Visiting Trier

During this trip, I had the chance to visit Trier on two happy occasions: once on the first day I arrived, as an excursion with AH and his parents; and the second time towards the end when I got to catch up with newly wed girlfriend U and her husband for dinner. 

A 30-40 minute train ride or drive away from Luxembourg, Trier is Germany's oldest city and an important site for ancient art treasures and monuments. I was awestruck to be casually strolling past the Porta Nigra ("Black Gate"), the best-preserved city gate from the ancient world, the Amphitheatre and Trierer Dom (St. Peter's Cathedral), the oldest church in Germany, all kept in remarkable conditions over the centuries. 

The first afternoon that we were there, we took time to stroll through the streets, passing the Christmas market in Hauptmarkt, boutique shops and having a leisurely lunch in a typical German wine bar. Game to sample the authentic local cuisine, I tried a roast pork belly with salad and a truckload of fries, while the rest of the group all took the pork knuckle with mash. All of us opted to wash it down with beer, of course. Heh. Then after some more shopping, we had afternoon coffee with cakes in a tea salon, before taking the train back. Twas a perfect way to commence my trip!

The weekend before my return flight, I was thrilled to meet U for dinner alongside AH and her newly minted spouse. Based on recommendations from her mates, we met at Das Weinhaus Trier, another charming wine bar for more German fare. This evening, both AH and I opted for the veal schnitzel with fries, which was delicious fried stuff, as expected, haha. We decided that champagne was in order to celebrate their recent nuptials, and stuck with wine for the second bottle. It was so nice to see and catch up with U - we've both been rather preoccupied for the last 2 years and being in different continents now made it even tougher to keep in touch so we definitely had lots to chat about. Five hours flew by and we finally called it a night after midnight, and the couple spent the night there as it was a longer drive for them, while AH and I got the car back within under 30 minutes. 

Given that this trip was really all about spending time with the family, and with most days being work days too, I was quite pleased to have visited a new place and even crossing country borders too, how fun! 

Snippets of the first visit