Weekend in Germany

Saturday morning we got up and drove 4-5 hours to Trier, Germany. We had 2 cars, so we used walkie-talkies to talk to Justin in his car. 10-4 good buddy!

On the way there we drove under an underpass planted with trees. Justin pointed it out and said it was an animal crossing. I love that Germans have safe places for wildlife to cross the road.

Trier is the oldest city in Germany, and has lots of ancient Roman ruins. When we got there Saturday afternoon we saw an amphitheatre where they used to have gladiator fights.

My favorite part of the amphitheatre was the underground part. It was cold, dark, and drippy and I could easily imagine prisoners down there, listening to the crowds cheering above, awaiting their fate.

After the amphitheatre we checked into our hotel. It was called the Hotel Kessler and it was great. They gave us our own little "wing" so we didn't have to worry about the kids disturbing the other guests. It was also within walking distance of the main part of the city.

We went to a restaurant called Zum Domstein for dinner and it was the nicest meal out that we had on our trip. I had weiner schnitzel (which is kind of like chicken fried steak), Mike had lamb, and we had a cheese plate appetizer and German potato cakes. Yum! After dinner we walked down to see the Porta Nigra, which is another Roman ruin.

It wasn't until we left the hotel the next morning that I realized I'd made a big mistake with my trip planning. Trier (and probably the rest of Germany) closes on Sundays. We were lucky we could get our car out of the parking garage. It turned out fine, and we got to see the city, I just didn't get to spend any money. Mike probably always wants me to visit Germany on Sundays. :) We saw the oldest cathedral in Germany, a pink palace and ruins of Roman baths, and then we went to a medieval festival.

It was kind of neat to compare it to the Maryland Rennaisance festival, though it wasn't nearly as picturesque or entertaining. They did have one thing I've never seen at the Renfest. Take a close look at the photo...

They were making these delicious looking pitas with chunks of roasted meat and a creamy herb sauce. I was about to ask for one when Mike was like, "Don't you dare get that!" I thought he was being paranoid about street food, but it turns out he had taken a much better look at the vendor's booth than I had. Yes, those were live marijuana plants. The name of the place translates to something like, "Half Baked."

I got amazing goulash somewhere else instead, after Xander ate up most of my bratwurst.


After the festival we hopped in the cars and headed home, but we took the long way, driving through the wine country along the Mosel River valley. It was so beautiful, and this was in March. I imagine in the summer it's stunning. It was also neat to see some really old castle rubble on the tops of some of the hills.

They really need some scenic overlooks though, so people can pull off and take some photos. The roads were so narrow and steep we had to just keep driving most of the time.

We had a great weekend in Germany and I'd love to be able to spend more time there, just enjoying the old world beauty of it all.


Click HERE to read about the next day of our trip. We went to Paris!