Tremendous Trip to Trier

I felt like this one day trip needed it's own post because WOW! I woke up earlier than I would for school to catch my first train departing at 7:35 to Luxembourg City. I had adrenaline pumping in my veins just from the sheer thought of exploring a new town, better yet in Germany! I met up with one of my classmates, Ines, who offered to show me around and join me. We took the next train to Trier, taking about an hour to arrive. Funny how in Europe, I can have been in 3 countries before noon. Upon arrival, we stepped out into the street and honestly, there was something about the air there. Life seemed collected. Having spent the last few weeks doing exams and not moving much, this was heaven for me. The train station seemed oddly tucked away in a quaint corner of the city, surprising to me. We made our way into the centre of the city, passing the famous "Porta Nigra"! My host dad had mentioned it to me at breakfast in the morning, but it couldn't compare to the feeling when standing in front of it. I felt so small in front of such a monument!

Spot me!

We went in search of a mid-morning snack and found so many street bakeries while wandering that it was hard to pick one. But in the end, we choose one that had an awesome cinnamon bun (unpopular in Belgium). We spent a few hours peeking into shops and strolling down the cobblestone alleys. I had done some research before going (Kudos parents for instilling that in me!) and had found that Trier was the birthplace of the communist creator, Karl Marx. So of course, I needed to find this place and get a photo! Now I do believe I have gotten better in my four months with finding my way, but we had walked RIGHT passed it for about 2-3 blocks. Luckily, we had stumbled upon the UNESCO site of the large Roman bathing house! The facts posted said that it was the size of 6 football fields! We found our way to the house of Marx after about tripling the conventional amount of time to get there, and it was quite tucked away. We didn't actually visit the museum but went into the gift shop to buy a few postcards and I did get my picture!

I found my esikaffee (iced coffee auf deutsche), one of my favoruite parts of the German cuisine!

I also got to enjoy my raclette pretzel!

We did a small tour of the Christmas market, which was a little disappointing compared to my initial idea. The church on the other hand! I have seen many and this one has been added to my list of memorable ones! Hohe Domkirche St. Peter zu Trier was built in the 4th century as a Roman Catholic cathedral, the oldest in Germany. It is also listed as another World Heritage Site!

We finished our day off by visiting the local supermarket and T.K. Maxx to assure we had the majority of our Christmas shopping done. I ended up getting a candle for my host mom, and some candy for my brothers and host dad to add to some Canadian stuff my parents had sent over in October. We caught the train two minutes before departing and were on our way home. Through the day, we racked up 18, 082 steps so the 2 hour train was a nice excuse to rest our feet!

Overall, I had a thrilling day of adventure! Discovering new cities has become my new favourite hobby and I can't wait to refine it in my upcoming months. Hope all is well!

All the love,

E