August 29, 2015

FIFTIETH MOVEMENT:  LUXEMBOURG

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

I woke up at 07:52 (eight minutes before my alarm went off, which it actually did, which means my iPhone is still sort of working), showered, packed my bags, and checked out of the hotel. I then walked to Montpellier Saint Roch Railway Station and reached it around 09:20 (it was a short ten-to-fifteen minute walk now that I had a map and didn’t have to rely on others to get me anywhere like last night). I then bought a water, some fudge-filled cookies, and a cold caramel macchiato. I drank the macchiato and ate the cookies as a breakfast before making my way to the correct platform and boarding the train bound for Strasbourg (yes, thanks to the railway company fuck-up yesterday, I would no longer have the luxury of a direct train to Luxembourg and I would have to switch at Strasbourg; also, I would be arriving over ten hours later than I had planned). Once on the train, I found an empty seat in first class and sat down; since my ticket did not give me an assigned seat (thanks SNCF!), I would have to play musical chairs throughout the journey, almost every time we stopped at a station and other passengers kindly informed me I was in their seat (I had asked the ticket checker if where I was sitting was okay and he said “yes” – obviously it wasn’t). Anyway, the train departed after 10:05 and made its way through the French countryside and onward to Strasbourg near the German border.

We reached Strasbourg around 15:55 and I had about an hour and a half to kill before the train to Luxembourg departed. So, I exited the railway station and walked to the closest McDonalds and had pitiful “Bacon Big n’ Tasty” with French fries and a coke (I had been opting for the quickness and easiness of McDonalds lately and as a result, I have become quite sick and disgusted with McDonalds; obviously I need to switch to another fast food restaurant). Anyway, after eating I returned to the railway station and waited for the 18:22 Luxembourg-bound train to arrive at the station. The train was a little late, but eventually came. I climbed on board, found a seat, and we departed to Luxembourg.

The train journey took about two hours and we reached Luxembourg at 20:33. I exited the Luxembourg Railway Station and started off toward the youth hostel in town. I walked north and tried to follow the Alzette River as much as possible. I ended up overshooting the hostel and wound up at a temporary amusement park set up in the Glacis next to the Grand Theater (for two weeks during the end of August and the beginning of September, there is a funfair (the Schueberfouer) held in the city). I then got my bearings from a map at a bus stop and walked to the youth hostel in the Pfaffenthal district. Upon reaching the youth hostel (at 21:30), I checked in put my bags away in the dorm room. I then walked down to the bar/restaurant and had a couple of beers before calling it a night around midnight. I was getting to bed relatively early compared to my normal sleep schedule in order to see as much of Luxembourg City as I could tomorrow – little did I know that it was not to be.

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An open journal or an exercise in narcissism.