Trekkin' in Trier

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We're docked close to the old city of Trier, still on the placid Mosel. The sun is shining and it is quite warm. We started the day with a short, 25-minute bus ride into the downtown. We had to park away from the downtown as there are only two piers next to the town, and they were boh taken. Speaking of piers, the ship has to pay a fee to dock at one, which ranges from 800 to 2400 euros per day, or any part thereof. And, speaking of fees, there is a fee to use public restrooms -- usually from 50 cents to 1 euro. We had to hire a local guide as the city won't allow our Program Directors to guide us. This is to give local employment, and really not needed as our guides could easily do the guiding. Somewhat similar, in concept, to where one can't pump their own gas in Oregon.

There was several old Roman structures still standing in town, including a tall building, perhaps 6 stories, that is now a Protestant church. It is quite impressive from the outside, as we couldn't get inside to take peak. It was built by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 326 AD. The guide told us it had walls 8 feet thick. As usual, our tour included a church and, right beside it, a cathedral for the Bishop. Why the Bishop couldn't just use the church, which was quite impressive, was not explained. Both were quite impressive to see from the inside, and outside, for that matter.

We found out one reason why there are so many vines and grapes grown here. The ancient Romans used to give each soldier in their army one 'ration' of wine each day. They had 5 Legions in Germany, and each Legion consisted of 5 thousand soldiers, so this took a lot of wine. No precise definition of how much a 'ration' was. Perhaps one liter, but this is a guess. As I sit here in the lounge, which is in the front of the ship, with many windows around to see out, the vineyards extend everywhere, even under the bridge, which we are anchored next to.

After a long walk on the tour we got on the bus for a return trip to the ship, and a delightful lunch. Afterwards, my friend Dick and I took another walk, this time to a nearby RV park. We walked around the park looking at the many different RVs and tents parked there. Most of them looked like the people just left them there, returning periodically. Returning to our rooms, I rested my eyes for a bit, then came into the lounge to sip on a Bitburger and type this blog.

At 5 pm there is a lady coming on board to display, discuss, and hopefully sell jewelery to all the ladies here.. I'm trying to convince Zee that this would be of no interest to her, but she insists on staying and watching the presentation. This is a dangerous situation to be in, as I can practically see the Euros disappearing from our wallet to theirs as Zee sees something (perhaps another set of earrings?) that she just 'must' have. Sigh! I'll keep my fingers crossed as I disappear elsewhere...(grin)....Jim

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