Friday
On Friday night, Owain arrived and I was soooo excited! I felt like a little kid as I waited at the airport for him to walk out, On the way back from the airport I drove Owain to my office to show him where I worked (yes I know that's very sad!) and we stopped off in the small store to pick up some beer and snacks.We had an couple of hours to unwind, catch up, get changed and get a quick sandwich and then we headed off to Town. I'd heard about a rock bar called the Bronx and it seemed to the perfect place for O. It was right next to the train station so it also gave a chance to take my first train journey. This weekend I wanted to see and try things I hadn't done here yet - so that Owain and I could discover them together.
The train station office was closed when arrived and there were no machines so no way of buying tickets. O wondered if his Oyster card would work on the readers - they have a similar scheme here! Fortunately we discovered that we could buy tickets on the train - a friendly ticket lady hand-wrote a ticket and it was just 1.50 Euro for a single (we couldn't purchase a return). The train was almost empty, but pretty fast and clean so it was a nice journey - and we got to see a bit of Luxembourg on the way. When we got to the other end we had a quick look at the map in the station and headed off... it turns out the building I thought was the station on the map was actually the one opposite and so we walked in completely the opposite direction...oooppps. Owain's first experience of the town centre was sex shops, prostitutes, lap dancing clubs and a man taking a piss in the street - this was quite different to anything I'd seen here before but I guess there are bad sides to every place and it could have been worse! After navigating the sex district and realising where we'd gone wrong, we found the bar. It was only small but was just right. We stood by the busy bar, drank beer and caught up with what we'd been doing. The only bad side was having to leave to get the last train at 11.50pm - they don't run very late and we wanted to avoid an expensive cab fare. As we walked to the station we noticed just how much busier it was - people were just starting to go out!
Saturday
On Saturday we woke to sunshine and although it was still quite fresh it was the perfect weather for exploring. I'd decided to take Owain to Trier, it had been recommended by some people from work and one of my friends lives there so I was able to gets some tips on where to go! Trier is the oldest city in Germany and has many Roman buildings and monuments so it was an interesting place to discover.
I think it took about 45 mins - an hour to get there and it was nice to have Owain to read the directions for me.
We began at Trier's famous landmark, the Porta Nigra, the Roman city gate from the 2nd century AD. We stopped off at the tourist office for a map of the town - and to find out where the restaurant was that I had been recommended then we had a walk around the pedestrianized area. We went up to the market square, then Trier Cathedral (apparently the oldest German Christian church).
Next we spotted what looked like a big cigarette but when we investigated we found a large sundial. It was also a fountain but the water wasn't flowing. Next to that was the Basilica and a beautiful Electoral Palace and gardens. Someone had just got married and they were taking photos in the grounds.
For lunch we went to Bitburger Wirtshaus, as suggested by the girl that lives in Trier and we were relieved to get an English menu because we didn't speak a word of German. It was a little chilly but sunny so we sat outside to eat. I had White Wirtshausbrezel sausages with sweet mustard dressing and a giant pretzel while Owain had Rost Nuremberg sausages with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. And of course we had a beer -Bitburger - to wash it down. The food was great and we had gorgeous desserts too - they are looked good so we got two different ones to share - warm apple strudel with vanilla sauce and creme brulée...mmmmmm
As we ate a group of men started to busk - I have no idea if it was supposed to be a German version (there was no singing) but the tune they kept playing was 'roll out the barrel'! The main guy was really short and had a long leather coat on - he looked like some kind of comedy gangster - we tried to take a sneaky photo so look out for him!
After lunch we went for another explore, and twice when examining the map we were asked by people if we needed any help. It was near impossible to communicate - they didn't speak English and we didn't speak German but they were very friendly! We'd seen most things but I wanted to see what 'Karl Marx house' was -it took us quite a while to find and when we got there is was a very plain building with a small museum inside to mark the place of his birth. In the photo you can see all the Japanese tourists taking photos of each other outside!
We stopped and brought some bread and sausages on the way back to the car, and Owain fell asleep on the journey back - I'd obviously worn him out :)
We had a nice quiet evening in with a dvd. Owain expertly cooked the sausages and I made up a salad to go with them. yum yum.
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