Yesterday 4 of us (Julia, Rachel, Andrew and myself) decided to capitalize on the Christmas-time of year and explore the country most known for its Christmas markets - Germany! Thanks to Andrew's research skills we bought the very awesome Saar-Lor-Lux ticket that entitled the 4 of us to travel round trip to Trier, Germany (just on the other side of the border) for only 50 euros. Sweet deal!
I caught a very early morning train to Metz where I met the other 3, and we arrived an hour and a half later in the historic city of Trier, where I had been once before as a child with Nana (but, being so young, remembered very little of it, aside from eating cake and drinking mint tea in a glass in a konditorei. Good memories!) Trier is one of the oldest cities in Germany with a lot of Roman history, and is also well known for its Christmas Markets. We had a lot to cover in a day!
We grabbed a city map from the station that detailed all there is to see and do in the city, and we headed off down to the Zentrum (downtown.) Our first stop into the city was Porta Nigra, one of the best preserved Roman city gates in Europe dating from the 2nd Century AD, and also a World Heritage Site.
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| Porta Nigra |
We then found a nearby café to grab a quick breakfast and have a shot of caffeine before heading into Hauptmarkt, or the main place. In the midst of beautiful old buildings were chalet upon chalet of vendors selling their various handmade goods, and were festively decorated with boughs and bells and various ornaments.
We wandered from booth to booth checking out the wares, and deciding it was too early for Glühwein, headed off towards the cathedral and the other chalets nearby. After a quick wander through we went inside the cathedral (Trierer Dom), where a service had just finished and plenty of people were mulling about while the organ played. The cathedral is beautifully decorated and dates back to the 12th century. Headed off to visit the huge Konstantine Basilika, an original Roman basilica that used to be the Throne Room of the Roman emperor, and is now a church. It was heavily damaged during WWII but was later rebuilt, so it had a kind of old-new vibe going.
We exited and headed around the side to check out the very regal (and very pink) Trier Palace and gardens.
We wandered back to the Hauptmarkt to meet up with the former assistant at Julia's school, Sarah, who had wanted to come along. The 5 of us then headed off down the main street (Fleischstraße) in the direction of the Roman Baths, another historic Roman monument in the city. The 3 ruins make up the largest Roman Baths north of the Alps.
We then took a rather lengthy walk to the Roman Amphitheatre, but unfortunately it was closed due to ice. (There was hardly any. Wimpy Europeans!) So we headed back to the markets and looked for a café to go inside and warm up. We found a nice pub (albeit extremely smoky...the smoking bans haven't yet come into effect in Germany, unfortunately) where we could sit down and relax for awhile. Afterwards we headed out to get our first taste of real German Glühwein. At German markets you have to buy the mug that the stuff comes in, which makes for a nice souvenir! Ours resembled a cute little red boot. The Glühwein was particularly strong and I was definitely feeling it after only 1 little mug. Woosh!
After awhile we headed toward the cathedral (I stopped inside a little shop to buy incense cones for our smoking snowman back home, and a cute little ornament for the tree - an angel blowing a trumpet, the traditional German handmade wooden kind). There was an organ concert taking place in the Dom at 5, and the place was packed - we all had to sit separately. The inside had a warm but eerie glow from the candlelight, and the choral music mixed with the strong vibrations of the organ made for a beautiful sound, and was very enjoyable.
We didn't stay long as we didn't have much time left and wanted to make the most of our evening, as night had fallen and we wanted to see the town all lit up. So I lit my usual candle for Nana and we headed out, stopping at one chalet to buy some very tasty Flammkuchen (a pizza sort of flatbread with sauce, potatoes and cheese) and wandered around the markets, which were now PACKED with people...it was like being in a mosh pit, you just had to shuffle along and squeeze in among people to get anywhere. Insane! I bought a nice little handmade egg-shaped ornament for a gift (for whom, yet to be decided), drank a couple hot chocolates with whipping cream (in a different mug, that I had to buy).
Shoving our way through crowds, we checked out some of the chalets we hadn't seen yet, and I got to try some Dampfnudeln, a type of bread dumpling filled with jam and vanilla sauce, cinnamon and sugar are poured onto it. Delicious!
Not long after 7 it was time to make our way back to the train station, and all of us were exhausted and looked forward to the ride home. It was, however, a most excellent day trip. I got to practice a bit of my German (which has gotten quite rusty), and I had forgotten how much I loved Germany - it had been about 4 years since I had visited the country, and it was very nice to go back. Sometimes I wonder why I didn't do the assistant program there instead...
Frohe Weihnachten!
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