Moselling Our Way Down Town

 After a very quick start to the trip with 9 cities in the first week we decided to give ourselves, and our wallet, a bit of a break and meander down the Moselle to Trier to do a bit of classical Roman sightseeing. Trier being twinned with Danni's hometown of Gloucester and being a key case study in my degree made it an exciting destination for the both of us.

For the first time in many months Moira enjoyed a good dry day with all her doors open, after some repairs here and there and a bit of bike maintenance we were ready to hit the road again. 

Instead of the quick 1 hour drive from Koblenz to Trier we took the more scenic, and more wiggly route, following the banks of the Moselle with fortuitously beautiful weather and schloss a plenty!

On arriving in Trier we went through, and inside, one of the most visible symbols of Trier: the remnants of the Roman gate Porta Nigra. In the medieval period this formidable imperial monument was turned into a monastery. The only reason this gate survived, of the 4 identical ones in the roman period, is because Simeon the monk decided to squat here in the the 11th century. Thoughts of him holding out here in the cold dark aftermath of what must have seemed like the apocalypse are exactly what I love to see in Roman ruins. 

Going further into the imperial capital, we came across the Kaiserthermae which is uncontestably the coolest name for a bath ever

An ariel view of the Barbara Baths, surprisingly the second best named baths in Trier...

We continued our classical tour with a visit to the amphitheatre, the building in Trier that most made me realise the similarities between Trier and a modern US military base. The presence of creature comforts, in this case the brutal slaughter of people for entertainment, far from the imperial centre in a colony rings of the endless Wendy's, McDonalds, and Wall Marts in US bases all across the globe.

On our way down to the Saar we decided to make a quick visit to the town that made this all possible: Schengen and its 3-pointed border of France, Luxembourg, and Germany. Off for another chilled out rural night tonight and our first water park of the trip tomorrow!

Rob's favourite fact: in the 18th century the amphitheater in Trier was used as a vineyard!

Danni's favourite fact: the entrance to the amphitheater was called the vomitorium because the attendees would spew forth into the seating