2020 Travel the World - Week 4

FYI: It's not Tuesday. LOL! Usually these Travel the World cards are on my blog on Tuesdays, but I have another card that needs to be on my blog tomorrow, so Travel the World is a day early this week.

I started my Travel the World Series last year. (It should be noted that I did a similar thing in 2018, only it was the 50 states.) For 50 weeks in 2019, I visited a different country (virtually) and shared facts about that country. I then selected one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. Fifty weeks; fifty countries... BUT there are 195 countries in the world so that was just a little over 25% of them. Of course I couldn't stop, so this year I'm continuing with fifty more countries, one per week.

This week's country is...

Luxembourg

Luxembourg is a little smaller than the state of Rhode Island, making it one of the tiniest countries in the world.

Forests cover more than a third of the country.

Over half of the permanent residents of Luxembourg are natives and just under half of them are foreign born. There are about 170 different nationalities calling Luxembourg home, the majority of the immigrants are Portuguese (over 15 percent). The country also has very small Jewish and Romani (Gypsy) populations.

Luxembourg is the second richest country in the world.

Luxembourg is home to many stunning castles. Several castles have been preserved and restored, and are very much worth visiting.

There are 17 kilometers (over ten and a half miles) of underground tunnels under The Bock that are cut through solid rock beneath Luxembourg City. First started in 1644, they were used as air raid shelters during World Wars I and II.

Le Chemin de La Corniche is a pedestrian walkway built along the tops of the ramparts on the eastern side of the fortress-city of Le Chemin. Its nickname is “Europe’s most beautiful balcony”.

Luxembourg has seven national parks: two are diverse nature parks, two are humid zones, two are nature reserves, and one is a protected area.

Luxembourg’s population is generally tri-lingual. The national language, Luxembourgish, is taught in nursery school and spoken at home and among natives. In fact, the major symbol of social class divisions is which language is understood and spoken in the home. German is the first new language taught at school and French and English are taught in secondary school. All three are spoken in public and French, German and English used doing business.

Schiessentumpel is a three-part waterfall on the Black Ernz River that tourists and locals both love to visit.

Almost half of the country's workforce lives in another country and commutes to work in Luxembourg. They come from France, Belgium, and Germany.

With 647 cars purchased per 1,000 people, Luxembourg has the highest rate of car ownership in the entire world. What is the top selling brand? Volkswagen is purchased most often. 

You can rent bikes for free anywhere in Luxembourg City for 30 minutes.

Luxembourg is one of the world’s safest countries and has only two jails.

When eating out with others in Luxembourg, table manners are formal and you must have good ones at all times. First, remain standing until you are invited to sit down. The table manners are Continental: you hold your knife in your right hand and your fork in your left when eating. Do not rest your elbows on the table at any time. You begin to eat when your hostess does. Almost all foods are eaten using utensils, including sandwiches. Clean your plate and then show you are finished eating by laying your knife and fork together on the parallel across the right side of your plate.

Good manners dictate you must always take gifts along if invited to someone’s Luxembourg home, usually good chocolates or flowers for the hostess. But always give flowers in odd numbers (but never 13), and don’t give chrysanthemums as they are given at funerals.

Good manners are important to and demonstrated by the Luxembourg people. Being blunt is considered rude behaviors and punctuality is taken very seriously. If you are late, you are seen as unreliable and should offer an explanation and an apology.

I decided to let this Luxembourg fact be the inspiration for this week's card... The national animal is the lion, also known as “the king of beasts”.

Here's the inside of my card:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp Set: Technique Tuesday Leonardo the Lion stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Papers: Recollections Black and 110# White and SU So Saffron CS and AMuse Studio DP

Embellishments: Gina Marie Designs Enamel Dots