It's Mothers Day, or so it was 25 minutes ago. As usual, I can't sleep. A natural insomniac. Of course I've tried all the natural remedies, and even some not so natural. I'll try this blogging thing and see if it helps...
Yesterday, while my kiddo was off earning an International Scout camping badge in Grobbendonk, the hubs and I decided to take a trip to Trier, Germany. A couple of times every hundred years or so, the DOM of Trier will open it's doors to pilgrims from all over the world. The last time this happened was in 1996 and before that, 1959. Of course, I saw this as a once in a lifetime opportunity. The hubs, not so much. He saw it as a long drive(2.5 hours) with heavy Saturday traffic. Of course... We went. He didn't kick and scream too bad. His iphone kept him busy in the bumper to bumper traffic. Once we finally arrived in Trier, we found parking. Thank God(no pun intended!) for GPS and a "find open parking" option in English! So there we were, within 2 kilometers of the robe that is said to be worn by Jesus Christ himself at, or just after crucifixion. How cool is that?! I thought it was super cool, and apparently so did thousands of other people, at that very same moment. Needless to say, we didn't wait in line with all these people. Instead, we took a lot of pictures of the outside of the cathedral, stopped for schnitzel like any good American and planned our tourist attack on the rest of the city.
This cathedral holds what is believed to be the robe of Jesus Christ.
Lunch at the historic Kelly Restaurant of Trier.
Next we were off to Porta Nigra. Built in grey sandstone between 180 and 200AD. It's the largest Roman gate north of the Alps. In Roman times, this was one of four gates. Porta Nigra was on the northern side of what was a rectangular shaped city. We were surprised to see how great of condition it's still in. Of course, it seems so awkward sitting right in the middle of a "new" city. Yes, I'm aware that Trier is the oldest Deutschland city. You'd never know it though from all the newer buildings!
The exterior of Porta Nigra
We were starting to get tired, and really, still just grateful that we found parking. We decided to go visit the Kaiserthermen. Or in English... The Roman Baths. We had heard many positive things. You know, the typical "Oh, if you go to Trier, make sure you check out the baths!" Well... We were thinking "Oh... We just spent 6 euro on this??" They say that the baths are preserved ruins of the 4th century. I don't know, maybe it's just me. I feel like sometimes things shouldn't be preserved. Or, at least you shouldn't have all of your preservations open to tourists. It was slightly disappointing to see bricks and building materials in several passage areas. Though this was slightly disappointing, I am still grateful that I had the opportunity.
And what was my favorite thing about Mothers Day you might ask?? At 5:30 I picked my kiddo up from his camping trip and I heard about all the great adventures of earning a camping badge from Grobbendonk, Belgium. Oh.. and all the new Brit lingo that comes with camping with a bunch of Brits!!
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