4 Countries in 4 Days

First time I have had a minute to write on my blog since returning from Europe earlier this week.

At the end of last week I flew over to Luxembourg to meet with a number of international companies that are actively recruiting accountants to join their teams. It was the first time I had been there for a few years and it was interesting to note what had changed and what had not changed.

The city itself is still as pretty as ever. The city centre architecture remains lovely, with pretty, historic buildings. An old town and an even older town. The palace and a number of old buildings sitting high up on a rock. Not too dissimilar to Edinburgh. Luxembourg still feels safe, clean and easy to get around. The bars and restaurants were fantastic, lively and something for everyone.

The main change I noticed is there are the more new modern office buildings on the outskirts. Business have been doing very well during my absense and many have doubled in size with new ones entering the market.

Most companies boast having c40 different nationalities working for them, which makes for a pretty multicultural environment. With the city being less than 1 hours drive from France, Germany and Belgium this is no surprise.

So, I thought I would stay on for the weekend and test what it would be like to be living in this central European location… On Saturday I joined a friend and started the day in a lovely patisserie with fresh croissants, fresh orange, warming cups of Belgium hot chocolate and champagne and orange juice. We were surrounded by pastries, chocolates, ginger bread and all sorts of other delicacies to tempt us. Tearing myself away from these temptations we went out into a splendid market square. Lined with lovely historic buildings the square was full of stalls selling cheeses, pates, fresh fruit, dried fruit, meat, fish, spices you name it. After an hour of browsing and tasting the produce on offer I knew I had my dinner sorted!

Then it was time to cross the border. 50 minutes later I was in France, sitting, purchased a fresh stick of French bread to accompany dinner and sitting in a brew pub sampling beers brewed on the premises. Hard work this checking out what its like living in this region! The day finished as planned, plenty of cheese, wine, frois gras and of course some French wine.

Sunday took me back over the border, through Luxembourg and into Germany into the historic town of Trier. This is the oldest town in Germany, again with lovely architecture and interesting ruins. I just wish they hadn’t let Macdonald’s into their main square!

Monday morning flew back to Edinburgh. Not a pleasant experience because it was with Ryan Air, something I will avoid repeating again whenever possible, but not always possible…. Great weekend though!

I recommend Luxembourg as a location to live and work in to all ages, people with families or single. So much for everyone to do, excellent work experience available for accountants and a lovely place to live. Central in Europe. How great is that!

Abigail