Day 19 September 11

Day 19, September 11, 2012 Perl to Trier, 34 miles, total mileage 516 followed by 7 miles on foot around town.

After at great breakfast at the hotel, we left town.  During our walk to France yesterday, we found another way down the hill which wasn't so steep.  It also meant another trip to France.  Hey, it's not Paris, but it was fun.

 About forty minutes into the ride, it began to rain.  We stopped and donned all of our rain gear and continued on our way.  Although the path was wet, it clear and smooth and we just sailed along.

 These are the grapes that lined our ride and the hills on both the Germany and Luxemburg sides of the Mosel River.  They make a sweet, white wine.  Not only did we pass one vineyard after another, the Mosel River is also full of swans.  More often than not, we would see groups of a dozen or more swans on the river or eating the vegetation along the shore.

 A sudden downpour occurred just as we reached an overpass so we decided to wait out the worst of the rain.  At last Paul was rewarded with a frieght train coming down the tracks.  There are frequent passenger trains but because of the welded rail, we would never hear them coming.

During our rain delay we also met Mike Lyon.  He absolutely loves cycling along the rivers in Europe. He even wrote a book,  Cycling Along Europe's Rivers.  He gave us some tips and suggestions and some of them will certainly work for us.  It was fun talking to a fellow American by the side of a river.

 So here's a little escargot on the hoof.  The snails and slugs here in Germany just love the bike path and apparently they are very well fed.

The last time we were in Germany with Tim and Katie, we learned the importance of kaffee and kuchen.  Usually this should be an afternoon break, but we were ready to take a break from the path and the nest set of showers.  

 We got to Trier before lunch and checked into our hotel.  After a delicious pbandj, we headed over the river to the ancient part of the city.  Trier has a very long and rich history.  The Porta Nigra was built in the 2nd century AD and was the the gate to the Roman held city.

 This is the front of the Cathedral of St. Peter,  It is the oldest bishop's church in Germany and dates back to the 4th century.  We walked all over the old part of the city visiting other churches, the Roman baths, the Electoral Palace and its garden.

This Baroque carving over the entrance to the Elctoral Palace is one of the "younger" buildings we viewed.  The day was full of very different building styles over many centuries and leadership.  We finally returned to our hotel and ate at their restaurant.  It was Bulgarian style food and it was delicious.  We finished the meal with a sip of Slivovitz which is a plum based apertif.  Another day full of new and very old things.