Well my friend Rita who is studying in Germany had been wanting to visit for a while, and so naturally I told her she needed to come this particular weekend. I couldn't think of a better time to first visit a country than when it's getting ready for the biggest party of the year. Her trip here had a few hiccups, and she ended up waiting/trying to find me at the Esch train station for close to an hour. I felt awful, but I think I was quickly forgiven after some food and time to relax. My apartment then initiated her into Esch life by taking her to Pitcher. We had to do it right, of course.
The next day we explored pretty much all of Luxembourg City. Wandering from the Grund to the Golden Lady and stopping at the Chocolate House in between. But Sunday was when the real party started. We went to the deer park in Esch, you know starting off the day light, then met up with my apartment mates to...partake in the spirits. And let's just say a lot of spirits were partaken in, but it's all in the spirit of fun. When we made it to the city, it was already pretty full of people, more people than I'd seen my whole time here! As more spirits were taken and the sun went down, it was like the whole country was packed into this particular city. For me, it was a pretty amazing feeling.
This is an actual picture from National Day 2014. This was over by the Golden Lady though, I was on a different side of the city, but just imagine this all over. Oy vey!
Then we saw fireworks starting. So we tried to wander down to get a better view. Well, so did the other thousand people there. For all of the 10 minute show (what kind of fireworks show only lasts for 10 minutes?) we were lodged between strangers and were unable to move. Rita was not a fan, to say the least. Eventually though we found a little crevice to sneak through and managed to find our group of friends again. By this point the streets were turned in a giant club. There were lights going, DJs spinning, people dancing, and beach balls flying through the air. It was just crazy!
Next we wandered into a little bar to watch the U.S. game. Well this game, if you don't remember, was against Portugal. Also, if you don't know, there are a lot of Portuguese people in Luxembourg. So this bar had about 6 people cheering for the U.S. and the rest rooting for Portugal. It was a pretty crazy atmosphere! We ended in a draw and got out of there peacefully. A portion of our group was taking the draw pretty hard, but I was still focused on the giant party going on around us. So we danced for a while until we realized how exhausted we were then took a special 3 am train home. Side note: I wish this train always existed...it would make my life so much easier lol.
After an interesting trip home (filled with drunk people having a blast, and others being less than friendly) we made it back to my place around 4:30. Rita and I then feasted on left overs and ice cream cake. It was a pretty good end to a night full of adventures.The next day we got up a tad late, wandered into Luxembourg City to explore and then spent a bit of time in Remich to relax by the river.
It was a great weekend, and if you're in Luxembourg around the time of National Day, do not pass up the opportunity, it's a totally different world. I had a great time and got to share it with a friend from back home, what more could I ask for?
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