Trier; Ancient Rome in Germany?

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Trier, my love...

A Guide

As you may well know I have been studying this semester in the ancient German town of Trier. I will post a blog sometime in soon about the student life and the university here (in case anyone is interested), but first I want to focus on the town in its historical and cultural aspects.

Trier is a beautiful city. There is something so surreal about walking down the high street and catching sight of a magnificent roman gate right in front of you. There is so much to see, from the roman baths and the palace gardens to the imposing roman built gate, the Porta Nigra. I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 months living here and I would love to return someday. I think this is the perfect place to take your parents or grandparents. They would absolutely love it here.

The city of Trier is completed by roman market places and cobbled streets. On the weekend there is a fresh produce market held in the Hauptmarkt, the main town square.

Obviously, as I was living here I got the chance to see pretty much everything the town has to offer, perhaps something you wouldn’t get to do if you were just on a flying visit. The main attraction for the tourists is the Porta Nigra, named after its black appearance, was originally one of 4 roman gates to the city, and it’s the only one left still standing. I took a trip up to the top one day for amazing views over the city. With its spiral stair cases and solid structure it’s hard to believe that Romans once walked over these same walkways and touched these same solid rock bricks. I actually got goose bumps once just from thinking about the sheer age of this beast of a gateway. It is possible to have a tour around the Porta (as the locals call it) by a man dressed as a roman. I saw them on many an afternoon running across the town square fully dressed with sword and shield shouting at the top of their voices. Unfortunately I never did this tour, so I can’t tell you what it was like, but it was run by the same company who did the tour round the amphitheatre – which I did go on, and was amazingly good.

We wandered one evening down to the amphitheatre on the edge of the city. Located amongst the grape vines - it's truly a surreal experience. Once we were there we were greeted by our very own roman gladiator: his name, Valerius. The tour is unfortunately only in German, but started deep underground amongst the foundations of this once great arena. The tour told the story of Valerius, how he was a slave and how he was trained to be one of the greatest retiarius' in Trier. This one man show took us up and down the amphitheatre and we really got a feel for the place. If you speak German - it's a must do!

Speaking of the grape vines, this region is famous for its wine, take a trip up to the view point just past the amphitheatre and you can see miles and miles of vines trailing up and down the undulating hills. It's definitely worth it if you're feeling less up to the arduous climb. Just take a seat in one of Trier's many pavement cafes and restaurants and try a "trocken Reisling" or a nice chilled Bitburger Beer.

Places to eat and drink in Trier are numerous and decent. Listed below are some of my favourites:

Kiste - lots of traditional German food made with potatoes at competitive prices. I had kartoffelauflaufe when I went here - its well worth trying if you want some German cuisine. (http://www.kiste-trier.de/)

New Mintons is the classic foreign student hang out, very cheap good food, but be careful to go on the right nights, so when I was there Monday night was Burger Abend and Tuesdays were Schnitzel Abend - if you go and order the special food of the night - it turns out to be cheap as chips 😊 (http://www.newmintons.de/in-Trier/Home.html)

Louisiana - another foreign student hang out, particularly popular with the Americans as it is an American cafe 😊 very good for Sunday brunch if you have a few hours to spare.. lots of tables outside if it's a sunny day!

Finally Pizza on Mondays was good value and well worth it with the relaxed vibe of Textorium
(http://www.textorium.de/)

The last two are also good just for a drink - as is my favourite cocktail bar Coyote, which gets very busy on a Friday and Saturday - so if you want a table... get there early! (http://www.coyote.de/trier/index_trier.htm)

The Dom is another focal point of this ancient city. Completed in 1196 it is listed on the UNESCO world heritage sites list. Personally, from the outside, I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about - it seemed almost ugly to my untrained eyes. But I think the true beauty of the building lays inside when you get out into the courtyards, and then it looks really beautiful. But all things said and done, what’s the point in a church that’s not beautiful on the outside - I suppose it must just be the era it was built in.

Lastly, the Palace Gartens are surprisingly located behind the palace 😊 are where all the young people hang out in the summer to soak up the rays. If it's sunny, you won't find a spare piece of grass to sit on come 2pm. It's pretty much like any other park in any other city in Europe. Pleasant, green and pretty, with some fountains for good measure.

Trier is also the birthplace of a one Mr. Karl Marx. If you are in anyway interested in this historically influential man then his childhood house serves as a fantastic museum into the man himself and communism in general.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Trier and it will always have a special place in my heart. It really is worth a visit if you're up for enjoying some less touristy European cities, or if your into wine!

Trier, ich vermisse dich!

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