Day 85 and 86- ReLUXing

Around 5:30am our alarm went off. Instead of having to get up to go to work, we lay in for about 10mins and then got up to go to Luxemborg via Zurich.

We were greeted by a wet and cold Salzburg morning and by faces on the bus with them Monday blues, as people headed off to work.

Which reminds me that recently I have had to keep telling myself to not complain – in these 6 months I am not allowed to complain. I have found myself complaining about stupid things like the owner of the guesthouse only providing us with one roll of toilet paper at a time. Or the shower curtain doesn’t work properly. For goodness sake, I keep saying, I am living a dream of mine and still I find something to complain about. It just shows human nature can be so obstinate, no matter what the circumstances. No sooner had I disciplined myself, I walk aboard the first class RAILJET cabin, furnished with adjustable leather seats and enough leg room to park my Golf, I then have the audacity to complain that the seats that had been reserved for us looked straight into a pillar. We decided to rather take the unreserved seats behind us with a cinema scope view of the alpine landscape. 

Waiting for our bus at Neu Anif, Salzburg bus stop. 6:20am. On our way to Luxembourg.

Railjet Train - our ride to Zurich from Salzburg.

My tongue lashing soon faded away as the Railjet accelerated out of Salzburg Hauptsbahnhof into the Austrian countryside in search of rolling hills, green pastures, heards of hungry cows and hopefully a glimpse of Liechtenstein.  Aaaah…I kicked back, relaxed into my racing style seat and got ready for the show.

WELL, all I can say was that Austria and Switzerland gave us show of note. We saw hundred rivers, a number of waterfalls, endless rolling hills with lush green grass (that made me wish I was a cow) and towering snow capped mountains. I could easily live here. Who couldn’t?! I don’t even think the locals get bored of this scenery.

During this amazing show, I cheekily dozed off(not the first time I have done this) only to be woken up by Donna tugging at my shorts and whispering excitedly that the train had broken down. Logically, knowing that there had to be more than this, which inspired her excitement, I listened on. She continued to mention that the train had stopped on the only section of our journey that goes through Liechtenstein. This country is 25km long and 6km wide. It is still run by an iron willed Monarch who lives in a Gothic castle on a hill. The last time this country was involved in a military engagement was in 1866. 80 soldiers were dispatched and 81 returned which included a new Italian friend. The army was disbanded soon afterwards. Anyway, I took as many pictures as I could as we travelled next to Liechtenstein. We really wanted to go to this country but time was a problem and it was in the wrong place. If it could move closer to Spain then we can go there.

This is Liechtenstein - our train stopped here due to issues at the station Buch.

A pic from the train of a lake in Switzerland.

We pulled into Zurich main station 28 minutes later than planned, much to the embarrassment of the very apologetic driver. It wasn’t even his fault. A technical glitch at the station of the border town of Buch was the culprit. But the Austrians and Swiss are foreign to error and don’t handle it well.

While writing this blog we have passed through 4 countries. Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and France.  

We spent 2 hours in Remilly train station as the main station in Metz had a computer problem, which failed to control the track switchgear – therefore no trains could change lanes. Eventually we arrived at Luxembourg main station at around 10:30pm and then sprinted after a bus, which would take us to our hotel. Getting to bed just after 12am.

We had breakfast in Austria, lunch in Switzerland and had supper in Luxemborg. This is certainly excursion to remember.

Today we visited the tiny city of Luxembourg. A very peaceful place, with friendly people and brilliant architecture. We arrived in the town around 11am and had seen everything by 15:30, which included lunch. But a trip well worth it!

Pics of Luxembourg today.

A dos in the park after lunch.