Postcard from Vianden Castle

LUXEMBOURG CITY – The castle was reachable by train, the IC attendant said.

It seemed that many had the same idea, since everyone getting off the train headed to the waiting bus. The bus traversed sections of countryside passable by road wide enough for only one vehicle. The driver managed the bus with an ease borne of years of experience.

The bridge was the closest spot, and the rest of the way was to be made by foot. The mountain path was composed of cobblestones. Sometime, an empty restaurant save for the owner’s family conversed inside. A soccer match played on the television over the bar. Another one sat hoisted onto of a vined pot. The smell of smoke seeped its way indoors. It was an unpleasant attack of strong tobacco of the European variety. The man moved as a person without customers waiting did, slowly and uncaring.

Smoothie-filled, cute decorations lined the houses along the way. The castle was so close in this forested area that it became difficult to tell where it began and ended. And just like that, there was a final straight shot up to the castle itself.

The inside of the castle was barracks style, with grass coming through the cracks of the stone paths. The structure was medieval, with the archways shorter than comfortable. Some sections of the floorboards was removed, and glass casing showed archaeological dig sites. Yesterday’s relics are today’s treasures, apparently.

Whole walk ways within the building was dedicated to depicting the lineage of the royalty that resided in this edifice. What was striking was the fact that countries merged and divided so swiftly over the course of generations. The Nassau, the Orange, and so forth.

The peephole that might alternatively have served as a soldier’s post has long reeds of grass growing through it. The view from within the castle was of the hillside across the valley. Houses peppered these mountain tops. The varied designs were cute, and on a good day, you could imagine people picnicking along the mountainside. It is a good spot to be in peacetime.