Pleasant seems to be about the right word to describe Luxembourg City. It's not one of the world's socially wild capital cities, and also not one where you're constantly pointing out historic site after historic site, but a nice enough place to spend a few days. Especially in the stunning weather we've had since we got here.
We made our way to Luxembourg yesterday via Charleroi which, although we didn't see too much of it, pleasant doesn't seem to adequately describe. It looks rather as if someone has got a job lot of concrete and decided they'd build an unattractive town out of it. Give them their due, they have succeeded, and how.
Luxembourg City has that clean look about it that you get in Scandinavia, you know, very little litter and generally clean. Cosmopolitan is a word which is often used when describing Luxembourg and it is difficult to avoid it. While French appears to be the most widely spoken language I've been questioned in German, Dutch and some other language which was either Flemish or the result of a tongue defect. The buildings too have elements of particularly France and Germany.
The street cafes have been popular amongst the travelling hordes in blue. A bit of a wander through the city in the evening yesterday saw each one peopled by Town fans enjoying the weather and watching the world go by.
We decided that that sort of inaction was precisely what we required and so decided to try out local ale Bofferding, the name of which seems to describe perfectly how you feel after a good number of them. While enjoying a few glasses we got chatting with some Dutch people who, amongst other things, told us that Arnold Muhren's family run recording studios in Volendam and are currently behind one of Holland's top acts. Arnold too, we were told, was a musical talent in his own right.
Prior to all the Bofferdinging and Dutch chat, we'd taken a look around the Old Town which meant crossing one of the bridges over the very dramatic Gorge which splits the city in two.
The sheer depth is startling, however you'd expect that such a gorge would have some fairly extravagant body of moving water at the bottom. However, on closer inspection the ‘river' here turned out to be little more than a trickle.
Other than the street bars, the place d'Armes has been the main centre of Town supporter attention. The square is ringed by tables and restaurants of every type, from some rather classy looking establishments down to McDonald's. Last night David Sheepshanks, George Burley and a number of board members were spotted going into one of them, rather surprisingly not McDonald's given the club's financial situation.
The very busy place d'Armes has a stage where bands of various types play. Jazz seems to have been popular over the last day or so, at least I think it was jazz, if not it takes them an age to tune their instruments.
This morning saw a swift recovery from Bofferding abuse, before a making a trip to take a look at the Stade Jose Barthel. It's not more than a 20-minute walk from the centre of the town, but is not exactly the San Siro. A lot of metal bar work outside and, with the athletics track round the outside, we're unlikely to get the greatest view of the game. The cloudless sky has dispelled worries about the roofless stand, sunburn currently looking a more serious issue.
We tried to get in a take a look around, but they were not in the mood for tours, so we wandered back into the Old Town. The Old Town has most of the main shops, however, they were in the main closed due to today being Ascension Day and a public holiday.
With the heat getting to us we decided to walk down the many, many, many steps into the Gorge, figuring there ought to be a fair amount of shadow and cool down there. After the descent had been made we wandered through the park which the trickle runs through. As in many countries in the this part of Europe a rather large proportion of people seem to be under the delusion that they are in the Tour de France, speeding along the paths and bouncing off the feet of worried-looking pedestrians.
A keenly fought game of Crazy Golf was played out while comedy photos were taken on a hill with what appeared to be giant purple snooker balls placed on it. Perhaps that was down to the Bofferding though.
Town's visit has not gone unnoticed by the locals (locals not necessarily meaning Luxembourgers, it's tricky to tell who is a genuine local given the large numbers from elsewhere). We were asked by an American child in Arsenal shorts if we were over for the football, adding that many people were going to the match simply because of the rarity of professional teams playing in Luxembourg.
Only a few hours now before the 8pm kick-off (CET), so we're going to get showered, have something to eat and see if we can organise a pre-match drink with a few of the locals before watching Town get themselves a long way to the UEFA Cup proper.