Luxembourg to Amsterdam, April 1, 2006

My last full day in Europe started with another geocaching hunt in Brussels. I had searched for a few the previous afternoon with no finds. I had sat on a nearby bench, waiting for the muggles to get up from their park bench and had given up and after 20 minutes. This morning I made my way to the last easy one, that I hadn't searched for yet. I saved the park bench as my last resort.

I wanted to get back to Amsterdam for my last night in Europe, so I headed out, on a mission. For a Saturday morning, Brussels was dead. "The Lift" was uphill (of course) and about a mile away. About half way there, my leg brace suddenly felt loose. One of the hinges had come loose. It had never happened before. I did not have an allen wrench to fix it. Not on me and not in my luggage. I pressed on.

I walked to the top, forgetting that the cache is near an elevator, thus the name of "The Lift." I found the 35mm film canister, signed my name and started making my way toward the park bench hide. After a few minutes, I realized that the brace wasn't loose, it was broken. The hinge piece had rubbed on my inside ankle and there was a sign of blood. I removed the brace and carried it as I slowly, cautiously made my way back to the hotel.

There were no tool stores open, or any that I saw at all. The desk clerk had no access to tools and the handyman did not work on weekends. I now carry an allen wrench with me all the time.

I had moved so slowly that I had to hurry to check out in time. I doctored my fresh wound and the others I acquired along the road. I was so happy that this happened at the end of the trip, rather than the start. It could have been a show stopper. After the shortest cab ride ever, I eventually made my way to the correct track, for my train to Amsterdam.

The last long train ride was depressing. I kept thinking that my trip was almost over. My stop in Amsterdam, at the start of the trip seemed to be so long ago. My sorrow of an ending trip lifted from thinking about all the places I had been and the great people I chatted with.

I had reservation set for the Best Western Eden. Based on all the previous hotels, I assumed that this one would be another nice one. WRONG! It was Saturday night and I should have made a reservation earlier and really should be happy I found a safe hotel. I dropped my bags in the closet of a room, changed dressing, splashed some water on my face and went to the desk clerk to ask where I could find a store with tools.

I was in luck, there was a hardware store only a few blocks away. I found it with ease and bought and fixed my brace right in the store. I relaxed knowing that I wouldn't be stuck in the dinky hotel. I made my way to the damrak to buy cheap trinkets. Stopping here and there for food and drinks.

Another Traveler:


With no worries about making my flight home and having nothing on my agenda, I had a fun night. Those tourists sure know how to party. By the time I got back to the teeny hotel room, it didn't matter how awful my last hotel room was, I just wanted to sleep. I double checked the alarm clock and let myself fall fast asleep.





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To Luxembourg then Brussels, March 31, 2006

The run for the finish line (find caches in the last two counties, on my list) began long before the sun came up. My last day in Paris wore me out. I was in bed by 10 and woken up around 1am.

Some coed spring breakers arrived at the hotel and just couldn't figure out how to use a key to open the door. After about 10 minutes of listening to them, I started to laugh and got dressed. I opened my door and saw startled all four of them.

I spoke broken 'inglish' and pretended to be a Frenchman. I asked what was the problem, "Do you not have keys in America?" "You graduated from University, no?" "Maybe this big strong man should protect you for the rest of your visit?" Their awkward responses, showed just how naive they were.

I showed them the trick to opening the door (pull on the handle) and then said "If a regular Joe from Connecticut can figure it out - You four can to. Welcome to Paris." The smiles all around were precious.

I was back in bed and snoring long before the 'worldly travelers' chatted themselves to sleep.

My alarm at 5 am was not welcome, but I had to get and keep moving. I woke up the desk clerk. That couch could not be very comfortable. As I waited for the taxi, and during the ride to the train station, I saw Paris waking up. I had apprehension as to how this visit would be and was pleasantly surprised at what I good time I had, in Paris.

The train ride from Gare de Lyon to Luxembourg City was uneventful. With the exception of a few business people, the car was empty. Watching the French countryside roll by, I thought about how soon this adventure would end. In 48 hours, I would be boarding the airplane for home.

Welcome to Luxembourg:


I guess the city is growing. I stored my luggage and started walking toward one of the geocaches.








Needless to say, the cache wasn't there - I started on my way to the next easy cache.


My walk brought me to picturesque area:










The cache site is in this picture - can you guess where it is?






Having completed my search, I started my hike out of the valley. I still had to get to Brussels, find a hotel and ...

I hopped a bus to get back up to city level. Unfortunately, the bus driver did not speak a word of english. It took me a minute to figure out that I had to put the fare on a little table and he would deposit it. For the first time, in a while, I felt like a fish out of water.



At the top of the hill, near some government buildings (palaces?), I hopped off and wandered through the small streets heading generally toward the train station. I stopped at a restaurant for lunch. As dad used to say, MMMMmmmm Graaaaaveeeee." I said, "MMMMmmmm BEEEEEEER."

Coming out of the valley, there were a lot more people talking english. I grabbed a taxi to the station, where the cabbie said that most Luxembourgers do speak english. Very well I might add.

I grabbed my luggage and a couple beers for the ride to Brussels.

Central Station in Brussels is near the Grand Place and so was my hotel. Another marble covered bathroom, king size bed, well stocked mini fridge... I arrived with plenty of time to search for caches. I didn't find any, but I did find lots of chocolate.



Grand Place (Grand Plaza)(Grand Palace):




Oh yeah - PRIMUS SUCKS!!!


After a few hours of hunting between the Grand Place and the park near the Royal Palace, I had no luck. I was worried that this country may go without a find. I had a nice dinner and who knew, Belgium has biere. I think the beer, chocolate and waffles would have tasted better, if I didn't have to still find a cache to complete my quest.





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