TRIER, Germany: Part 2

So, to carry on from my last post, here's what we saw the rest of our day in Germany's oldest city, Trier.

Besides the Porta Nigra and the Kaiserthermen Roman baths, it was the Dom, Trier's Church of Our Lady cathedral, where we spent our most time.  It is Germany's oldest cathedral, from the early 4th century, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986.

Before we saw it up close and personal, we saw it from afar all day long.

 Later, when we stood in front of it, we couldn't get it all in one frame!  It's HUGE.

And as you'd guess, there's a lot going on all around it, no matter where you are.

Like a wedding, for example, when we passed by in the trolley car!

Inside, of course, is something else.

The nave, towards the altar, shows the Baroque chapel above,

supposedly holding the Seamless Robe of Jesus, from shortly before his crucifixion.
See all the people waiting in line to peek in!

Like all the other tourists, we climbed up behind the altar to the chapel but weren't allowed to go in.

We used the opportunity to look back to the opposite end of the nave, to the west-end choir.

Back down on the main floor, we were able to view the choir's Baroque 1196 stucco-work in the vault.

How many times have I told you that the museums we go to in Europe are these cathedrals!
What more could you possibly need?

It's true!  We're always short of eyes.

We briefly went outside the main nave to the cloisters, to get a different vantage point.

But it was this boy with his mom inside the nave who stole my heart that day!

I thought of grandson Nicholas, now 13, lighting a candle for someone...maybe for me?

 The rest of the day we wandered around and saw more churches, of course...

St. Paulus Church (left), St. Irminen Monastery (top-right), the New Synagogue from 1957 (bottom-center), and the former Clarisse convent of St. Mary Magdalene (bottom-right).
Just glimpses.

And since I'm on the subject, niches everywhere in Roman Catholic country....

...sacred and secular.

And gable stones...

...and other fun stuff.

Impressions.  Impressions.  Impressions.

...even if I do show an image more than once in 2 different collages.  HA!
It's true:  I often don't know if I'm coming or going.  :)

By now it was time to go back to the car, but first, we wanted to see the Moselle river
with its Römerbrücke Roman bridge from the 2nd century AD--Germany's oldest bridge.
The bridge itself, of course, is much newer but the pillars beneath are O.L.D.
Nearby, a railing along the river bank sported a few love padlocks...something I now "collect."

 And then walking a bit further down the river, we found one of 2 old treadwheel cranes
for loading and unloading river cargo, this one from 1413.
Doesn't it remind you of a windmill, kinda sorta?



And as we say in Dutch, Dat was het.  That was it.  Trier.

We got in our car and drove into Luxembourg for the rest of our trip...

Good-bye, Trier.  Hello Luxembourg!

And now the Luxembourg Trip is done!  In case you missed the other posts (in order of posting but not in order of when we saw them on our trip), nine posts altogether from our 4 days, including this one :

Eschfeld, Germany: the St. Luzia Parish Church
Clervaux, Luxembourg: the Church and the CastleBELGIUM: Bastogne and La Roche-en-ardenne
The Luxembourg-Trip Picnics
LUXEMBOURG: Echternach
Germany and Luxembourg Border Skirmish
Luxembourg City
TRIER, Germany: Part 1

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

As an FYI, Astrid and I fly to America on Saturday for our annual trip to see family and friends.  (Now you know why I wanted to finish this Luxembourg trip!)  We'll be gone for almost 3 weeks, back on October 23rd.  And if I'm lucky,  I may even post something before we return, but if not...you'll know why!

TRIER, Germany: Part 1

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....