Luxemburg: The Bock, the Casematten and the Grund stadt

My sister and I didn't plan our visit to Luxemburg city in detail and that's the way I like it best. Walking around and looking around with a city map more or less random with just some must see highlights in the back of our mind is sufficient.

We both had one must visit on our list though and that were the casematten of the Bock, a high narrow rock next to the Aldstadt (connected with a viaduct bridge) that was the location of the first old medieval fortification. The nobility rebuilt the castle, extended it over generations and then the city grew next to it. 

Centuries later the Austrian occupiers/rulers dig a network of halls into the rock that you now can visit.  

The bock with the casematten in it.

The visit was ideal as the blue sky from that morning switched to grey showers, although the casematten are still in "open air", so you still need to dress for the cold.  From the holes in the casematten you get great views over the Grund Stadt on one side and the other valley onthe other side. It's quite surreal to realise one of the main access roads just runs on top of the Bock. 

perspective and symmetry inside the viaduct

After lunch we descended from the Bock and Aldstadt via what is described as the most beautiful road of Luxemburg that winds down from the Bock towards the lower city , the Grund stadt. 

Both sisters were constantly making pictures...genetic trait? Anyway, so we have a lot of pictures of each other making pictures.

We strolled at ease in the Grund Stadt which is dominated by a big convent along the river.  It gave a great view of the Bock and the Casematten towering above us, where we were just before. 

You can't walk a few streets in Luxemburg without crossing old city fortifications. 

We followed the Alzette river towards the confluence of the Pétrusse creek and then took the curve to walk in the Pétrusse valley on the other side of the Aldstadt, below the big viaduct that had brought us to the city in the morning.   It seemed a nice spot to hang out in summer with pop-up bars, playgrounds, ...

Along the Pétrusse rocks above are another set of casematten that can be visited but we thought we had spent enough time inside the rocks for now. We returned to a little bar we had seen at the bottom of the city elevator, where we tried some cocktails and after a long day of walking we returned via the public escalator in the rock back up to the Aldstadt.