A trip down the Mosel and Rhine

Where to begin? We left on Wednestday, Oct 4 and returned on Monday, Oct 9 - just six days, and yet so much accomplished! The pictures are all out of order, but I assume you can figure out which is which. Our first stop, after an awesome train ride seeing the steepest vineyards in Europe, was Trier - a city very near Luxemburg, and what used to be a very ancient Roman city. (The gateway into Germany during Roman times.) After checking into a very nice hostel - Hilles - we took in some ancient sites: The amphitheatre(see pic) and the baths. (The outside picture of the four 'windows' is the baths built for Constantine - but never used by him, I guess. Lots of cool underground passageways!) Then we went to the Basilica - which pretty much made the trip to Trier worth it. It's history, which was posted along the 200 foot long wall inside, is simply amazing. Originally a throne room for the emporer, it eventually became a palace for the resident bishops, and then a protestant church. A lot of detail was provided of how the church was destroyed during WWII - as were most of the buildings in Germany it seems - and how the congregation, sympathetic to the Nazi regime, came to terms with the aftermath. (see picture)

Another very cool aspect of our stay in Trier was the hostel - we had a communal kitchen, and we were able to save a lot of money having extremely cozy dinners there. There was a grocery store nearby, and we had hot soup, fresh bread and an assortment of cheeses everyday. (heaven!) The next day we took in some more sites, another bath, the famous "Blackgate" - one of the surviving gates to the city - and the main church there. The kids and I went to see a local toy museum while Steve visited an archeological museum. Just a lot of fun! I kept seeing a skulpted foot outside the basilica that really distracted me. Take a look - the toes are just too long for the rest of the foot! It bugged me.

We left Trier on Friday for our next stop - the Rhine River. But that will have to wait for tomorrow! Stay tuned!