Day Trippers

Also known as: 1 Day, 3 Countries, No Passport.

Although the "no passport" part was highly unadvised, and really a mere oversight on my part. Fortunately, no passport-checkers were about, and a huge sigh of relief was issued upon returning to Metz!

On to the "three countries" part. Yesterday, three of my assistant friends and I decided to take a day trip to the "oldest city in Germany," Trier. Called Trèves in French, the city isn't far from the Luxembourg border, and brings in tourists from France, Germany, Luxembourg and more. It was a perfect destination for a day trip, since, with a stop-over in Luxembourg City, it only took 2 hours to get there. And the best part is that round trip tickets cost us each only 12€50 thanks to an awesome weekend train pass for the region of Saar-Lor-Lux, as it's called around here. That's the German state of Saarland (even though Trier is technically in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate), Lorraine and Luxembourg. For one person, the ticket is 20€, and 50€ for 4 - all the more reason to travel with friends!

Trier (founded around 16BCE) is a city of superlatives, if I've ever seen one, and nearly every site to see has a particular claim to fame. We started at the Porta Nigra, the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps, which was built - as wikipedia tells me - between 186 and 200CE.

Porta Nigra means "black gate" in Latin

After a short stroll through the pedestrian streets, seeing the city center and getting our bearings, it was more than time to duck out of the drizzle for a hot bite to eat. We quickly found the "Potato Restaurant" and unanimously decided that was the place. I had a delicious schnitzel and kartoffelsalat (potato salad), while the others had equally hearty potato-featuring dishes.

After lunch, we found the Trier Dom and Liebfrauenkirche - the cathedral and Our Lady Church. The Dom is the oldest cathedral in Germany, having been built and rebuilt since the early 4th century. The majority of the cathedral dates from the Roman period, with significant additions being made in the 11th and 12th centuries. And the Liebfrauenkirche was built in the 13th century. It's a massive ensemble of buildings and attached chapels, plus the huge cloister (which we didn't get to see). The Trier Dom has the special significance of being the "home" to the relic of the Holy Robe, or the Tunic of Christ - the garment Jesus was supposedly wearing when he was crucified. Since 1196, the tunic has been contained in a special altar within the cathedral, and has been taken out and displayed a couple of times each century since - the most recent being in 1996.

Trierer Dom und Liebfrauenkirche

My day-tripping companions in front of the medieval city wall

The last major site we visited were the Kaiserthermen, the Imperial Baths (the largest Roman baths north of the Alps). While we didn't pay to enter the museum and site, it was pretty clear from the outside that the remains are quite impressive.

Trier city-center

Two sites we didn't see before we had to catch a train back to France (via Lux) were the Roman amphitheater, a bit outside of the city-center, and the Römerbrücke, the Roman Bridge over the Mosel (Moselle) River. It's claim to fame is being the oldest standing bridge in Germany, with its pillars dating to 2CE. And yet another "north of the Alps" superlative about Trier: in the St. Matthias Abbey a medieval church houses the body of the only apostle buried north of the Alps.

With all these "largest," "oldest," and "most"s, it's easy to get caught up in the touristy part of the trip, but on the train home we kept talking about how amazing it was that we were able to take a simple day trip and spend some time in three different countries with incredible ease (and fortunately no customs officials!). This is such a cool part of the world!