A long train ride to an old city

We made it. Three train changes, and five-plus hours later and we've arrived in Trier--one of the oldest cities in Germany.

We left Gent (I'm spelling it as Libby has become accustomed to) at around 9:30. From Gent stopped off in Brussels and Luxembourg before arriving in Trier. The journey was fairly uneventful. The first train out of Trier was quite crowded, and we had to wait in the standing area where the doors to embark and disembark the train open into. While standing there, we met a Canadian and an older fella with his wife who were from New Zealand. The Canadian had been in Amsterdam, and Rotterdam and was on his way to Leipzig. Much to our surprise he said he was familiar with Bellingham, and used The Postal service as a point of reference. The Kiwi had been on a six-week odyssey that had taken his wife and him on at least one cruise ship and were on their way to Paris.

Our train from Brussels to Luxembourg was pretty empty, and the last train to Trier was a--get this--double-decker! There are two levels to the thing. Two! Neither of us had seen these types of trains in Britain and were pretty stoked at the chance of actually riding one.

Upon arrival we made the 15 minute trek through town to our hotel. The Astoria Hotel. A hotel that will likely not deliver similarly fond memories from childhood like Goonies never saying die.

Our hosts are. . . odd. Upon entering the hotel lobby we were presented with a card to fill out, and a complementary adult beverage. The catch was we were expected to drink said beverage in the very cramped lobby with all our luggage on our persons, or strewn around the then smaller lobby. There was absolutely no give to how things were going to be done, and this seems to be this place's M.O. You will drink this now. I'm not even going to suggest you go to your room, put your bags down, and come back to enjoy this complimentary beverage in area WE HAVE SET ASIDE SPECIFICALLY FOR CONSUMING FOOD AND BEVERAGES. The other thing that kinda irks us, and this is reflected in Trip Advisor reviews that leaned toward the negative side, is their seeming slavishness to rules. The previous anecdote notwithstanding, their WiFi, though free, is limited to one device. One. Eins. What year is it?! We have five internet enabled devices of which we enjoy using on the internet and would have used all five in our stay here. We wouldn't be watching movies on all five at the same time thus slamming their internet connection (which is the only legitimate reason I can think of the restriction). There is a prohibition on consuming drinks from outside the hotel in one's room. This is probably due in no small measure to them having their own refreshment service in the aforementioned room. The pillows are thin, having the same thickness as the duvet, the bed isn't as great as the last one, but the room is clean and there aren't any mosquitos!

Not baguettes! Our delicious dinner. I had pumpkin pesto pasta and Tommy had regular pesto pasta with turkey. Very good!

There's a legend that Trier was founded  pre-Roman occupation, but extant records indicate that Rome created a settlement in 30 BCE after defeating a Germanic tribe named the Treveri.

It should not come as a surprise that tomorrow will be consisting of seeing some Roman things. Seeing some more Roman things. And then seeing even more Roman things. The Bascilica of Constatine (aka Aula Palatina), built by (guess who) Constantine, was constructed in 310 CE as part of a larger Roman complex. There is a Roman gate (Porta Nigra), Roman baths, and a Roman amphitheater. Trier is also able to boast having Germany's oldest cathedral in the country despite having gone through some rocky times during it's more than a millennia of existence.

Spoilers! If you don't want to hear about dusty old Roman things, skip tomorrow's blog post. If you love us however, you won't skip tomorrow's blog post.

We hope hope your Mondays are going very un Monday-like!