Trier is one of Germany’s oldest towns – it was founded in 16 BC as Augusta Treverorum, supposedly by the Emperor Augustus himself. So the “old” and “historical” sights in this town are on a whole other playing field than the historical buildings I’ve drug Morgan around to in other cities in Germany. Heidelberg to Trier isn’t too bad of a drive (less than 2 hours) and when we were on the road Morgan saw signs for Hockenheim (the other big race track in Germany) so we made a slight detour to try to go by the track. It actually ended up being a race weekend (not F1 though, Porsche Super Cup and DTM) so all the roads leading up to it were guarded so we couldn’t get close. Luckily the road the GPS put us on to get going the correct way to Trier took us pretty close to the grand stands so Morgan at least got to see that.
We started out the day walking through the Porta Nigra (the black gate), which is Germany’s oldest defensive structure (it was built in the 2nd century). We walked around Hauptmarkt to check out the market going on plus the interesting buildings and fountain. The 15th century Steipe (the white one with the very steep gabled roof) was used by the town councilors as a guesthouse and banqueting hall. The red one next to it in the picture below is the Baroque Rotes Haus which was built in 1683. The oldest pharmacy in Germany – Löwenapotheke- (dating from the 13th century) is also on the square, but was have some renovations done the weekend we were there so it was closed. At this point it started raining, again, so we ate lunch at Subway to kill some time.
When the rain stopped we went to the Dom St. Peter which is the oldest cathedral in Germany. The entire complex is pretty massive, in addition to the Cathedral there is a cloister and both are attached to the Liebfrauenkirche (the Church of our Lady – the Papal Basilica). The most precious relic of the Trier Cathedral is the Holy Robe (also called the Tunic of Christ). We got really lucky and our trip happened to coincide with a Heilig-Rock-Tage (Holy Robe Day) so we were actually able to go into the Holy Robe Chapel and see the glass shrine where the robe is kept, on normal days you can’t go up to this room. After a quick walk around the Cloister we walked next door to the Liebfrauenkirche. The shape of the basilica was pretty interesting it has an atypical cruciform floor plan as a round church. This along with the stained glass windows and high vaulted ceiling made it one of the more memorable churches we’ve visited so far.
Next we saw the Aula Palatine (the Palatinate hall – these days it is home to a Protestant church), which was built in 310 AD. It served as the throne hall of the Roman emperor or his representative. Granted it has been reduced to rubble a few times (when Germanic tribes sacked the city way back when and during WWII) and the inside has been remodeled/ changed, but the size of the building (it is one gigantic room inside!) and the look of the outside are true to the original. We walked around the side of the building to see the Kurfürstliches Palais. We didn’t get to see the inside (it is used as an administrative building so visits are only by appointment), but it is considered to be one of the most beautiful Rococo palaces in the world… so maybe next time! We walked along the Palasgarten out to the Kaiserthermen, which are the remains of the vast imperial baths that were once here. When they were built in the 4th century they were the third largest bathing complex in the Roman world.
From here we walked back towards the city center and stopped to have some coffee and waffles with cherry sauce and whipped cream (a popular German afternoon snack that is pretty amazing). After that, believe it or not, Morgan did some shopping. He bought a new dress shirt and tie from a men’s store he likes over here (H.E.) and two new pairs of dress shoes to wear with his suits that are more “European”. When we finished up our shopping we had a glass of wine at the little tent that was set up in the middle of the Hauptmarkt – by this point it was about 4:30 (on a Friday afternoon) so the stand was starting to fill up. Though we had seen a good may people drinking glasses of wine when we first got into town… at 11 in the morning (haha). Since it was still a bit early for dinner we sat down at an outdoor table for a restaurant right on the Hauptmarkt and tried a weinproben (a wine sampler) and had some bread. I loved getting to try so many yummy Rieslings and other sweet wines – since that is the main type of wine produced in this part of the country they are cheap and easy to come by. While we were sitting outside the sun actually started to come out which was a nice change from the rain and dreariness of previous day and a half.
After looking in a couple more shops we ate dinner at yummy German restaurant called Kartoffel Restaurant Kiste. I went with the bratwurst with mashed potatoes plate since it was supposedly a smaller portion while Morgan ordered off the spargle menu. Spargle season is a huge deal here so most restaurants have a special menu that features their beloved white asparagus with ever offering. Morgan went with schnitzel with boiled potatoes and spargle with hollandaise. It was probably the best spargle we’ve ever had! It was delicious.
When we finished up dinner we headed to our little hotel that was a little ways out in the country. There was a little mix up, (aka. they gave away our room since we got there at 8:30 pm, even though the booking confirmation said check in lasted until 10 pm. Per the desk lady, in Germany you are “just supposed to know” that if you are checking in after 6 you need to call earlier in the day to say you still want your room… “was auch immer” is what I say!) so the first night we were put in another gästehaus down the road – which we ended up like more than the original one we booked. We had a great time sitting down in the bar of the hotel and talking with one of the locals (Peter) who has his own little vineyard and his cute little dog who was with him.
