leaving such thoughts of tiredness behind. Our initial foray was out into the wider river valley in which our hostel was located. Immediately behind the hostel was a many spanned and arched railway bridge lining almost to the horizon - or so it seemed. The lush verdant foliage that surrounded us at almost every turn also gave a sweet delight to the air in the immediate vicinity. It was a great start to what would turn out to be an excellent day.

Just outside the YHA Hostel, Pria is standing at the base of the railway bridge to emphasize its size.

Further explorations led us to follow the nearby river, swift and clear flowing, into the valley centre. The houses here are delightful, imbued with natural colours that seem to almost blend into the landscape. Nearby are temperate rainforest walks tucked in and amongst the houses and the valley walls. Further in lay old some of the old defences of the fortress that Luxembourg city was in times past. This is accentuated by glancing up at the natural and man-made walls that straddle the valley below. In these walls too can be glimpsed the openings to the some 20 kms of casements and tunnels that riddled and still riddle in part the old medieval city defences. Luxembourg city was not called the Gibraltar of the North for no reason. Even more amazing is to know that the city defences that remain comprise only 10-20 % 0f the defences achieved during Luxembourg's height of power. For more on the history of this, I point you towards here.


A beautiful river winds through the valley floor, the view perhaps somewhat marred by a certain gump in an orange hat.


Like many things in Luxembourg City style tends to run towards the simply stated - this Catholic church for example. The natural beauty of the buildings is stunning nonetheless.


Near the church - A quiet morning, or Dawn of the Dead? Wuhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Pria considers staking a claim to Luxembourg - I'm sure that Aussie flag is somewhere there.


Our goal rises above. An excellent example too of how the ancient and modern combine so well in Luxembourg city.




On the bridge and having climbed out of the valley we could hardly resist a shot now could we? A beautiful sight I think most of you will agree.

Having left the Eden like valley behind Pria and I headed over into the main part of the city for an impromptu tour. In contrast to already visited Brussels and later to Paris the city has a generally relaxed and non-ostentatious feel. Things can be grand, things can be wonderful, but they rarely dwarf you. The architecture is both sublime and understated, intricate and simplistic. This is summed up no more greatly than by the Duke of Luxembourg's Palace. Remembering in my previous posts that I have talked of the imposing 'monoliths' of Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace and the Royal Palace of Brussels, the contrast could not have have been more severe. Compared to these the Grand Ducal Palace of Luxembourg seems but a mere toy, a delightfully upmarket house in a city with few pretensions. I think that this also sums up another aspect of Luxembourg for me. This is a place to relax and enjoy, there are no frantic demands and rushed pace. Instead the city knows its place and keeps to it well...

The charmingly understated and almost toy like Ducal palace. Here the ruling Duke of Luxembourg and his family stand for public ceremonies, mere metres away from the crowds...


Pria subtly mocks the guard at the Ducal Palace. Fortunately Mr. Guard was quite placid about the whole thing and did not seek to rip Pria's still beating heart from his body.


Pria's lucky charm, the Brisbane Broncos Bear, gets his photo under the signal bridge of Luxembourg city - the Adolphe Bridge. Is it just me or does this remind one of Gnome in Amelie - well?


Before finishing this post I should mention that it is very worthwhile to pay the small 2 Euro fee to explore some of the casemates that are still accessible below the city (quite literally below of course). I also personally and particularly enjoyed the mysterious and almost arcane impressions one gains in the depths of the Cathedral of Notre Dame (clearly a different cathedral from the famous one in Paris to those raising their eyebrows). For all you strong Protestants out there, there is also a nicely tucked away Reformed church building (Trinity Church) nearby that helps to service some of the 5000 + Protestants who inhabit Luxembourg as a whole country.

Part of the mysterious depths of the crypt below the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Luxembourg city.

And that was our day or thereabouts. We had a somewhat close call getting back to our luggage and the train on time, but what was ahead would make it more than worth it. The city of love, poetry, philosophy and revolution awaited us next. Another 4 hour train journey to Paris was ahead. In Paris too Pria and I were planning to spend much more time; 4 days for Pria, 5 for me.