Long Day In Trier

Corinna, lifelong Cologne resident and girlfriend to Brian's Chicago friend Tasho, had her parents' car for the weekend and generously invited us for a day trip to Trier, a small city nearly on the border with Luxembourg. The only thing we knew about Trier before yesterday is that it lies on the Mosel River, whose dramatically steep banks yield some of the best wine in Germany. My woeful knowledge of European history (yeah HCRHS!) made my eyes go semi-glaze when I read the Lonely Planet's description of the city: some stuff about the Romans, oldest city in Germany, something about Jesus's shirt....

It turns out that Trier is a real marvel. Surrounded by hills and the Mosel, the city was of strategic importance during Roman times and was even a sort of "second Rome," home to 80,000 people (which Corinna, fount of knowledge, says is the modern day equivalent of a city of 12 million)! Scattered across the city are gigantic Roman relics that speak to the city's former prominence: the massive front gate of the old city wall dating back to 180 AD; the lofty brick town hall in which the emperor Constantine presided in the 300s; the brick ruins of a capacious Roman bath; the Trier cathedral; and a huge amphitheater, grass now growing where once there were stair-like seats that held 20,000 people, but otherwise intact. Corinna really made the place come alive for us.

It's bedtime now; more photos of Trier tomorrow after we go to IKEA to buy furniture at last! Here's a photo of the pedestrianized main street in Trier, taken from the top of the Porta Nigra, the old front gate to the city; the cathedral is on the left.