If someone were to ask me to give them a first name for someone named Marx, I’d say, “Groucho.” I can assure you that the Chinese would say, “Karl.” Trier is the birthplace of Karl Marx, the intellectual font of communism. We visited his house on, you guessed it, Karl-Marx-Strasse (“Karl Marx Street”). They should … Continue reading →

The history and archeological museum had complete mosaic floors and walls that had been found and removed from old Roman homes and monuments. Dale really liked these. Here are a few examples. We spent two hours in the museum, mainly looking at the exhibits relating back to the Roman period. After the Romans left in … Continue reading →

Yesterday was a very busy day for us. Besides going to all the ancient Roman ruins and walking probably 10 miles around the city, we also went to the history and archeology museum, located near the Imperial Baths. Inside the museum, on the top floor, they had models of all the old Roman structures that … Continue reading →

As I pointed out earlier, Trier is located on the Mosel River. In Roman times, it was a walled city (Porta Nigra was one of the city gates). On the east, it was necessary to cross the Mosel to get to the eastern gate and access the city, so the Romans built a bridge over … Continue reading →

Around 300 A.D., the Romans began the construction of the Imperial Baths in anticipation of Trier becoming a seat of government for the Roman Empire in the north. The Baths were never completed and used as a bath because Emperor Constantine left Trier for Turkey before they were finished, so work halted. The Roman baths … Continue reading →

After the Amphitheater, we caught the bus again and got off at the Basilica built by Emperor Constantine before he went off to establish his new seat of government at Constantinopole in Turkey in the 4th century, A.D. The Roman basilicas were essentially public forums where the rulers officiated. This basilica is the largest unsupported … Continue reading →

The Amphitheater in Trier was built by the Romans some time in the 2nd century, A.D. The floor of the Amphitheater measures almost 500 feet across; this is where the gladiators fought and the wild animals were released to tear each other apart. Here’s the entrance: And here’s what it looks like from the fighting … Continue reading →

We started this morning with a tour of Trier on a double-decker bus. Trier is on the Mosel River and that was the first destination of the bus. After driving along the Mosel for a mile or two, the bus turned back into the city, went past the Roman Baths, and then drove up the … Continue reading →

After leaving Speyer, we drove further west for about two hours to Trier, the oldest city in Germany and the largest city built by the Romans north of Rome, nearly 2,000 years ago. We’re so glad that Heike suggested we stop in Speyer and Trier on our way back. They are both amazing places and … Continue reading →

After visiting the Speyer Cathedral, we strolled down the walking street to the West gate to the ancient walled city, the east gate being adjacent to the cathedral. Here’s Dale in front of the cathedral; that’s the old State government building in the background. Here’s the view walking down the street that you can see … Continue reading →

In the afternoon, after the baths in Baden-Baden, we drove west a couple hours to Speyer, an old walled city on the Rhine River. It turned out that there was a two-week long music festival going on and all the hotels in town were booked. We know this because we stopped at ten of them … Continue reading →

We didn’t realize it last night, but the building that we looked at straight across the alley from our bedroom window was a famous thermal bathhouse, the Friedrichsbad, built in 1870 on top of the ruins of an ancient Roman bath. Here’s another look at it. Here’s a picture of our hotel from the alley … Continue reading →

After getting settled into our hotel, we took a walk around Baden-Baden at dusk. It is very beautiful with the lights just coming on. We discovered that we are exactly 7,900 kilometers away from Miami! And that Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince is here. A late night snack and coffee before bed; our waiter used to live … Continue reading →

We ended up staying for lunch in Schönaich and Ingeborg made an excellent Maultaschen soup, which is a lot like Matzo Ball soup. There’s an old Schwabian saying that the soup, a meat ball inside a pasta covering and made for Lent when you’re not supposed to eat meat, was made like raviolis to hide … Continue reading →

This morning, before leaving, Heike drove us up to a hill overlooking Schönaich so we could see the village. We walked down a beautiful path… …to Hans-Jürgen’s orchard where we picked and ate apples. And saw another nice view of the town. We saw vineyards all through our drive from Munchweiler to Schönaich and it … Continue reading →

Tschüß is the German word for goodbye and auf wiedersehen means, “see you again.” And so we had our farewell meal at Ingeborg and Hans-Jürgen’s house. And now we must say Tschüß. But more importantly, we say, Auf Wiedersehen! We’ll see you again!

Later in the day, Heike and Dorothea (who got out of school early) took us to another nearby, old city, Waldenbuch. Here’s a map so you can see how all these places relate to each other. We wanted to play chess, but couldn’t find all the pieces. So, instead, we walked around the old Duke’s … Continue reading →

Yesterday, Heike drove us to Böblingen, a larger nearby city, to run errands – mainly to get SIM cards from a German cellphone company so we can use our iPads for internet. Böblingen sort of runs into another city, Sindelfingen, where the Mercedes factory is located. Here’s a view of Sindelfingen from the hill above … Continue reading →

This is the view from Jörg and Heike’s house, down the valley. It was a cool evening, so the fireplace was lit. And we had a typical German supper of bread, meat and cheese. Mmmmmmmm.