By hook or by crook, I WILL finish our Luxembourg trip from early July...this week, in two parts, even if it kills me. HA!
Seriously, it's like saving the best day for the last in that it covered a lot and was one of the biggest highlights of the trip. We had been told to make sure we visited Trier, Germany, since it's near the border of Luxembourg and is Germany's oldest city, founded around 16 BC, so we did it first....
...and parked right outside the Porta Nigra gate, built in 186 AD.
Because it was time for koffie break, we sat and soaked up the ambiance!
Yes, it's a World Heritage Site!
We didn't take the tour inside but we passed through to see it from the other/back side, away from the town.
Those Romans!
It so happens that the Porta Nigra is a congregating spot for the trolley tours,
so we opted to hop on to get the lay of the land: a nice overview of what we'd see later on foot.
Once back to square one, we headed to the main Market Place at town center.
Have you ever seen this trick?
Yup. Leave it to Astrid to figure it out.
You know us by now: we LOVE city center of these old towns!
The arcitecture and art alone is enough to fill up my lungs with fresh air.
Speaking of which, see that church on the bottom-left (above)....
That's the Market Church St. Gangolf from the 15th century.
And, yes, it was open!
Sometimes the side chapels are more beautiful (and cozy) to me than the nave of the church.
From the market square we walked to the Aula Palatina, a Roman palace basilica from 310 AD.
The palace garden behind it on a sunny day was hard to beat.
As we continued walking to the Roman baths, we passed the old city walls.
Can you imagine driving past that history every day?
And then we saw the Kaiserthermen, the Imperial Roman Baths from before 300 AD.
More Roman you cannot get!
This was at the opposite end on the map from the Porta Nigra, where we had started our walk,
and makes a good stopping point before Part 2....to be continued....
