Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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  • Trier – Roman Bridge (Römerbrücke)

    At first impressions this just looks like any other road bridge spanning a wide river, in this case the Moselle. However, it’s the oldest bridge in Germany and dates back to the second century AD. The upper part is modern, but the nine bridge pillars are all original Roman. The French destroyed the upper part of the bridge in 1689 and it was later widened in 1931.

    The Germans didn’t destroy the bridge during their retreat during the Second World War, although this seems to be more down to technical problems than any desire to maintain the historic structure.

    A plaque noting the antiquity of the bridge.

    And a reconstruction of what part of the bridge would have looked like in Roman times.

  • Trier – Bastion Südallee

    There’s no information about this structure at the site, but it’s known as Bastion Südallee, or the Bastion on the South Avenue. This street used to be the line of the city wall, but it was demolished in the nineteenth century and turned into a park.

    The bastion, also known as the Red Tower, was saved from being demolished. It was originally built in 1543 with the tower being fortified and the lower level was used as a gun chamber.

    Unfortunately, the downstairs section is only occasionally opened up to the public and it’s a shame that something a little more can’t be done with this structure.

     

  • Trier – River Moselle in the Morning

    The River Moselle looking just a little foreboding in the morning…..

  • Trier – Woolworth

    In Germany, the Woolworth name lives on, originally founded as a subsidiary of the US chain in 1927. Between 2007 and 2010 it was owned by the British company Argyll Partners, before being sold to Tengelmann, who were able to save it from decline. They’ve been opening up new stores and have acquired the rights to expand the chain to countries across Europe, with the exception of the UK.

  • Trier – Ibis Styles

    The Ibis Styles in Trier, tucked away in the courtyard of the city’s former Post Office.

    Ibis Styles is part of the Accor chain and I like them because of their informal feel and their almost excessive theming. I say almost, as I really like it, they tend to take it a bit far and it makes for a different kind of visit (see here for Ibis Styles Bremen and Ibis Styles Grudziądz). This hotel is Roman themed, which is appropriate given Trier’s history, and includes a little statue in the room.

    The ceilings are apparently nearly four metres tall, so there’s an inevitable feeling of space and the room is also sizeable in itself.

    That isn’t real stone, but it looks realistic at first look, and there’s more subtle Roman theming with the not insubstantial image of an Emperor looking out onto the room.

    Just in case that’s not enough, this is the image on the bathroom wall. All marvellous, I like it.

    This is the flooring in some of the public areas and it’s realistic since it’s actually carpet.

    My Accor status got me an upgraded room, I think the others are smaller, and this free beer. The hotel doesn’t have its own restaurant, so I didn’t expect anything, but this was a kind gesture.

    The breakfast room was spacious, as it can be just a little tiresome trying to find a seat in some hotels. There were no issues here on any of the three mornings I came for breakfast, all organised and efficient.

    The food quality was decent, lots of peppered salami which pleased me. Good quality rolls and some hot options, of which the bacon was particularly tempting. The breakfast room was clean, tidy and organised, all very relaxing.

    The staff in this hotel were friendly and engaging, doing their best to help. There isn’t coffee or tea in the rooms, but they do have help yourself flasks of it downstairs, which was a popular option for many. The prices were reasonable and the hotel itself seemed spotless to me, a rather remarkable effort. I couldn’t really find any fault of note and I’d stay here again in a visit to Trier….

  • Trier – Fleischstraße

    The city’s Butcher Street is easy to locate, since they’ve put a big sign up at the entrance, and it’s one of the most historic streets in Trier. It was pedestrianised in 1977 and was named after the meat stalls which were operated along here by butchers in the medieval period.

    Many of the historic buildings along here were though unfortunately destroyed during the Second World War. This included the property at number 14, a fifteenth century property which had partially rebuilt in the eighteenth century and which was then used as a school and courts.

  • Trier – Therman am Viehmarkt

    The final Roman site in Trier for me to visit, which are more baths in what is otherwise a modern looking building in the middle of Viehmarktplatz (Cattle Market Square). There was an extensive set of Roman baths here, as well as a much later monastery, but the stone was robbed away, and partly used when constructing Trier Cathedral. The red line of bricks in the above photo, which crosses another red line, is the line of the old Roman road.

    After the monastery, built in the seventeenth century, was suppressed by Napoleon, the whole lot remained underneath what became a market and car park (admittedly it didn’t become a car park until the twentieth century). It was when a lovely new underground car park was being constructed in the 1980s that these foundations were discovered and an archaeological dig then took place to properly excavate the site.

    I arrived at the museum in the morning and there was no-one at the visitor desk, which was confusing. I went back in the afternoon and the situation was revealed, there is a large wine event taking place tomorrow and so they were a little distracted. The helpful staff member said that I was welcome to look around and gave me an orientation map which was in English. There was a lot of wine around the place, they were very trusting that I wasn’t someone who would decide to pinch some of it…..

    And it was also a good idea of mine (which is rare….) to go back this afternoon, as the location is closed tomorrow (unless I want to go to a wine event). Anyway, a lot of the Roman walls had a lot of wine event related items in front of them, as can be witnessed in the above photo. But I was pleased to be able to look around, they hadn’t put anything in the way that obstructed my visit. Although I did read that the city has decided not to try and include this site in the list of UNESCO World Heritage monuments (it was discovered just after the others in the city were designated) as they wouldn’t be able to hold events in it.

    This is the floor of one of the large swimming baths, originally it had black and white marble slabs. I’m impressed that it has remained in such good condition, although I can imagine it was never worthwhile anyone trying to dig it up.

    There’s one exception to no-one digging it up, this is a circular drainage pipe added in 1902. They seemingly drilled down oblivious to what they were cutting into….

    A latrine shaft.

    The entrance to the heating installation.

    A stair tower.

    This is the former Roman street (above the culvert) which ran from north to south, and they discovered eleven different layers of development when completing the archaeological dig. The oldest layers dated to the first century AD, whilst the later layers dated to the fourth century AD. The culvert itself was for transporting sewerage.

    The bit on the right hand side of this photo is the warm bath hall, but the bit on the left is the later monastery which was standing until the eighteenth century. In the middle, built into the monastery, is a latrine shaft which was used from the thirteenth to nineteenth centuries.

  • Trier – Backwerk

    I always try and find a location as good as Greggs when overseas, and although I’ve found many excellent locations, I’m usually unable to find anywhere which meets my chicken bake requirements. I wasn’t too sure about their branding either, I thought it was a chemists at first.

    The cake display.

    The interior of the cafe, organised and efficient. I only got a coffee and I decided against the free doughnut that came with it as part of the current promotion (I hadn’t long since had breakfast), although I noted that the staff member didn’t tell me about it (although I’d put that down to the language issue that she spoke very good German and I spoke very good English). In fairness to them, the prices are lower than most other bakeries, but the quality just didn’t quite meet what I’d ideally like.

  • Trier – Chicken Lounge

    Located near to Trier railway station is this well reviewed restaurant which specialises in just serving chicken. Which sounds a marvellous concept to me.

    Clean and clear branding.

    I was the only customer when I entered the restaurant, although it got busier throughout the lunch-time period. The staff member was pro-active and helpful, speaking excellent English. The interior of the restaurant was clean and organised, with menus readily available.

    The food seemed freshly cooked, it was well presented and the exterior of the chicken wasn’t greasy, it had been well drained. The chicken was all tender and crispy, with a satisfying taste on the batter. The chips were well salted and firm on the exterior, with the coleslaw being of a reasonable quality, and the curry sauce having a depth of taste.

    The restaurant didn’t accept either of my cards which are currency free, something I haven’t seen in Germany for a while, although it used to be a problem finding locations which accepted Mastercard. So, I paid with cash, and I noted that I was short-changed by €1. I’ll put it entirely down to an inadvertent error and I didn’t query it as I was going to give the staff member the same amount as a tip anyway, although I left feeling just a little aggrieved.

    Anyway, the quality of the food was above average, the staff member was friendly and the location was clean, so it deserves its high ratings. They also seem to do quite a lot of takeaway and delivery orders judging from customers who came in and also from reading reviews of the restaurant.

  • Trier – Schweinehüter

    I’m not sure why this set of sculptures is where it is, but it was sculpted by Hanns Scherl in 1979. There are actually four pigs, although one is slightly harder to spot in the photo….