Luxembourg

I should be studying for my FCA exams but I thought a little break would do. After all, its not always I have the free time to update my blogs. Today, I'll do a travel diary of a trip I made to Europe in December 2016 with a couple of friends. 

16 - 17 December 2016
I been working the whole year and thought I needed the break so I casually asked my dad if I should make a trip to Melbourne or the UK. Surprisingly he was "Yeah, lets buy the ticket now before your mum changes my mind". My mum believe that my dad shouldn't pay for my trips which I totally agree. But you all know, it was hard to resist! Just to note, this was the only trip my dad paid for me in the two years I was working. Cut myself some slack.

So I decided to called up my friends in the UK to see if they are free and THEY WERE. Even had a good friend from Melbourne who joined me on this trip. This whole trip was just a great big adventure as it wasn't an easy trip for me. A week before I flew off, I fell from the staircase and was admitted to the hospital with the torn toe. Did a surgery to get it fixed and doctor say I wasn't allow to travel. I was so excited for this trip and wasn't going to give it up for this. Promised my parents I wouldn't walk so much, rest well, eat right, etc etc etc and I left for UK anyway.

I was limping throughout the whole trip and I was in a wheelchair in the airport. People were so kind in helping me out. I was in Bristol first before meeting up with my friends to head to Luxembourg. Okay back to my trip to Luxembourg..totally got side track. To be honest, we pick this place because it was 9 pounds from Ryan Air! We stay for about 3 nights but in actual fact we had only a full day there. We arrive on the first night and left early in the morning on the third day.

So how did we spend our time there? Since it was Winter, it was mandatory to visit the Christmas Market. We stayed at town called Esch-sur-Alzette, about 40 minutes away from the city. Took the bus into the city early in the morning and my friend, Kah Yee so excited to see the Christmas Market then she fell down right after getting off the bus and crossing over to the other side. She was a really funny girl. We asked if she was okay, she said now we have two limping girls and that she shouldn't have make fun of me limping.

We head over to the Christmas Market and had our brunch. This was my first Christmas Market and this entire trip, I been to at least one every day in each city.

Almost all the Market were of this theme and it was so prettyyyy. At the same time super cold. 

One of the gifts that you take back from the markets is these little cute cups. First, you ordered their Mull Wine and you can decide if you want to keep this cup. Well of course you pay extra but it's only about 1 or 2 pounds more. And yes, I got this cup here. Just something to remember about the Christmas Market there. 

So this is my funny friend, Kah Yee who gets overly excited for food and does the most ridiculous pose ever but one of the best friends you can get. This dish might look so simple but it was sooooo good. The chicken meat was tender and when you squeeze lemon over them, it gets better.

So after our small little meal, we head over to the city centre. I found it really pretty but as it is Winter. The buildings weren't of bright colour which made it look really dull. It was peaceful and considering its the school holiday, it wasn't as crowded so it was indeed a good place to start our trip. It was also the last thing we did there. After walking around the city for a good 4-5 hours we just head back to another Christmas Market and had dinner there before going back home.

After did a little exploration around the city, we starting doing the tourist sightseeing and these were the few places we manage to go. As there were two limping Jills, we did only what we could and did not visit everything.

Bock and City Casement

This is a UNESCO Heritage side and also the first underground tunnels built in 1644 during the Spanish domination. You can opt to visit the inner part where you have to pay 6 euro for adults, 5 euro for student and 3 euro for children. We did not paid to enter but we walked around the outer part and man, it was huge. Took us about 1 hour ish just to explore the outer part. 

It might look really dull and that's because of the gloomy skies. My friends went during the summer and the view were alive. Completely different. But gotta admit, winter has its winter beauty. This gives you a historic feels and make you feel like you living in their at era but with more modern clothing. So, this would be the shots you'll be getting if you are just exploring the outer part of it. 

A sunny day in Luxembourg will give you a different experience while exploring all the various sightseeing landmarks. Head on over to this link here for another write up on One Day in Luxembourg!

This building here is also another UNESCO heritage sites right on the bridge into the city. I can't remember exactly what it was called but we just wonder around and stumble upon it. 

Place Guillaume II

This town square called Place Guillaume II on the south of Luxembourg where we found another Christmas Market and also where we then ate again! 

This Christmas Market was much more lively than the first one we went to as that one was a small one. This one has a performance stage which kept us company. We just spend our time walking around the city but not going around. It was super cold and hard to walk. I had very little pictures here as well. With a limping leg and the cold, it was really hard to get my hands out to kept taking photo. Wasn't use to the cold yet. 

If you are wondering what the city look like at night, I manage to get one or two shots. I gotta admit years ago my photography skills might not be the best one. I am still improving now trying to get better shots. 

Even at night, the city look very pretty with all the lights up. It was an eventful day. We were exhausted. Extremely tired for some reasons. Probably Wu Ping and Jie Yvin had to hold us both who were limping the day. They even came up with this curse that I put on them where whoever laugh at me on my limping leg, they'll fall. It wasn't just Kah Yee. Wu Ping make fun of me and then he almost fell right on his face. He manage to catch his balance but he was just taking one step down and for some reason he just fell straight on the ground. 

I definitely did not curse them. This was also the first day the four of us travelling together and the first day 3 of them met. We all got along really well which was great. 

Wefieeeee... Wu Ping don't take much photos but this one of the few he is in! Gosh.. when's the next time we will be travelling together? 

This was a natural candid. We weren't sure what we laughing at but definitely something Kah Yee said. Oh... the good times we had in that trip. We had another girl joining us half way in Denmark! Haven't wrote anything about other places yet but if you see another girl, yeap thats her and another one crazy girl.

This was the beginning for all of us and also we totally didn't see what was coming after when we left for Germany. A lot of things happened but we had a lot of fun. Typing this down just got me thinking and smiling at all the times we did crazy talk and crazy things together. 

Also, now that I am two years older since this trip. I don't look as young as well. Looking forward and preparing to start my new job soon! 

Signing off.. Will be writing on the following trips we went after Luxembourg.  Germany, Prague and Budapest. Short stop in Denmark!