Amsterdam to Trier via Luxembourg

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We boarded the plane in Amsterdam and it was a short hop to Luxembourg. We had initially thought we might spend a few hours exploring this interesting city, but the fatigue was starting to set in so we opted to forego that idea and travel by train to Trier where we planned to stay 2 nights. Once in Luxembourg we caught a bus from the airport to the train station. We ran into a little snafu when we missed the stop and were on the way back to the airport. The mistake was quickly rectified when the bus driver put us on another bus going in the opposite direction back to the train station. Once we navigated our way through buying a ticket and finding the correct platform, we boarded the train and headed to Trier, about an hour's ride. The scendery along the way was beautiful. It was nice to just relax and enjoy the sites after carrying our backpacks through 3 airports, 2 buses and a train station.

When we disembarked from the train, it was time for lunch so we walked across the street and entered 2 establishments each of which only offered "drinks" and no food. We finally settled on a a small cafe for some German fare. After some discussion about whether to walk, take a bus, or taxi, we settled on a taxi to take us to our Hotel Deutschherrenhof. We were met at the front desk by a very pleasant gentleman who immediately told us that he was the technician (he was working on internet connection problems--sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.")

(AS I WAS FINISHING THIS BLOG, I WENT TO SAVE IT JUST AS THE INTERNET WENT DOWN). Grrrrr.

At any rate, our room was a small squarish room that was charming with a small desk. We decided to take a little rest having been up for over 30 hours with only a catnap here and there. I woke 2 hours later to the loudest snoring I have ever heard. Not sure if it was me or John. Feeling refreshed, we headed out to do a little exploring.

One of the main attractions here is the Porta Nigra. Roman Trier was built as a capital. Its architecture mirrored the grandeur of the empire. Of the four-mile town wall's four huge gates, only this northern gate survives. This is the most impressive Roman fortifiation in Germany, and it was built without mortar--only iron pegs hold the sandstone blocks together. While the other three gates were destroyed by medieval metal and stone scaveners, this "black gate" survived because it became a church.

Trier's Market Square (Hauptmarkt) had many numerous shops and eateries which we plan to visit again tomorrow. It was fun just wandering through the streets and enjoying the sites and sounds of Germany at dusk.

What impressed John was that there were paver blocks covering the entire square and the streets leading into the square. It was quite impressive.

As we headed back to our hotel, we made plans for tomorrow.

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Comments

[Deborah Fenton]

Hello again :)
Just saw this, this is where I should be putting my message!! In any case I wanted to say, how beautiful it looks in Trier, I love all of the old buildings and history in Europe. Hope you had a good night sleep. xo

[Greg Biddolph]

Happy Pilgrims
Its great to see you two Cultural Pilgrims are back on the road. We are looking forward to travelling with you as you blog your adventures. Safe travels Pilgrims :-)