Does this remind of you a specific place? I mean, if LAN parties, bunny-hop, knife only, and cs_italy ring a bell, then you might see what I see here. Although it reminded me of my childhood game, CS 1.6, and the map based on Italy, this is from the center area of Luxembourg.
I decided to detour into the cobblestone road, away from the tourists. Essentially, I wanted to walk around the city in search of something that others weren't looking for.
And oh, did I find it.
Away from all the routes that were busy, at the corner of Rue Large, walking away from where the fishmarket and the National Museum of History and Art, there is a thin cobblestone, curvy aisle, going into Rue de l'Eau.
As I passed the cafe in the corner and into the aisle, I expected to see nothing impressive.
By pure luck, and a reeking stench of whatever happened the night before, I turned my head to the right and was amazed!
A bright iron chandelier hanging from a wooden roof held by large wooden trunk lit up the brick walls and arches, the cobblestone floor glowing from the wetness of the rain.
What is this place?
Passage du Palais
With much curiosity, and the excitement of finding something "hidden", I went through to take a closer look. The style screamed Roman, as well as the prior knowledge of their influence in the area added to the screaming.
Is this a passage that leads to the Palace of the Grand Duke?
There was a sealed water well and a couple of signs here and there. It felt like I was walking into a time capsule. The tagging suggested it is not a well supervised place, which meant not many people come through here.
I dared further inside, climbing the stone brick stones below the arch that had "Passage du Palace" on it to find another curvy, maze-like route. There are restaurants and shops inside on the floors above, and a small yard outside. Unfortunately, most were closed.
It felt like an underrated place that has so much history gushing through it. The more I looked, the more I found. More chandeliers, Roman mosaic, and more stone and wood structures.
I decided to go back down and continue my journey through the Rue de l'Eau into Rue de la Loge, which was once again an unpopular, thin, curvy, cobble stone road.
The aisle was timid, compared to everything else around. If I can recommend one thing, it'd be to not let the tameness of this place to fool you. Keep your eyes busy, and look around. I found some interesting symbols and signs here. Including one that made me wish I had brought my tinfoil hat along with.
The buildings are plastered, and might have a lime wash. Many also have beautiful solgans on them. Funny part is that the discreet "Passage du Palais" should he connecting 2 streets and should, by technicality, be a shortcut to the palace. But in fact, the Rue de la Loge is more of a shortcut than the passage itself.
I never expected to find this, here in the city at least. Arabic calligraphy is a very small niche at least outside the Khaleej countries. They seldom appear in art exhibitions and the market for them is pretty much non-existent. It is what makes this form of art very rare in Europe.
I grew up around such form of art, and frequently visiting the Sharjah museum for study groups meant that I was very used to seeing new calligraphy very often. The last place I expected to see this, after a very long time, was on a wall, in a thin aisle of Luxembourg.
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