Bakker Bugle Blog

Last night, we attended the pre-event festivities for National Day. By my early analysis, it would seem that the pre-event activities are the best part of the holiday. We walked from our apartment down into the city center just before dusk — about 9pm, after we had dinner. The streets were packed with both with families and young adults, with everyone in high spirits. There were lots of tents with food, beer, wine and cocktails, and every restaurant was open with lots of outdoor seating.

The torch-light parade began at 10 and it was enthralling. The torches were like swords that burned from the top down. They were held by almost all the parade participants, including very young children. There seemed to be little concern that anyone would catch fire. I cannot imagine trying to do the same type of event in the US. The safety warnings that would have to be given and permissions slips that would need to be signed would take more energy than you would get from the torches!

After watching the parade for a while, we cut through the main plaza and ended up at the end of the parade route. Cutting through the plaza was quite a project – most of the young adults were packed in any available open area, enjoying a mild refreshment and some quiet music (cough). I think I lost at least 5% of my hearing capacity from the sub-woofers alone.

After the parade ended, it was nearly time for the fireworks. We found a spot in the direction of home and waited patiently for them to begin. To be fair, Will waited patiently. I was irritated because the fireworks were to start at 11:30 and they didn’t begin until 11:50.

Oh, but once they began…..

There are words to describe the fireworks, but I’m not sure they would do them justice. While it was a short program, lasting only about 20 minutes, I would expect that easily 50% more fireworks were shot off than a typical Fourth of July celebration. When you can literally turn a sky red with fireworks, you are setting off a lot of them. It was amazing.

The BBB&B Luxembourg reservation book is officially open. I encourage all of you to take a look at your calendars now and see if a 23 June visit would work for your schedule next year. Remember – reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis!