Travel Tips: - Trier on the Moselle River, Germany
Trier is the oldest city in Germany and has ancient roots from the first Roman settlements. The first thing we did was to take a cruise along the river which is why
the Romans originally settled here. It was before the time of Jesus
and the Romans were later driven out by the Francs. So we "hebben
gemoezeld langs de Moezel" with its green water and red rock cliffs.
A hour standard river ride with a church and
houses on one side, I found the trees' birds nests the most
fascinating. But the good weather and pretty skies made it extra
special. As with the rest of Europe, Corona holidays entail wearing a
mask while you're mobile and once seated, 2 metres apart (1.5 in other
places) the mask can be taken off. So coffee and cruise still
recommended despite the hand disinfectant and seating arrangements. Getting to Trier from Luxembourg is a pretty drive of heavily forested hills versus Windmill parks. The latter are beautifully landscaped with trees around the bottom and
golden hay and green corn fields arranged like huge rugs as a backdrop surroundings.
AMAZING BIRD NESTS ALL ALONG THE RIVER IN THESE TREES
TRIER CITY
TRIER city has an old Baths ruin and Amphitheater in terms of Roman remains but the most impressive is
the huge Porta Nigra, which you meet as you enter the city past the also
huge Karl Marx statue. Trier is where Karl Marx was born.
KARL MARX STATUE
Entering
town you can enter the historical museum and the Porta Nigra from the
main tourist office area. There is a pedestrian only (European) street
with shops, cafes and restaurants and what took me by surprise in Trier,
is that every 100 m you walked (an their were approximately 7 in total)
everything became more and more beautiful. It is really a gorgeous
city to visit in summer! No wonder it is a UNESCO heritage protected
city.
Leaving the main square to head towards the churches
To the left is another
lovely street towards the two main churches. One Gothic and one
Baroque. Both are worth visiting inside, especially the Gothic one
though, for its stained glass windows and ceiling which is elaborately
decorated in royal style. I often wonder if ages ago if all the money
that was put into all the cathedrals around Europe had been given to the
poor, if inequality would not be so prevalent today. In all the photo
exhibitions the church was a male world and a recent study in the
Netherlands came out with a statistic that males today all earn at least
700,000,00 more than females over a lifetime. But of course, ages ago,
what the church created were jewels that would be admired and
economically viable in terms of tourist attractive cities for centuries
to come.
THE PALACE AND GARDENS
After the churches enter the park for what I think was the main
attraction and where I spent the most time that afternoon. The palace
is half in restoration but it did not take away any of its beauty. Zoom
in on the pink gold and white intricate lacings of architecture to
enjoy. But the gardens were what really took my breath away. It is
again, huge and with a lawn in the middle where one should not walk,
instead, to follow the arched creeper green and stone pathway on either
side which runs around the whole olympic swimming pool size lawn. In
the background always is the Palace with its gloriously shining facade
smiling over the gardens with its human size white statues in an arch
and stairs around its patio.
Back to the other side of the pond is yet one more feature. A long rectangle shallow pool with fountain spurts, edged with more tall white statues and hedging. It was really cute to watch the geese move from the water to the next garden of grass and flowers. Do take your time, it's beautiful here and have a royal tea on the terrace of the tea garden to just savor the view and imprint it on your memory.
There are so many beautiful cities in Germany, I have put a pure Germany tour, on the list, with probably one to the Romantischestrasse in winter soon!
21/7/19
Germany is a large country and has many diverse interesting villages and cities to visit. Naturally, one starts with off big cities such as the modern Frankfurt, which is traditional but progressive simultaneously. It has a lovely old centre with typical old German housing and of course the Rhine River running through. Staying with friends one April, I saw my first snow and was treated to a visit to winter cabin hot chocolate and black forest cake in the woods.
My first stop though in Germany, before Frankfurt was too admire the gigantic Gothic cathedral in Cologne. The church is the highlight of the city with its bridge, or rather bridges giving the river a mystic allure, certainly under these dramatic sky clouds. It was so beautiful I revisited Cologne two years ago. It honestly almost takes 30 minutes to walk around the cathedral!
Under dramatic skies
The bridge with its thousands of love padlocks
The cathedral pretty white roof shining under the sun
Close-up of the facade above the door which is gigantic
The Cardinal main square is a lovely place to drink coffee, with apple stroedel and admire the dominance of the cathedral, especially at night when lit up, with its square fountains of different colours spraying colourful drops from the pavement up high.
The German trains run like Swiss clockwork and you can get to Berlin, Hamburg, Munchen Heidelberg and other places with great ease. I remember travelling a long time ago through East Germany after the Berlin Wall had just fallen. The east was run down with grass covered train tracks, extremely old cars and many haunting empty buildings. Arriving in Berlin was like going from A to Z because Berlin was and is alive, and a busy hub. At the time, pieces of the wall were being sold at five deutsche mark apiece. Berlin is charming in that it is a mix of modern and old. The Bahgwan disco I visited was a Zen place, with cleaners sweeping up all around as we danced.
But I was in Berlin to actually see a Prince concert which much to my dismay was cancelled and I had to later travel to Düsseldorf to see it.
Cologne train station
old photo of Frankfurt city centre
Rhine River in Frankfurt
South of Frankfurt lies the famous city of Heidelberg. It’s known for its University, founded in the
14th century. Gothic Heiliggeistkirche church towers over the town square in the Altstadt (Old Town). Visiting the red-sandstone
ruins of Heidelberg Castle, a noted example of Renaissance
architecture, on Königstuhl hill gives lovely scenic views. In fact, the moment one enters Germany from the Netherlands the landscape becomes hilly and there is a lot of more open-space. In this photo below at Heidelberg you can see that the hill is actually mountainous.
I have also visited Hamburg in the north and Hannover. The cities have some nice architecture an interesting streets but I think I prefer Southern Germany more. I still want to visit the Kleine Gans at Raaber Kessel in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, Saxonian Switzerland National Park, Saxony, East German, which hosts interesting rock formations. Stuttgart and Monschau in the south East of Germany are also on the list. If you visit Germany be sure to tryout local beer, traditional eisbein and sauerkraut.
Photograph by Kateryna Polishchuk
I found Germans to be quite friendly and to speak relatively good English. As it is a closeby neighbouring country one tends to to often drive through Germany but not visit its many lovely villages and forests. So, as always there remains places yet to visit so I might one day take a the tour, either along the Rhine to view all the magnificent castle on the hills, or inland to admire the natural landscape. That's all for now, happy travelling!
Travelling through Germany by train
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