Trier Germany

Trier was a nice rest from the huddle and bustle of the majority of my trip through Europe. A small city with a few very interesting ruins and some good company made the experience of Trier a notable section of my trip. 

While there, we visited the ruins of some Roman baths. They were originally ordered by Constantine in the fourth century but remained incomplete for a number of centuries until another Roman emperor finally ordered there completion. The whole area seemed more complete and walkable then much of the Roman forum in Roma. You could walk along the old water ways where aquiducts had once carried water there to be heated and used. There was a large open field for games and a number of baths who were now is disrepair. 

Apparently during the middle ages the Roman empire was not very appeeciated or respected, and so not a lot of effort was made to preserve their ancient ruins, and it some cases the ruin area itself was either mined for stone like a quarry, or it became a city trash dump. Poor Romans. 

We went to a number of interesting restaurants and had a long search for the fabled Currywurst, a delight and hark back to the childhood of Alison's parents. We finally managed to find some after a few days of searching, and I must mention that I enjoyed the rather unhealthy trea quite a bit. Wurst with curry sauce is a good invention indeed. 

The Hotel we stayed at in Trier was called Hotel Christophel. It contains a restaurant on the bottom floor and then rooms the next four floors up. The staff were very friendly and hospitible, but the lack of thick glass on the windows and the Hotel's proximity to the street meant I was laying awake listening to the majestic sounds of traffic horns, screeching tires and internal combustion motors as people cruised by. 

I did manage to get some sleep the first night I was there. And with Ali getting over a cold and her dad Mike in the midst of one, we were quite the zombie crew heading out to seize the day. We ended up coming back very soon that day after going out to take naps. I can't really sleep during the day, but I had a good rest despite this. 

We visited Luxembourg and Bitburg the next day. In Bitburg we retraced The footsteps of Ali's parents as they attempted to find their old stomping grounds in Bitburg where they first met! We went to the airbase there, which unfortunately had changed quite a lot and tried to get in to see all the old housing places people who were military dependants stayed, but we needed an ID card to get in and the very gracious air force personnele unfortunately had to turn us away. 

Next we visited Viendan in Luxumbourg to see the restored castle that Mike and Sherry had played around on when they were young. It was quite castley and cool. apparently it had been in ruins before 1978 when restoration started to bring it back to what it used to look like before.

We saw a few falconers and some dancing and a craft show inside the castle itself. It was a nice little tourist attraction. 

On the way out we ordered some roasted nuts, which were most definitely a rip off. I suspect the guy knew we were American and automatically raised the prices of things. It's just what they do here, I've pretty much come to accept it. Unless you make a good clean effort to speak Italian, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, etc, the prices on souveniers you buy WILL go up. It's just the way it is, especially in peak season.

Despite the heart attack inducing price of the roasted nuts, they were quite delicious! We munched on them for the next few days as we walked around Trier and hung out at the Hotel to relax. 

The night before we planned to part ways again I was about to head down to Munich. But when I looked at the time it would take me on the train to get up to Amsterdam from there I just about fell over. The shortest train was 13 hours, and the longest was 22! I had no desire to spend most oft precious time on a train through Germany, so I decided instead to head directly to Amsterdam with Ali and her parents, and although I was sad about not getting to see Munich, I was ultimaty glad that I went along with them to Amsterdam. 

I have been in Amsterdam for a few days now and am having a nice low key and relaxing time here. Tomorrow I plan to do some sight seeing, drawing and writing, but my posts for Amsterdam the last few days will come soon.

I am now staying in Dem Haag, a city about an hour away from Amsterdam by train. The city is quite quant, and one where I would like to do some shopping and site seeing tomorrow if I have the time. 

They have an M.C Escher museum quite close to my hotel and a few parks and things. Tonight I plan to get some Indian cuisine and relax in the lobby of my Hotel with a book. 

Amsterdam is awesome.