Moseying along the Mosel

(The Piesporter vineyard along the Mosel - very steep and only accessible by boat)

Day 1: We planned to spend a few days with one of my college friends, Jenny, and her boyfriend Christian who live in Trier, Germany – a city we knew very little about. We did no pre-trip research as we figured the locals could show us a good time. This was one of those serendipitous occasions where we were blown away what we got to experience. Jenny picked us up in Luxembourg in the late afternoon after a day of travel from St. Petersburg. (This could be the subject of its own blog post as St. Petersburg has one of the most budget international airports we have ever been too and it felt more like a tiny regional airport in a developing country. But boy do they take their security seriously - we had to go through screenings twice before we were even able to get our boarding pass!)

Trier is only about 45 minutes away by car, and when we got there we met Christian, and we went out for dinner. We knew good times were ahead as we quickly learned at dinner that the Mosel River, which runs through Trier, is the river valley where Rieslings are made – one of our favorite white wines.

Day 2: Unfortunately Christian had to work a few hours on Saturday, so the three of us headed to Luxembourg for the day. Luxembourg is not a very touristy city and happens to be a major business and banking center due to its low tax rates. Expectations were low, but they were easily exceeded. We first wandered around the shopping district and came across two squares with weekend markets – one antiques and the other food. Par for the course, Katie quickly found something to buy which will be a great memento of our trip. After poking around for a couple hours and buying some food for dinner, we went to the Casemates. Luxembourg was built on top of a hill and heavily fortified, as was common with many European cities. The Casemates were part of the fortifications that were recently excavated. We were able to explore the ruins and were given great vantage points of the city. Tired after a long day we headed back to Trier where Christian, an amazing cook, made us a delicious dinner.

(Katie & Jenny at the Casemates)

Day 3: Jenny and Christian generously decided to show us the region and our first stop was Burg Eltz, maybe one of the most picturesque castles in all of Europe, or so we were told by Rick Steves. As the trend of “things being closed in the off season” continued, not only was the castle closed for tours, but a large portion of it was surrounded by scaffolding and plastic as repairs were being made. We did hike down to the castle and walk around it a bit, and the setting in the valley was absolutely amazing. After the castle we cut over to the Mosel to drive along its winding banks. The river is dotted with many old towns and the hills from the river are covered with grape vines. We stopped for lunch in Cochem which is a lovely town that has a castle perched above it, a perfect spot to eat. Afterwards we kept driving along the river and stopped for dinner and a wine tasting. It wasn’t like a tasting in Napa or Sonoma, but we were about to try 5-6 different types of Rieslings, and it was the perfect way to end the day.

(In the beautiful river town of Cochem)

Day 4: As it was Monday, our hosts had to work so Katie and I were able to explore Trier – which offered more than we ever have imagined. Founded in 15 BC it is the oldest city in Germany, and more importantly at one time was the “northern” capital of the Roman Empire, exceeded in importance only by Rome. Of the Roman ruins still standing the impressive was the Porta Nigra, one of the old gates to the city. It still stands after 18 centuries and was constructed like the important buildings at Machu Picchu, without mortar of any kind.

Due to Trier’s importance in the Roman Empire, it was a major religious center too and is the seat of a Catholic Bishop. The Dom, a Roman cathedral, is truly awe inspiring in its size and architecture. Legend also has it the tunic Jesus wore when he was crucified sits in a magnificent reliquary. The last site we visited of historical note was the birthplace of Karl Marx – who was born and raised here in the early 1800s.

(Katie in front of the Porta Nigra)

Day 5: Katie and I decided to rent bikes and bike along the Mosel River in the opposite direction we explored the preceding weekend. The guy at the rental shop told us we should go to Saarbourg, so off we went. There are walking and bike paths along both sides of the Mosel and we had a glorious ride on a sunny and 60 degree day. After two hours of pedaling we made it to Saarburg which was yet another picturesque river town capped with a castle and a waterfall. We ate lunch, Katie (surprise, surprise) went shopping, and I walked around the city a little bit before we needed to head back to Trier. It took us a little longer to get home as my knee was hurting a bit, but we got bike in time before the bike rental shop closed. All in all we estimated we biked 36 miles! Christian yet again made a magnificent dinner that Katie and I devoured as we had burned so many calories during the day.

(Katie in front of the falls in Saarburg)

We had a great time and that was due to our generous hosts Jenny & Christian. Not only did they put us up for several nights, but they fed us, and took a lot of time out of their busy lives to show us the sights. Fortunately they have family living in Tacoma, so hopefully we can repay the favor in a few years when we are living in Seattle!