Has anyone been to Luxembourg?

It snowed.

I have a job interview over there in a couple of weeks. Does anyone know if anything ever happens in Luxembourg?

Well, apparently it snows.

I've heard some lousy rain stats about Luxembourg as well.

Nothing happens in Luxembourg. All the EU civil servants dread being posted there and are desperate to get back to Brussels. Brussels! That's how boring it is. And it's also killingly expensive to live there. (all according to a friend of mine who works at the commission).

I did actually go there once. It was quite nice to visit. But I don't think I'd want to live there. Think small provincial French or German town (only more expensive).

I knew a girl from there once. Very German.

It's nice looking and is on the edge of a smashing gorge, but small provincial French or German town says it all. 20% of its population is Portuguese, so you should be able to get decent custard tarts and Guarana. I watched the local weather forecast, which forecast rain & clouds in the north of the country and sunshine in the south.

I had to go for a press trip at the end of 2006 so I was being taken to fun places, but MUDAM is a pretty good museum for contemporary art. Spoke to people living there and by LDN standards housing isn't expensive but compared to any cool city in Germany it is.

Thanks, everyone. Please to hear about the Portguese population as I speak Portuguese. Yes, Suzy, MUDAM comes highly recommended. I'm told there's a lovely art-house cinema too.

I suspect it does indeed come across as a provincial East French/German town, but it is rather spectacular, no?

Zelda, the job I'm going for is with the Commission!

It is very pretty and the person who was my hostess came from the family who had the Grand Duke's butcher or whatever for 300+ years. You won't be able to miss this place, when the shutters are down there is a graf of a Warhol cow.

the family who had the Grand Duke's butcher

sorry?

I love the fact that it's a Grand Duchy, though. (Oh no, I've got 'Pass the Duchy' running round my head now.)

uh, meaning they had the ducal warrant, providers of meaty goodness to GD, for all that time. Howevs it is the Warhol cow that is worth noting first.

You don't take the piss out of the royalty there, not to Thai levels of worship but verrrrrry respectful, shall we say?

The city of Luxembourg is very, very nice though. Lot's of great architecture, a modernly built city fitting just perfectly into forlorn territory (that's how I've experienced it, anyway).

The cons are true: it's like The London City, business wise. Not much fun there. But a big pro for Luxembourg is that it's such a tiny country, you're in Brussels, Munchen, Paris, Amsterdam within two, three hours. You can go where you like, and it doesn't take much time to get there.

Plus, from what I've seen, it's one of the most clean places I've ever visited. I know they didn't put the death sentence on throwing garbage on the streets. But if I didn't have that knowledge, I'd probably believe it. Clean as a whistle.

Thanks, M Ivre, but would I miss the dirt of London? And you seem to say that the best thing about Lux is that it's easy to escape from...

Suzy, I'm impressed. Can't wait to see the cow!

I went rock-climbing there a long time ago and spent a week camping. The rock-climbing ended badly (nearly dropped my partner, burned my hand pretty bad trying to get hold of the line again) and we had extra time to kill. Sorry, but it was BORING. There's something kind of sinister about the cleanliness. I kept thinking evil things were probably going on behind the shutters.

That was me. Scott wouldn't be caught dead in the Benelux.

Thanks, M Ivre, but would I miss the dirt of London? And you seem to say that the best thing about Lux is that it's easy to escape from...

Well, I was under the impression that you'd more or less gathered only negative information about Luxembourg. And were looking up to living and working there, 's the feeling I got. I just wanted to balance the scale a bit (I'm not a resident there, just visited the country several times).

There's two ways of looking at the escape: 1) fleeing from a place, 2) having the chance to go to lots of other places. In the case of Luxembourg, the latter, to me, seems to have more value. It's the glass half empty/half full question.
Luxembourg is tiny, it's not a front runner country when you look at arts and stuff. The city itself is gorgeous, but not huge, so you'll know it after some time. But it's the perfect base to explore other rich-cultured city's, 's all I'm saying.
And don't be fooled: you can experience some great hiking trips through the woods there as well. The restaurants are okay as well, good food.

As for the dirt: that all depends on your fondness of dirt :)

Look, if it gives you any indication our one run-in with a sketchy vagrant dude was when we parked in a ramp by chichi hilltop restaurant of some repute and PUNCHLINE ALERT the beer he was holding had a wedge of lemon jammed in the mouth.

Suzy LOL

Thanks for being positive, Bateau - that's what I want to hear, really. And Luxembourg is undoubtedly a pretty place.

Ah Daniel we might soon be colleagues then! EC ILXorz reprazent!

I think it was Zelda upthread being OTM. Most expats in Luxb without kids come up to Brussels every single weekend. Unfortunately, there's no high-speed connection so it's still a 3 hour ride.

Apparently it's brilliant for cycling - there's a long article on it in this month's Cycling Plus.

EC ILXorz reprazent

Yeay! What do you do over there?

In addition to the crappy road links, the train link between Bruss and Lux is also apparently creaking and slow.

Mark, I did a cycling trip round the Ardennes a couple of summers ago and it was much fun, albeit quite challenging for a relative novice like me.

My hostess also brought major LOLs describing a class of 40/50-something men in Lux who were trashy Mitteleuropean businessmen who all looked like Sven-Goran Eriksson with their gold-rim specs, sockless loafers, and pastel convertibles. Avoid, obviously.

Also description of local food: French cuisine, German-sized portions. Unless you go have Thai at Cat Club, which seems like it would be full of trendy people. Really good Luxembourgish place in the gorge between old and new towns, just follow the people. Can't remember the name of the other restaurant but the chef was very MTVrocknroll in a Jamie Oliver way and we had lots of amuses served in test tubes.

Also, best building ever, contemporary art showpiece La Rotonde, ex-engine turning shed:

http://www.icinema.unsw.edu.au/img/projects/180_220/newfound2.jpg

xp
I'm on the mothership in Brussels... working on transport stuff. is it a translation job?

re. Luxb people seem very enthusiastic about the outdoor/sportsy kind of stuff going on there. If you're more the night/bars type, you might find it very limited.

All I can say is my friend worked there as a translator and hated it and couldn't wait to get back to Brussels. That said, he is not an outdoorsy type at all, he is a going-to-restaurants-and-gay-bars type.

I did think the town looked very striking straddling that ravine the one time I went there. But I was there for a day and a night and, frankly, I thought that was enough.

I like the Rotonde! Here's more: http://www.rail.lu/rotonde.html

Intrigued to sample 'amuses' in test tubes.

As for outdoor/sportsy v night/bar, I like to do both where possible. Having lived in London for the past ten years, I know that IF I GET THE JOB I will have to adjust my sights in terms of night/bar/culture/events happening/new places opening up etc

Yeah, the post I'm aiming for is a translation job with the EC.
Pure conjecture at this stage, but maybe in the fullness of time I'd be able to move to Brussels.

I drove through and saw the skyline in the distance. So annoyed.

boring asfuck. went there when i was about 16

It may be worth it if you eventually get to move to Brussels (which I like a lot). EC translators (if my friend is anything to go by) get tremendous perks. He's had six-week language courses in Istanbul, Helsinki and Budapest, he gets to work from home 3 days a week, he pays no tax, he gets long holidays which he uses to jet off to exotic locales...

The actual translation work is really dull but who cares with perks like that. Oh, and at the moment he's also getting weekly classes in Arabic and will probably end up spending a month or two in Cairo or somewhere Arab-speaking at the Commission's expense...

Yes, Zelda, I'm led to believe that working for the EU has some very nice perks.

I too have a very positive impression of Brussels.

Tell me about Letzeburgish

Reading about it here, it looks weird

It sounds weird, too. I was there last week. I asked a woman in a bar what language she and her friends were speaking and she said Letzeburgish. I felt very embarrassed - imagine if you and a friend were in a bar in your own country speaking your own language and some knobhead came up to you and asked you what language you were speaking...

Constitutional crisis!

So did Daniel move there in the end?

Hello, baaderonix. Yes, and, while I wouldn't claim it's the centre of the universe, I must say it's nothing like the dismal backwater that I feared.

Have you seen Kaiff3r the Butcher's Warhol cow yet?

I haven't but thanks for reminding me! I will go out for a walk later and look for it; Grand Rue is just round the corner.

skot is a rock climber??? :D

Haha! I have a friend who just moved there in Sept (alos to be an EU translator) and so far he loves it. Must go visit

What's his/her name? I started in September as well. It's possible we did our induction course together. I'm having a top time as well.

As for the constitutional crisis in Luxembourg, it's quite an interesting story, isn't it? It's got all the elements - church v state, monarchy called into question, etc

He's a bald greek...! Are you in the EP or the CDT?

He's a bald greek...!

So that's where this guy ended up at the end of the series:

http://z.about.com/d/tvdramas/1/0/w/K/shield-mikechick.jpg

Ah I didn't mention which institution. I'm in neither off the ones you mentioned - I'm at the Commission.

am there for the night & morning. what is the single thing to do here except gawp at rich ppl

gawp at hills and forests. there is a rest stop off the highway that has an absolutely terrible diner with gauche 1950s americana decor. don't miss it!

sorry my knowledge of luxembourg is not extensive. rode through there once on a bus and stopped at this rest stop.