While Luxembourg might seem like a quiet country that offers few surprises, this year has been full of freak occurrences and mysterious happenings. Below are the 11 craziest things that happened this year.
Landlord goes mad
In January, a Gasperich man moved out of his rental apartment where he’d lived for three years. During the move-out inspection, the owner found no damages so she returned the rental deposit — without fabricating a single phony charge.
Luxury car driver turns into saint
On a Saturday in February, the driver of a Porsche Cayenne circled a crowded Cactus parking lot before miraculously discovering two vacant spots right next to each other. He squeezed into one — leaving the other for someone else.
Iron will
In April, a woman moved to Luxembourg and rather than immediately determine that Luxembourg is great/awful and that people here are wonderful/miserable, she decided she’d need to live here for several years — in order to have enough experience in the country to pass sound judgement.
Brexit explained
In May, several office workers cornered their British colleague and asked that he explain Brexit, which he managed to do — in just under three hours.
They came here and did what?
One afternoon in June, a German couple from nearby Saarburg drove over the border to Luxembourg — not for cheap cigarettes and gas, but to have lunch and take a stroll along the Moselle.
The Sproochentest and beyond
A woman who learned just enough Luxembourgish to pass the Sproochentest earlier this year continued to show interest in the language — even after being granted Luxembourgish nationality in July.
Major airport delay
In August, a rare delay at the airport resulted in passengers having to suffer an unprecedented long wait in the security line — forcing some travellers to wait for 10 minutes or more.
Public service in action
In September, construction workers closed off part of a lane on a busy two-way street, right near a dangerous curve. Rather than let drivers fend for themselves, the crew dispatched a worker in a fluorescent vest to bravely stand in the road — to direct traffic around the obstacle and prevent an accident.
Vanishing dealers
In early October, a group of friends walked the length of rue de Strasbourg one night and didn’t once get offered drugs — which was frustrating because they were kind of hoping to find some.
Resisting the urge
Despite there being precious little news from Luxembourg to report during a whole week in November, local media outlets resisted the temptation to cover minor stories and celebrity gossip from the U.S.
The spirit of compromise
At a shop in City Concorde in December, an English-speaking customer and a French-speaking employee failed to understand each other. Instead of shouting in their respective languages, they resorted to speaking in German, a neutral language that neither speaks very well, which put them on equal footing.
