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Pit stop in Luxembourg

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Spending just one day in Luxembourg does not give justice to this Grand (!) Duchy, especially if you happen to visit during those few sunny days of the year. On the other hand, even if you do not have a lot of time and are just driving by, it is still worth a stop.

Our morning started with the quest for Belgium waffles. Yes, we know that Luxembourg is not Belgium, but hey, they are close-by so we expected to find some. It appeared to be more difficult than expected so we finally stopped for a choco spoon at Chocolate House Bonn. Besides the tasty chocolate spoons to be melted in the hot milk they also happened to have waffles and big fat cakes. And on top, it is located just in front of the Grand Duke’s palace, so while taking in your weekly sugar dose you can watch the change of the guards (always a great fun for kids!).

Now the kids need to run off all the sugar energy and the best place for it is Parc Merveilleux. It is some 12km away from the capital, in Bettembourg, but in big city terms it is just the next neighbourhood. It is a small zoo and a fairy tale park with numerous playgrounds that can keep little explorers entertained for a day. Unfortunately we had just few hours to enjoy, but it was still worth a visit especially considering that the entrance price of 6 euros for kids is outrageously cheap for such a luxurious country.

Luxembourg’s old city fortifications allow to combine adults’ interest for the history and kids’ interest to have some fun: they may explore old caverns, poke into the dark tunnels or throw the stones into the river. Then there are some public pianos to ‘play’ and another part of the day is over before you notice.

You may finish the day driving through the green countryside to Remich, a small village on the bank of Moselle surrounded by vine groves, where you may taste local white vine or crémant in the bar overlooking the river while the little ones feed the swans.

This is our short pit stop in Luxembourg. But there are many more other attractions to visit and discover. All you need is to be lucky and visit it during those few sunny days of the year:)

Dunes beyond skyscrapers

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A typical reaction to the fact that we went to Emirates for holidays was “Is there anything worth seeing or doing?” Well, it depends on what you are looking for.

I do not argue that Dubai indeed has many skyscrapers, many shopping malls and many Russians. But it does not stop there. All these skyscrapers and shopping malls were not there 50 years ago, but people lived there, they had traditions, culture, food and dunes with the sea. Leave the city and you will be faced with the infinity of the sand on the one side and with the endless sea on the other. Just too many visitors never leave their hotel’s beach club. On the other hand Emirates (and not only Dubai) are packed with the attractions for kids that could keep you busy for weeks. It is true kids’ paradise (but I will write about this next time).

A good place to learn about the country and its past is Al Ain (an oasis city that shall be on everyone’s ‘must see’ list!). A trip to a different country starts the moment you leave Dubai’s or Abu Dhabi’s high-rises behind. All you can see around is sand – yellow, orange, red, and an occasional roaming camel. If not the modern highway you could imagine yourself to be an explorer on the back of the camel crossing the Empty Quarter. The trip from any of the two megalopolises is only a bit more than an hour so could be done as a day tour, but I think that there are a lot of things to see making it worth to spend in Al Ain at least few days. One shall also consider that the place is inland that makes it very hot (our car showed 43 degrees).

During our two day visit we saw Al Ain palace museum – the home of Sheikh Zayed, the founder of UAE; Al Jahili fort – the most historic building in UAE, Al Ain national museum that holds artefacts from surrounding archaeological sites and shows a very interesting short movie about the history of the oasis. The big attraction for kids was a visit to camel market where we saw hundreds of different camels, small and big, old and babies. We just forgot to ask how much they costJ. When entering Al Ain oasis you understand why this place was of such an importance as the shades of the palms make a nice retreat from the midday heat. Finally we drove all the way up to Jabel Hafeet, but frankly, did not find it somehow extraordinary. Maybe because the views were not clear as the air was hazy. But there is a nice playground for kids at the top so they did not complain about the drive.

As the trip was too short and the days were too hot we had no time to visit Al Ain zoo which is apparently very nice and the attempt to explore Hili archaeological park failed as it was closed without any apparent reason. But maybe even better – now we have a reason to come back.

Picture perfect George Town

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Visiting such places as George Town makes me think that I should take some photography classes as no matter how hard I try the pictures do not capture the views I see the way I see. On the other hand, trying to get the kids to pose for a photo does not allow also bothering of a light conditions or shutter speed. They may cooperate for one picture or two but then they have better things to do than stay still and smile to a camera. This was not the case, however, during our George Town treasure hunt where the treasure was wall paintings and hidden street art. It keps us busy the whole day and surprisingly not a time we heard the infamous ‘we are bored’!

By the way, the most famous paintings were done by my compatriote – Lithuanian artist Ernestas Zacharevicius.