Author: Liam Bodlak

Location: Luxembourg City

Pronouns: He/Him/His

I had one more travel weekend before finals, and I was struggling to come up with somewhere to go. I’d already been most places in Germany, and I wanted to go somewhere really worthwhile. However, one night after talking to my mom about my Luxembourgish heritage, I decided to look up how close Luxembourg City was. Surprisingly enough, it was close enough for a day trip. So, one Saturday, I decided to travel by myself to Luxembourg City for a day.

Luxembourg City, and the entire country in general, is interesting because of its history, and what its history shaped it into. It’s been colonized and ruled by many different countries, and shared borders with many more, thus making it somewhat of a combination of different cultures. I heard people speaking French, German, English, and Luxembourgish, and a tour guide told us that a substantial amount of people that work in Luxembourg City don’t even live in the country. This leads to a multicultural society of people that all share the same love for the city. There are beautiful views, a downtown area with lots to do, and friendly people wherever you go.

The people were what intrigued me the most about the trip. Two in particular. One was a US Air Force serviceman I met while taking a tour of the city. We wound up grabbing drinks and dinner and hanging out for a bit and talking about life back in the US and our travel experiences. It was the type of experience I could only have traveling alone, and it’s one that I was extremely grateful for. Then, on the way back, I sat next to a South Korean man who was living in a small German town. We had a long talk about Germany, travel, and what it really meant to call somewhere home. As with the previous encounter I had, I was extremely grateful to meet him. The day trip was relaxing, fun, and let me discover a part of my heritage that I hadn’t previously been that in touch with. I’d highly recommend Luxembourg City to anyone who finds themselves in Europe.