where i want to go this weekend

it seems, in this cyberspace, that the hip thing to do is to have a weekly serial, such as tintin's "friday's belts", or "weekly haiku" from tessa scoffs. and so, i've decided to start my own friday tradition here.

my weekly tradition will be an exploration of places i want to go, or have already been and want to return. many of these places come to me in moments of inspiration at my job after getting screamed at by an irate client, followed soon after by getting hung up on. this week's destination unknown will be a place i've already been, but think of often;

Vianden, Luxembourg

vianden is a charming little town nestled in the ardennes forest on the banks of the our river. i visited in the fall of 2003 on a solo trip through europe, and in the trials and tribulations of trying to reach a small town in a foreign country somewhat off the beaten path, i began to seriously question why i decided to include this on my itinerary. that is until the bus turned one last corner and the view to the left came into view.

the castle sits on a rock outcropping that is believed to have first been fortified by the romans, and is first referenced by name as early as the late 7th century. while the city has one of the oldest charters in europe, dating to 1308, the famous castle was built between the 11th and 14th century. by the 19th century, the castle was a total ruin. it was completely retored in 1977 and turned into a museum. today, the city is a major luxembourg tourist attraction with thousands of visitors each year.

for myself, i was impressed not only with the castle, but the quaint village itself and the gorgeous countryside surrounding the village. the town is quite litterly down the street from the german border, so i decided i wanted to fulfil a pre-trip promise to myself and take a long walk into germany in a true forest, as the best i could come up with in san francisco where i lived was the city park. so i spent a couple of hours enjoying the trails surrounding vianden...and several more trying to find my way back out after getting hopelessly lost!

i had gone on this trip not long after i had met and began a long-distance relationship with LaTaureau. i swore to myself if i ever had the chance, i would bring her to this enchanted little corner of the world. until i get a chance to come back here, it is a place i can still visit in my memories and daydreams.