Golden flames danced their way around the bar along a narrow trail of whisky. Moments later, the tattooed bartender wearing a leopard-print leotard climbed onto the wooden countertop and began gyrating to the choppy beats of AC/DC’s Back in Black, her moves captivating every eye inside the busy room. It was Saturday night in the loud and capricious Rock Box bar in Luxembourg City’s Rives de Clausen neighbourhood, a 12th-Century brewing district that’s been regenerated into an eclectic entertainment area. Another of my preconceptions about this curious city was going up in smoke.

Boring. Dull. A ghost town at weekends, I had read somewhere. Seldom mentioned in European travel guides and seemingly a haven of suited-and-booted bureaucracy on its occasional news channel appearances, the city seemed like a Frankfurt-esque financial hub that was all work and no play. My expectations were not high. But it wasn’t just the wild evening that had made me reconsider this unique city.