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Geo: 49.7688, 6.64948
Surprise! We kept the dlan box for one more day, so that's why I'm able to post. And you thought you'd have a day of respite!
We were out of the hotel by 8:15 this morning for our guided walking tour of the town. We met our local guide, Helga, at the Porta Nigra. The Porta Nigra was the northern gate of the Roman and medieval town and is the only surviving example of a Roman gate north of the Alps. It's called "nigra" because it is sort of a black color, but not because it was ever burned or from pollution. There's a green moss that grows on the stones and when it dies, it leaves a black stain.
Across the street is the house where Karl Marx spent his childhood, though there's only a small plaque well above the street level. He was born at the other end of town, and that's the Marx-based tourist attraction, so the house he actually grew up in is played down. I think the street level houses a cell phone store now.
Helga took us through the Hauptmarkt via the medieval Jewish quarter, which is basically an alley. The Jews had their own quarter,
Karl Marx's house
The one in the center with the salmon-colored paint.though it was not a ghetto. When Christians took it into their heads that the Jews were at fault for something or other, the Jewish people were able to escape via an underground tunnel that led to … the Archbishop's house! The Archbishop provided protection, although it didn't always count for much as far as the single-minded Christians were concerned.
When we stood in the Hauptmarkt, the bells for the various churches were pealing and poor Helga had to yell to be heard. Thus, I missed quite a lot of what she was saying. There's a tower near the square, and the cathedral is also near the square. The rich owner of the tower and the Archbishop played “my tower is bigger than your tower” over several years, so they both look pretty outsized for a small town. On the square there's a market cross with an inscription that more or less tells the Archbishop that the townspeople will do what they want. So the Archbishop put up a fountain that pokes fun at the people. There are reliefs of monkeys being silly and crude, which is how the Archbishop viewed the people.
We couldn't go into the cathedral or the adjoining
Church of Our Lady because there were services going on (and more bells). The cathedral combines Roman, Gothic, Romanesque, and baroque architecture (which Helga pronounced “arch-itecture” with the “ch” sound) but it manages to be an attractive mishmash. We also went over to the basilica (couldn't go in). While we were there, a parade of Romans, um, paraded by. It's part of the “Brot und Spiele” activities that are going on this week. There were legionnaires, gladiators, children, ordinary Roman citizens, and members of the Roman upper classes, and they were all dressed authentically. The legionnaires carried weapons and wore the Roman version of armor, and the gladiators looked awfully fierce. Unfortunately, they were also pretty distracting, so I once again managed to miss quite a bit of what Helga was talking about.
After a quick bathroom break (no toilet seats and no toilet paper) we walked a block or two to our Heidebloem coach to meet Rene. We drove out of town and along the Mosel to Beilstein, which is a picture-perfect little village on the river. We had lunch at Haus Lippmann in a dining room that looked like a knight's hall – but not in a tacky, just-for-the-tourists
way. I mean, I was eating my plate of cold cuts next to a 16th-century cabinet. John had goulash and said it was very good, as was the bread that was provided for the table. My cold cuts and cheese were yummy, and they came with warm potato salad. Walked around the town a little bit after eating. The population is something like 140, and there are 80 restaurants and guesthouses.
(By the way, Rene did pretend to remember me.)
We continued on to Burg Eltz, a castle that sits on a hill in a valley. It's been in the same family for 800 years and was never captured or destroyed, so it's unique in that it's completely intact and still has original furniture and furnishings. The family doesn't live there anymore, but they do still own it and use it occasionally. There are pleasant views over the walls down into the valley and up into the oak forest. The bus had to park up the hill; the walk down was very steep. We walked back a different way through the forest. It was nice and not as steep as the paved hill, but it was still strenuous. I had to buy
Fountain with cheeky monkeys
(You can't actually see the cheeky monkeys. Sorry.) a Coca-Cola Lite when I got back to the bus!
During our ride, Daniela talked about the reason Germans and Europeans in general have such small cars compared to cars in the U.S. The obvious reasons, of course, were fuel cost and pollution. But she said that when they go to the U.S., they like to rent big cars. She had also explained earlier that 90% of the corn crop in Germany goes to feed livestock, and if a person eats corn it's usually from a can. Corn on the cob is something that strikes them as very American (and they also can't really say “cob” … Daniela said “kaaaahb”😉. So when they go to the U.S. and drive a big car and eat corn on the cob, they feel very American!
We got back to Trier around 6:30. John said he wasn't hungry at all, but I talked him into at least walking out with me. We ended up at Weinstube Kesselstatt by the cathedral. We sat outside and had cordon bleu with peas (yes, I ate some) and pommes frites, and I had a radler (beer and lemon soda). Even though we had to ask for the English menu, John
ordered in German and since we got what we ordered, he musta done good!
We're out of here at 7:30 tomorrow morning, and I don't know if there will be a chance to post in our next town, Baden-Baden.
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Mom
non-member comment
I'm so happy you could send another post. We love reading about your trip!