Hello and moien !
I'm in the beautiful historic city of Luxembourg.
Now, when I made my video about the highest point in mainland Netherlands,
the Vaalserberg,
A few of you replied saying that you enjoyed the video, but it's kind of a boring place.
And I think any normal person would agree with you.
They'd say: "yes, there are other things you can do in the Netherlands that are much more interesting."
And only a complete idiot would look at that and say :
"I bet there are other highest points that are much more boring"
Anyway, long story short: today, we're going to climb the highest point in Luxembourg.
(what do you mean that's a stupid idea ?)
(Intro music)
This is the central railway station in the city of Luxembourg,
the capital city of the country of Luxembourg.
And we're going to get a train from here to the other end of the country...
which is about an hour away.
To do that, I bought myself a "billet longue durée", a long duration ticket, literally,
and for €4, this might just be one of the world's great travel bargains.
It allows you to travel on the entire rail and bus network of the country for a day.
So you can travel as far as you like (in Luxembourg), on as many buses and trains as you like (in Luxembourg),
until 4 AM tomorrow morning.
So, in theory, I think it could be possible to visit all 68 railway stations in Luxembourg for just €4.
As the train leaves the station, it loops around the fortified old city,
which perches dramatically on clifftops overlooking the gorges of the Pétrusse and Alzette rivers.
And there are some great views as we cross the steep-sided valleys on a series of vertiginous viaducts.
And, speaking of vertiginous, let's talk about what we're planning to climb today,
because, if the city is as dramatic and spectacular as this, imagine what the mountains are going to be like.
We're heading for the distant hills of the far north (of Luxembourg),
where we will take on the highest summit of them all : Kneiff.
Standing at 560m above sea level,
it is the equivalent of taking 3/4 of the Vaalserberg and putting it on top of the Vaalserberg.
(how does that make any se-)
*beep*
(Train conductor over PA) : Prochain arrêt, Troisvierges !
One hour later and we've reached Troisvierges, the last station before the Belgian border.
And if you think you've heard me say that name somewhere before,
that might be because there used to be another little railway that started here called the Vennbahn.
But today, we're getting on the bus, which will take us to base camp.
And when I say "base camp", I mean we're getting some crisps at a petrol station.
Oh ! Interesting fact: Luxembourg has the lowest fuel taxes of any country in Western Europe.
And you can see a beautiful illustration of how international economics works right here.
Anyway, now, the serious stuff begins.
We must forget the temptations of Belgium and commence our assault on Kneiff.
And as any climber will tell you, this is where the adrenaline kicks in.
What challenges will we face ?
What will we find at the summit ?
Will we even make it that far ?
Yes, probably, it's just up here.
Remember, the Netherlands' highest point has a monument, a café, a restaurant, two observation towers,
a labyrinth, the meeting point of three countries,
And Luxembourg's highest point has...
This...stone.
And, yeah. That's kind of it.
So Tim, 4000 new people subscribed to the channel in a week, and you've brought us all to see... a stone in a field ?
Well yes, but before you all unsubscribe, what you're looking at here isn't just a stone.
It's also an entertainingly massive cockup.
In 1905, a Frenchman called Jules Hansen produced the first ever map covering the whole of Luxembourg,
using a barometer to mesure altitude.
And he said:
"Zis iz ze highest point in the country".
And in 1928, Luxembourg built a tower there.
And everything was fine until 1952,
when the National Geography Institute of Paris came back and made a new map using more accurate methods.
And they said :
"Actually euhhhhhh, zat iz not ze highest point
Ze highest point is here !"
So, slightly embarassing, but Luxembourg basically said
"Weeell, we wanted a tower in that other place anyway"
And on the new highest point, they built a new tower.
There's even a sign saying
"This is the highest point in the country."
And everything was fine until 1997, when GPS revealed that it wasn't.
There was a hill 1 kilometer away that was one meter higher.
And that hill was Kneiff.
And this time, Luxembourg just said "ah, screw it."
So there you go. This is the story of two monumental errors. Literally.
But, you know what, if you're from the Netherlands, then maybe, just maybe,
this has made you a little bit prouder of the Vaalserberg.
And if you're from Luxembourg, well,
yes, you might've made a complete mess of your highest point, but who cares,
when your capital city looks as good as this.
Apparently, they're also the richest country in the world. Probably softens the blow.