Luxembourg Redeemed and on to Germany

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After hitting Luxembourg at "rush hour" yesterday, I was a bit concerned with the crowds we might find today when trundling through the city. We were happy to find that mid-morning was perfect for our adventure and we had a wonderful time!
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We had a nice breakfast at our hotel that was decorated in Ikea colors....white, yellow and blue. Then caught a bus into the center of the city, to the "old town" section. Luxembourg was basically one huge fortress with two large gorges. It's really pretty cool to see.

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First we stopped at the Dukes' Palace.




Then we walked over to the Notre-Dame Church. (which has been renamed like 5 times)

They are very serious about their organs here!

I think this was the sarcophagus of John the Blind, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia?

Crypt of the Bishops and ducal family. (this crypt and the sarcophagus are both underneath the church, so you travel down a couple flight of stairs in to these chambers and they are the size of a church themselves)

Cool door.

One entrance to the cathedral.

Eye catching architecture.

After touring the cathedral we walked through a few really cool alley-ways and then entered the casemates, which is a series of tunnels that were created for defense of the fortress.

The tunnels were built in 1644 by the Spanish, then enlarged by the French and Austrians.

We had a great time exploring and Evertt thinks we need to build this system in our backyard. (I think they said there were 17km of tunnels left to explore!)

Next, we walked through the city and on to the train station to catch a train into Germany.

We stopped for sandwiches and pastries at the station in Trier, Germany. We had planned to head south to the Black Forest and into Switzerland, but decided to head on to my brother's house near Stuttgart, instead. We have not seen him in a few years and are anxious to spend some time visiting.

So, on to Mannheim, Stuttgart, Boblingen and the town where Keith lives. (can't remember the name, right now)

**Stuttgart train station

We arrived at the station near Keith's house and walked a short distance to his address. We are looking forward to chillin' with my nephews and catching up with Keith.

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