Well as most of our friends know we are back home now, but we still need to finish writing a couple more times to complete this trip. In this writing we will cover our time in Strasbourg, France and Trier, Germany.
Strasbourg, France
We were in Strasbourg for only a few days. This is the portion of this trip where we took a train and stopped a couple of days, then took a train again. We really liked this form of travel versus planes or renting a car. ‘Cause once you are on a train there is no worries for a few hours ’till you get off in the new city. It was much more relaxing.
We rented bikes while here so riding around we could see a lot more. This is part of the old town, the small creek being part of one of the rivulets of the Rhine river which separates France from Germany.
This is one of the main attractions here. The cathedral is quite spectacular, but there were just too many tourists in there for us to go in. This cathedral was the tallest building in the world for over 200 years until 1874. It stands at 466 feet tall.
We found this amusing. Laurel and Hardy door pulls. It is a restaurant, we did not find out why ‘Stan & Ollie’, but it is kind of cute.
This building is interesting ’cause of it’s ornateness. However almost all of the decorations you see are just painted on a flat surface. The 3D effect is quite amazing, you’d swear it was real. We have also seen this a lot in Sestri Levante, Italy. But not quite to this extreme.
Some of the hottest weather of our trip was here in Strasbourg, and many people found the fountains a nice place to cool off.
As this city is a university town, education is pretty important. We found this painting with the inscription and felt it to be worth bringing to other’s attention. For those who cannot speak french, the translation is: ‘Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world’ Nelson Mandela.
This was also very interesting. This sign is for a Turkish pastry shop. As it was Ramadan, this shop was closed during the day. However, even though they are not open, they work all day making pastries without eating or drinking. Then we went back just before the sun went down and you can see what we found.
These Turkish pastries were outstanding. We did not try them all, but the ones we did buy were special. We’re sure they sold out for this day of Ramadan, as there were many here celebrating with large meals in the evening.
Now we’ll show you some of the interesting fashion and artwork of Strasbourg,
There were a few days we rented bicycles, and got to see the periphery of city Strasbourg. There was this real nice park,
It was such a beautiful day. We took a nap on the grass. That’s where we were in the opening photo of this writing. We felt some wind come up, and when we opened our eyes, the park was suddenly empty and the sky had turned really black. So we went to head home and the winds were so fierce we could go no further. Then it poured! This all happened in less than 10 minutes.
We did manage to get back and drop off the bikes at the rental center. But we did get a bit wet.
One of the better meals we had out was more of appetizers not a whole meal.
We really liked this kind of meal. Finger food, served on a board, nice mix of meats, cheeses, bread, and dips. We started having some of our dinners in like this. Simple but really nice.
We will also mention that Strasbourg is one of the friendliest cities for bicycle riding. You can ride easily into Germany across the Rhine river and on paths all along the river. So before we move on here are some other images of this city,
Next we headed to Luxembourg for a couple of days. Again we went by train which is quite enjoyable. Luxembourg city was in a mess. There was construction everywhere. It seemed like the whole city was under construction. We did manage a few shots though,
And that was about it. The next day we took the train to Trier, Germany and spent our day there. This town had a special feel to it.
These were some of the statues we saw as we exited the train station. Lots of fun!
Then we headed to the ruins called Porta Nigra.
These ruins are from the Roman Empire (4th century) when this city was one of the largest in the Empire with a population around 100,000. This was one of four gates into the city. You are allowed to go inside for a small fee, and it is worth it!
From there we walked through a bit different part of town,
Quite the mix here in Trier!
But really, this city is known as Germany’s oldest city, and also as the birthplace of Karl Marx founder of Marxism. There is also the Aula Palatina or known as the Basilica of Constantine,
This was built around AD 310 commissioned by Constantine the Roman emperor. An interesting note about this basilica, during the second world war, the clergy here were solely in support of the Nazis (in contrast to other clergy in the area) and consequently when this was burnt due to an allied air strike, the locals saw that as the wrath of God for their compliance. There is a history board inside that describes the sound of the huge pipe organ groaning during the fire as if demons were being purged.
Next we headed to the Trier Imperial Baths. Again these come from the 4th century AD.
It was pretty strange walking around the tunnels and into bath houses that were used by the Romans over 1,000 years ago. Hard to imagine how some of these edifices were constructed. And parts of them are still standing.
We’ll end this writing with bees. Yes bees made their home in the Basilica of Constantine.
We’ll leave you with a collage of images, and we’ll soon return to finish our adventure through Ireland!
Thanks for following us, next is the land of the shamrock!
Travel Adventures - Gary and Nancy 