TRIER
We decided to take a road trip south to the Mosel River area, visiting two towns. We came up the Mosel back in 2011, staying in Cochem. You can read about it here. It was a great place then, with excellent white wines and food, so we were excited to return to the river.
Our first destination was Trier, a small town on the Mosel River just by the border of Luxembourg. Here is a very quick jaunt through 2000 years of history:
Trier was founded about 17 BC by Emporer Augustus. The city was surrounded by a wall almost 21 feet high and 11 feet thick. Only one gate, the Porta Nigra still survives. There were Viking invasions, French invasions (think Napoleon) and Germanic wars.
Karl Marx was born here. Recently the Chinese gave a Marx statue to the city, and after a debate they found a place to put it.
This is the famous Mosel wine region, with excellent Riesling and Gewürztraminer wines. In this area, Roman wineries dated back to at least 370 AD, possibly earlier.
Much of the city was destroyed in World War Two and rebuilt. There are still remains of the Roman baths, the old colosseum is still used for concerts, and the Roman Basilica built for Emperor Constantine has been turned into a huge, one room church.
For our first order of business, we stopped first at a little cafe for a drink. I had a Bitburger, the local beer, and it is a light golden pilsner.
We always look at the sugar packets in Europe, because many of them are unique in one way or another. In fact, I used to bring sugar packets back as a gift for my friend Katie. She said that when she had her morning coffee, the packs of sugar, no matter the language, reminded her of her time living in Barcelona.
Today, the sugar packets at the cafe had clever pictures of people dressed in period clothes, and we had fun mixing and matching couples.
We walked into the main market square or Hauptmarkt. It has the oldest market cross in Germany. Well, OK. The old original one is in a museum and this one is a reproduction, but still. There were flower stalls, a wine stand selling sample glasses from local wine producers, a cool fountain with old Saint Pete on top, all surrounded by quaint colorful buildings with carved figures tucked here and there; under the eaves, on the corners, up high by the gutters. You notice that the architecture seems a sort of Belgium-French-German hybrid.
In front of both were Gypsy beggars, and just next to them signs warning you that there are beggar and not to give them money. Still, they kneeled with that hopeful, saintly expression on their faces.
Later we saw one of them taking a break (or perhaps their shift was over and the swing-shift beggar came on duty?) walking down the street, looking anything but saintly.
So, inside the “Italian” cathedral there are a lot of ornate carvings and 3-D plaster fresco type saints and god-stuff on the walls and ceiling. Inside the “French” cathedral they had a nice light show from a wide variety of stained glass windows, styles ranging from ultra-modern patterns to the old style, heavily colored, dense people-in-the-bible designs.
Later we stopped by the huge, one room Roman Basilica (Emperor Constantine) church which was very simple and austere in comparison.
In fact, it was striking in its simplicity and openness, and that fact alone made everyone stare silently.
Crazy enough, a huge French Chalet was built right across the front of the basilica, by some guy who I suppose didn’t want to have to walk too far to have his sins of excess forgiven. Trying to upstage the Romans, all pink and white with gaudy gold trim, it was fronted by a wide garden and fountain, surrounded by cupid-like statues.
Jugglers, contortionists, musicians and other buskers were practicing in a goup in the park, getting ready for their afternoon street performances.
We walked over to the Porta Nigra, the Black Gate made of basalt rock and the only remnant of the old city walls.
Then we stopped to see Karl, and I posed Ralph in front as a “Mini-Marx."
Before leaving we decided to stop by the main square for a cake and coffee break. We all had something different and shared bites. I had a great nut thing (kind of like the topping of a pecan sticky-bun, but more solid and cookie like) and Gail had a very light pastry filled with cherry. Angelika’s strawberry torte was excellent, and Ralph’s chocolate cake was rich.
*A side note: the city parking garage is very efficient. A lighted sign outside tells you if it is “Frei” (open spaces) and as you drive in signs update automatically telling you how many spaces are open on this level and how many open on the levels above. Then it is easy to find the open spaces, because above each space is a red or green light. This is just one of those little things I hope will eventually come to the US.
BERNKASTEL
It is absolutely astounding the number of vineyards on the hills, flowing down to the river, kilometer after kilometer of happy Riesling and Gewürztraminer frolicking in the sun. Some of the vineyards are so steep they use the little single-rail “grape trains” you see in Italy and Switzerland, used to carry one person and grapes up and down the slopes. Anyway I am just amazed at how much wine is grown and produced here, and in France and Italy, California and Croatia...
We continued on until we came to the charming town of Bernkastel-Kues.
Bernkastel was our actual destination, Kues is the village across the river, connected by bridge and wine.
We parked and I walked out across the bridge to get a good view of the little ruined and refurbished castle on the hill above Bernkastel; to see the row of little colorful buildings lining the waterfront.
A barge was heading downstream, and I wished I had extra time to just sit and watch the ships as I did several years ago.
Off the bridge, we walked into the main town square where there was a lovely fountain. The square is surrounded by timber framed houses, leaning and sagging against each other for support. The beauty is in the small details; many of the houses have colorful designs on the timbers, and the businesses have cool signs that hang out over the street, some funny, showing what they sell. The wine seller has a glass in his hand, and one restaurant is named “The Bath Tub” and the sign is appropriate, though perhaps not for (American) minors..
Just off the main square, up one of the narrow streets, a tippy house is wedged into a space so narrow that you could stand in the middle of the main room and touch both interior walls.
It is the Spitzhaüschen and is “the most photographed house” in town… for good reason. The base is so narrow, and the top mushrooms out so that you are sure it will fall over, yet it was built in 1416 (GASP * Over 600 years ago!)
Why did they build it this way? Well, it allows those of us with horse and wagons to pass through the alley, and back in the day taxes were based on the area of your house’s foundation. Anyway it is a wine bar now, and we were looking for a meal since it was getting to be evening.
So we walked up out of the main square, along the main street, to a corner where there was a stone cross at the base of the stairs leading up to the church. Directly across the street, on the corner, was a little cafe that served (mostly) wines from Erben Karl Dillinger. This is where we ate and it was a great choice.
I asked the waitress to pair the wines for us, and she did a great job. We had a crisp Riesling to start, and she brought out fresh bread with a lump of herbed pork fat and some sort of cream cheese-butter mix that was wonderful.
The Riesling that she chose for dinner went well with my beef steak, pork medallion and pork steak meal, and also paired with Gail's Mediterranean Pasta. Ralph had a Swiss steak with mushrooms that I had been eyeing, and Angelika chose a pork schnitzel type dish.
We finished with coffee; I had an espresso with a shot of water in a clever slanted water glass.
With our stomachs full it was a quick 1.75 hour drive back to Neuss, doing 150 KMH (about 95 mph) on the autobahn.