VIII. Gay Games Cologne 2010

Luxembourg? Luxembourg!

The European Continent offers a lot of superlatives. The biggest country of them all is Russia – but to be fair, the biggest part of Russia is in Asia! But the smallest country also can be found here: the Vatican state, a fully valid sovereign state, which is smaller than the city centre of Cologne. There are also other little countries such as San Marino, Monaco, Andorra, and Liechtenstein. Some of this countries have fewer inhabitants than the number of spectators for the opening ceremony for the Gay Games VIII Cologne 2010 at the RheinEnergieStadium. These countries may be small but they are eminently capable! Such is the case with the small Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the giant among the little states of Europe with 2,586 sqkm and more than 500,000 inhabitants, with the capital with the same name with 90,000 inhabitants. Only 140 km as the crow flies or rather 2 hours by car separate the city of Luxembourg from Cologne. Several institutions of the EU have their seats in this medieval yet modern appearing city, including the European Court. This makes Luxembourg one of the most important cities in the EU. There are three official languages here (French, Letzeburgish – a dialect – and German). Luxembourg has a very attractive old city centre, to which a visit is well worthwhile. Luxembourg should be counted among the finer metropolises of Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg_%28city%29
http://lcto.lu/en/index