We had a nice time in Trier. It has lots of ancient Roman stuff, an old cathedral, great museums, a good Christmas market, and it snowed throughout the day. Unfortunately, the snow did not fall in big, slow flakes, but tiny icy flakes that seemed to drive straight into our faces no matter which direction we were walking. But it was beautiful! Here are some photographic highlights.
Christmas Market
Park Plaza Hotel
Our hotel was just OK, but had a good location near the cathedral.
Trier Cathedral
Gothic Cloister
This beautiful cloister is next door to the cathedral, connected with a Gothic church called the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Dear Lady). It was especially lovely in the snow.
I've lucked out with the snow twice now - here's me in the same place in similar weather back in December 2005!
Porta Nigra
The "Black Gate" was built around 200 AD as part of the ancient Roman wall. It was later used by a Christian hermit and then turned into a church, but the church bit has since been removed again. It's pretty awesome and you can go inside.
Constantine Basilica
This was built in 310 AD by the Emperor Constantine, whose giant statue we visited in Rome. It was a civic building; a throne hall as a part of a palace complex. Similar basilicas were built in the forum in Rome, but they are in ruins - this one is the only surviving example, as far as I know. It is now being used as a Protestant church.
Imperial Baths
Across the pretty palace garden from the Constantine Basilica are the Imperial Baths (Kaiserthermen), also built in the era of Constantine.
Potatoes!
There was some good food at the Christmas market as usual (see waffle above), but the real culinary highlight of Trier was a trip to Kartoffel Kiste, which David and I discovered on a previous trip. It's a restaurant that specializes in potatoes! Is that a good idea or what?
It was a cold walk there, but worth it.
We also got to have Gluhwein without standing around in the cold at a Christmas market, which is a bonus.
This is not health food, my friends. And it tastes better than it looks. It's called Kartoffelauflaufe Hawaii, and consists of scalloped potatoes in a creamy cheese sauce, topped with really good ham and lots of pineapple, and probably more cheese, then baked. Sarah had a schnitzel over a layer of potatoes, in the same cheese sauce, also baked. It was seriously awesome as well.
And now we are in Utrecht, where it reached a high of 20 degrees Fahrenheit today. Brrrr! Tomorrow we move on to Amsterdam, just a half-hour away.