Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Day 6 in Paris - Not in Paris, in Germany

Mikel's main goal was to see Germany's castles. She will get to see two, but not before we visit a few other sites.



First stop; The Porta Nigra, or Black Gate, is Trier's signature attraction and symbol of its Roman heritage. It was built of light sandstone in the 2nd century and was only given its present name in the Middle Ages when the stone aquired it's signature color. Craig thought it was darker because of the Euros smoking cigarettes. Porta Nigra is one of the entrances to Trier's Marktplatz.



Above is Sarah's AWOL parents in the main square of the Hauptmarkt. The tower behind us is St. Gangolf Cathedral.



Feeling guilty about leaving our darling daughter behind, we visited a toy shop. Our German hosts, who gave us a beautiful coo-coo clock a few years back for hosting their son, bought Sarah a coo-coo clock that will match her room decor. Above, Matthias dons battle gear.



From Trier, we drove through the gorgeous Moselle river valley. Numerous, quaint German towns lined the river banks with vineyards framing the valley. Second stop; the crew takes a break near the site of some ancient Roman burial ruins.



Third stop; at last, Mikel gets to see a castle. Above is Reichsburg Cochem. You have to act like you are about to hawk a loogy when you say Cochem. This was a fine castle, but it is fairly young in comparison to other castles in Germany. It was also very commercial, with a restaurant and wedding facilities. There was a wedding taking place during our visit - seven red Ferraris were lined up outside the wedding hall; though we are not sure why.



See, proof positive that Craig will drink a beer. We stayed the night in the small town of Mosel. That night we ate at Zum Dorf-Brunnen, a German restaurant. Is it a German restaurant if it is in Germany, or just a restaurant? Wish I remember what we ate, but it was very good. Angela's appetizer was especially yummy. It was was one of those dishes with various food items that one would not typically combine, but a taste sensation it was. We should have taken notes.

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