Trier

Yesterday our group sojourned to Trier, which historically was the first city in Germany (our Reisefuehrerin explained that they defined this because it was not just a palace or manor back in the day, but an actual city surrounded it). Above and below you can see the Porta Nigra, which got its name in the Middle Ages after the stones started turning black, but it was built much earlier by the Romans who settled here.

Trier, I was surprised to find out, has a very rich history because of its location. It has been conquered by many countries including Napoleon. Also during the French Revolution, ranking members in the church (among others) fled to Trier to seek a safety. Kaiser Konstantine der Grosse ruled the Holy Roman Empire from Trier. Learning all of this, you may be surprised to find that Trier is actually quite small, and it was no problem to see all of the sites there in just a couple of hours

Among a lot of the famous people that can put Trier as a place of residency, Karl Marx grew up here, and actually lived in the pink house you can see above.

This is the so-called "Dreikoenigen Haus" and it was the first building that was built of its kind. People of noble or wealthy status would stay here because of a security feature that you can see in this picture. If you notice, the door is on the second floor. Back in the olden days, there was not the door on the ground floor, and the second floor door had a roll-up staircase, so that in the event of danger, the staircase could be rolled up and the intruders could not get in.

This is the Frauenkirche that Kaiser Konstantin der Grosse built. It is a catholic church, and the most famous feature of this church is actually something you should find in a Dan Brown novel (my words, not factual). There is an old shirt that lies inside that is rumored to be the shirt of Christ when he was crucified. On first glance, I thought this was actually a tomb, because it is in an ornate casket-looking vessel. Below you can see a video of the inside of the church, the shirt of Christ is at the far end of the church where people are gathering.

Here is Kaiser Konstatin's palace... the most stunning feature is actually the garden:

This was such a pretty day, I tried to take a video to capture it better than a picture 

The Romans do make great sculptures, if I do say so myself =)

Trier was having some celebration for Weimar this weekend, so there were people who were dressed in Roman outfits (Dont see the connection but....when in an ancient roman city...) and there were bands playing in the street. Also, I have never seen so much ice cream shops in one city in my life, it was ridiculous. But we have really been lucking out on weather, yesterday it was 70 degrees Fahrenheit (still not used to Celsius...maybe it was like 23?), and it was sunny the entire time. I got a really fresh fresh lunch yesterday of prosciutto, spinach, freshhhh mozzarella, and olive oil and spices on a focaccia bread, one of the best meals I have had yet. 

Here we are on the Autobahn on the way back. For as glamorous as Americans make the Autobahn out to be, I can safely say that "hate" is becoming the adjective I use mostly for driving on it. The altitude changes so much in such a short time that it gives me headaches. But one thing that I have noticed is there is really never traffic (that I have seen), and I think this is a very interesting part of the cultural differences between the frequency of drivers in Germany vs. America. On the way home, me and the girl sitting next to me were panicking a little, because the bus was over an hour late to pick us up (Germans are only punctual some of the time I am starting to figure out), and we had to go the the grocery store before it closed, aka we wouldnt be able to eat on Sunday. We got really lucky and got to a store 15 min before it closed, and I got fresh mozzarella to have today...everybody wins.