Luxembourg am Hierscht 3 - Bettendorf, Tandel, Vianden & Diekirch
On Day 3 we explored the countryside again! Our first destination was Betterndorf, a small town along the river Sauer. We learned by then that wherever a river is nearby in Luxembourg, it would be foggy especially in the morning. When we arrived at Betterndorf in the early morning, it was foggy indeed.
We strolled in the city. There was a castle called Château de Bettendorf. The baroque building was built in the 18th century and restored in 1962 while it is said that a castle has been on the site since the 13th century. It's a private owned property and not open to the public. We just took a look and some photos from the front street. The building looked nice while the large backyard was sort of desolate. How would living in such a castle be?
A good news was the local bakery was open in the early morning!
Bakeries in Luxembourg offer both French and German style cakes and pastries, plus, Luxembourg specialties such as Boxemännchen. It was wonderful for who is picky and greedy in terms of desserts. Me!
Igel (hedgehog) chocolate cake looked funny. I think it's a German cake that is usually made in the fall, but maybe it's also a French thing? Instead of the big cake, I got a small version of Igel chocolate.
We didn't see any shops other than the bakery in the town, but that was ok since we just wanted to walk around there.
Next we drove to some villages and fields in the area called Tandel. I guess those places were relatively high or somewhat away from a river. No more fog but the beautiful blue sky!
The view from the hilltop church of the village of Longsdorf was gorgeous!
Farm fields near Longsdorf reminded me of endless rolling hills in England.
Orchard fields in the village of Fouhren was another viewpoint.
Then, we drove up to Vianden, a northern town of Luxembourg that is known for Vianden Castle!
According to the official website of the castle, it is one of the largest and most beautiful feudal residences of the romanesque and gothic periods in Europe. It certainly looked magnificent!
Vianden Castle was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries and had been the official residence of the counts of Vianden for some hundred years. Surprisingly the main construction parts of the castle still remains today.
We self-toured inside of the museum. There were rooms that tells the history of the castle with the models, a well-preserved chapel, several rooms (such as dining hall, banqueting hall, and kitchen) that time-traveled back to the medieval times. It was interesting!
As we planned, we walked down to the town for lunch. Somehow the small town was packed with so many people. We had't known on the second Sunday in October, Vianden hosts the walnut fair, or walnut festival, also known as Nëssmoort. It was the day by chance!
In addition to several walnut sellers, there were many food vendors mostly somewhat related to walnut.
We tried our first Flammkuchen, often known as German pizza. We got all toppings available - onion, bacon, salmon, mushrooms, tomato and, of course, walnuts. As a traditional Flammekuechen, the crust was super-thin and the sauce was sour cream. It was very light and I liked it.
On our way back to Airb&b, we made one more stop at Diekirch, a town in north-eastern Luxembourg and visited the National Museum of Military History. The WWII related collections of the museum were quite extensive.
Finally we were back to our Airb&b. Having a couple of slices of walnut cake from the walnut festival was very nice to unwind at the end of the long day. The cake was delicious! Meanwhile I saved my little hedgehog to take him back home.
To be continued...
