Romans

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Geo: 49.7688, 6.64948

Last night was a loooooong night. We managed to stay up till 10:00, and I think we both fell asleep fairly quickly. However, I was snap-bang awake at around 2:30 a.m. I didn't look at the clock till John got up, and it was 3:00 then. We both lay awake for quite some time, which is always torture. John found a noise app on his iPhone (ocean sounds and New Age music) and that helped a little bit. It was also pretty warm in the room. When my alarm went off at 7:00, I felt as if I'd never gotten back to sleep even though I know I had.

Showering at least made me feel semi-human again. We went down to breakfast around 9:00. Nice buffet featuring the usual European fare: sausages, scrambled eggs, bread rolls and croissants, cheese and meat. I think there was fish too. Several of the regular residents also eat in the same breakfast room.

We stopped at the reception desk to pay for the one night and also rented a dlan box so that we can get on the internet in our room. It's quite the contraption and if John weren't here, I'm not sure I'd have figured out how to plug it in properly. We both got online and checked e-mails, etc. Let's hear it for connectivity!

Didn't get going again till close to 11:00. John's cold is a little worse today, and I think he's got a low-grade fever. We walked back to the store where we bought stuff last night to get bottles of water. The Germans charge a deposit on plastic bottles, which is all fine and good, but there's nowhere convenient for the average tourist to return the bottles.

We walked up to the Konstantin Basilica, the largest intact Roman structure outside of Rome. The building actually started out as a throne room, was eventually taken over by archbishops in the 12th century, and today is the leading Protestant church in Trier. It's also a little dull. It's been stripped bare inside, no stained glass, no mosaics; it's not pretty. But the place is huge and a testament to Roman engineering. And I just realized I forgot to take a picture of the exterior.

Outside, there is a gold-and-pink façade that was added on in the 18th century to house the archbishop-elector. Thus, it's called the Elector's Palace. Today it holds government offices, so the public is not allowed inside. There's a pretty garden with some fountains laid out in front of the entrance, and off to the side is a long pond with ducks swimming and waddling around.

The Rheinisches Landesmuseum (archeological museum) is also nearby, so we decided to check it out. We saw lots of Roman artifacts (coins, tools, ornaments, funerary monuments) and some other ancient stuff, like a mummy and other old bones. We expected just a small exhibit, but there were 19 rooms full of stuff … and 98% of the descriptions were in German only. Every now and then we could translate something, but mostly we were in the dark and had to make up what stuff was. Still, that can be kind of fun. When we did come across English descriptions, it was truly a sight for sore eyes!

By this time it was 2:00, so we figured we'd better get something to eat and go back to the room to rest a bit before meeting the tour group. Picked up sandwiches at a bakery and ate them at our little dining table. And then John took a short nap.

We met our group downstairs in the breakfast room at 4:30. We have a full complement of 30: 28 travelers, 1 guide and the driver. Our guide is Daniela Wedel, who is from Munich but who has lived in Avignon for ten years or so. She seems very nice and funny, and she lived in Washington for a while when she was married to an American basketball player. (Someone asked: he wasn't a Sonic.) She particularly likes leading this tour because she gets to go home to Munich and see her father. The driver, apparently, will be Rene, whom I've had twice before. Let's see if he pretends to remember me. 😉

We have travelers from Washington, Connecticut, California, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, and New York (there might be some other places, but I don't remember). I think John and I and one other couple are the youngest, and one woman traveling with her father and a family friend. Everyone seems pleasant and happy to be here, and there are quite a lot of Rick Steves alumni. There's just one woman who I'm not sure could crack a smile if her life depended on it (she sat across from me at dinner; that was fun).

So we chose our buddies (The buddy system works!), and I'm paired up with Reola Lastnameidonotremember. Then we took a short walk up to the Hauptmarkt and had our dinner at Weinstube zum Domstein. The basement is Roman, with an intact column and display boxes full of Roman glassware. That's where we ate. We were served tomato soup with cream (really good, and I don't usually care for tomato soup), and then a choice for our entrée. The father/daughter/friend combo all had venison in juniper sauce with spaetzle, John had pork medallions in onion-marc-sauce and roast potatoes, and I had chicken breast in white wine sauce with rice. All very tasty. I also had a glass of (and I'll probably spell this wrong) Elbling, a white wine made from a grape that only grows in this area. It was quite nice, very smooth. Dessert was walnut parfait with fruit. There was starfruit, kiwi, pineapple, peach, watermelon, and something called physalis – I just looked it up and it's a gooseberry.

After eating, we were all pretty quiet even though dinner conversation had been pretty lively. I think we've all got a touch of jet lag.

Came back to the Memento Mori Arms and we are watching Die Grosse Hunde Show while I type. We've seen a lot of people with dogs in town. There was even a Bernese at dinner. You can't not like a dog town.

Aaaaand bedtime.

P.S. We are turning in this dlan box in the morning, so I won't be able to post tomorrow.

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Comments

[Mom]

It's too bad John didn't pack some Cold-Eze in his suitcase. They work very well.

[Yvonne]

Wow, I can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip...I'm so jealous. Wishing you good health, good food, good wine, and a fine time! And ahhhhh Rene!