Day 29     Sunday, September 28, 2025

Bob found a free zoo in the countryside not far from us.  Cities and museums are interesting but after a while we both need a change of pace. It is a sunny today and we are both ready for a more relaxing day.  Every time we pass this crosswalk Bob mistakes these signs for real children.  Perhaps they are a bit too lifelike?

On our drive we see these cement pillboxes, remnants of the First World War.  There are reminders of both the World Wars all over Europe, in cities, towns and the countryside. These reminders are a part of everyday life and make the wars seem not so distant. At home in Canada, it seems like we think about the world wars in November on Remembrance Day.  Here I am thinking about them much more often.

On the way to the zoo we stop at a place just off the highway where people go rock climbing.There is no hint that these cliffs are a couple minutes walk from the road.

We hear voices, and walk around a corner to see a group of people rock climbing.

We sit on a big rock and watch for a while.  I am amazed a the strength these climbers have in their fingers and toes.  Of course they are strong overall, but so much relies on their fingers and toes finding the right nooks and crannies and supporting the climber’s weight as they slowly make their way up the rock face. It is amazing to watch them. We never had a chance to try anything like this when we were younger and I think it is a bit too late to begin now.  

One young couple went over to another rock face to climb. We heard a crash and I saw this climber fall from a height of about 3 meters, maybe more. He looked like he was free climbing as we didn’t see any rope. He lay on the ground not moving for a long time, then finally was able to sit up with help. He was carried over to a chair and I chatted with him as we left.  He said several times that he was very lucky. He hurt his ankle but he didn’t think that it was broken. We wished him luck. I’m sure he will be black and blue and very sore as he fell sideways and landed on the full length of his body. It was scary to watch it happen.

We walked a bit further and saw this woman climbing…she was impressive!  She was climbing much higher than the first people we watched. In no time she managed to climb onto and over the outcropping of rocks just above her in this photo.  Her husband was her belayer and their two children were watching.  They had rock climbing harnesses as well. the boy ran up to us to welcome us to their spot, laughing and giggling the whole time with his sister.

She is so strong!  It was pretty incredible to watch her maneuver her way up a sheer rock face. I could have stayed even longer but we want to get to the zoo, so we head back to our car.

The Escher Déierepark-Tierpark is free and is more of a petting farm than a zoo.  The animals are mostly farm animals, along with a few different types of deer, and they are quite tame. We are able to buy bags of pellets to feed them. I think we had as much fun as the kids!

This beautiful Highland cow (I think it was a she) was my favourite.

She really loves to be fed! I think we became friends!

Bob made friends with this younger Highland cow.

There is a sign asking not to feed the geese, and they object very loudly to being left out.

A few of the deer resting in the shade. We have our picnic lunch here and walk around the park twice. It was such a nice relaxing afternoon and we so enjoyed the sunshine and watching the children feed the animals.

On the walk back to the car we see an area that has been uprooted by wild boars. Wild boars are found in Luxembourg and are considered Europe’s only “dangerous game” animal. Hunters in Luxembourg shoot about 5,000 animals annually. They are increasing in number and are becoming a problem as they move closer to inhabited areas.

We see a garden folly and I take a closer look. 

Sorry for the blurry photo. We have seen several of these large black cutouts of a person with a white cross on their chest.  I google to find out what they are, only to discover these are used to mark the spot where a person has died in a motor vehicle accident.