Taking a day to explore Trier

 We took today (Sunday) to explore Trier, Germany's oldest city, founded by the Romans in 16 BCE.   Although the central pedestrian area was packed with people on Saturday, today with all stores closed it was much quieter.

Architecture is a real mix.  There are Roman ruins (including the Porta Nigra, the best preserved Roman gate north of the Alps), many buildings from the middle ages, and because the city was bombed during WW II, many are modern.

See the golden arches?

DM is a large chain here, kind of like a CVS

The cathedral, which dates to Roman times, although austere by Spanish or Italian standards, is ornate compared to others we've seen in Northern Europe.  

The Dom contains the tunic worn by Christ, but they never remove it from its altar.  Still, everyone strains their eyes trying to see something.

Trier is the birthplace of Karl Marx.  There's a large statue of him in the central pedestrian area, and a museum in the house where he grew up.

Karl's favorite reading chair

Roman-era thermal baths

This arch was the entry to the Jewish quarter in Trier.  The community was largely eliminated in plague pogroms in the 14th century, and then totally in the 1930s.

The Porta Nigra was constructed as the northern gate to the city in 170.  Note the people for scale.

It was used as a church building over the centuries, and many carved reliefs survive inside,

Check out this cute BMW, parked on the street to advertise a toy museum (of course!).

We spent a little time studying maps today to plan our route forward.  We will be heading west and north toward the Vennbahn, a rail-trail conversion that takes off from the north of Luxembourg and follows (more or less) the border between Germany and Belgium.  Stay tuned.