Germany Day 67 - Saturday, March 14 - Trier - 10 days to go

Today was a road trip to Trier, Germany's oldest town. (I think it's the second time I've been to the "oldest town" in Germany...)

First bonus was when I pulled off the Autobahn to get gas. (Well, diesel fuel, but who cares?) Their rest stops are similar to those in say New Jersey in that they are a single thing with food and quicky mart and gas - not a row of gas stations like at a US exit. Similar to, but a lot cleaner and nicer than the average US rest stop with way better food.

Anyway, the rest stops have the same kinds of magazines, trinkets and junk as in the US including name plates. My entire life, I have looked at name plate rack hoping to see my name. Well, I finally have!! So I bought a name plate (the last one they had) and couple of key chains.

Who are these for?

In the German book I had it recommended a Roman museum. So, not really knowing anything about Trier, I set the nav system and when. Found parking in a parking lot around the corner (more to come on that), and set off for the museum. Before I even got there, there was a beautiful building with gardens. Took a few shots and finally wandered to the museum. To get the museum you have to walk through a gate and a wall. So I was wandering when that was built.

Inside the museum, I find out Trier is a Roman town and the wall was part of the Roman wall that surrounded the town. It was built sometime in the 3rd century or so. Trier was an imperial seat and for some period of time one of the Emperors actually ruled from Trier. Wow!

Model of Trier in Roman Times

Now armed with knowledge that there are too really big Roman things to see, I set off for the emperor's throne room. Just look at the size of this building. It is all one room!! That's some kind of office to have.

Emperor's Throne Room

Next stop is the original Roman gate - which is all the way across town. Between the emperor's throne room and the gate is Trier's Fußgänger Platz (walking area). German cities have Fußgänger Platz where pedestrians have the right of way. Cars really aren't permitted except to attend to shops or as otherwise needed. Once its not so cold, out come the cafe tables and kiosks making it very festive.

This particular Fußgänger Platz (walking area) was very big and nice with lots of eating shops in windows. The Germans do have some fast food (McDonald's and Burger King), relatively fast food (kebabs), and really fast food - food you buy at a window show and eat while walking around. On the way to the Roman gate, I got a sausage in a bun - the just break the sausage in half to fit that long sausage in a small bun. When I told Ann, she said it sounds just like the Renaissance Festival. No wonder I like it so much - I'm just German!

Fußgänger Platz

On the way across town I was looking for a toilet (marked on the map), but could not seem to find it. Wandering down a side street I did come across an interesting German garage. Talk about deterrence!

It's amazing what German's put in their garages!

Finally I make it across town to the only Roman gate still standing. Yet another huge building what was turned into a church for a while. Feels like you are 10 stories up by the time you get to the top. I got the combo ticket and went into the museum they had next door (mainly to get the rest room - I never did find the toilettes marked on my map just weren't there). Along with old German stuff and painting they had -- a Barbie exhibit. Apparently she turned 50 this year!!

Roman Gate

Fußgänger from Roman Gate

Maybe it's the cold or maybe it's the Germans, but everywhere you go are coat checks, coat racks and coat hooks. No problem finding a place to put your coat. They even have coat hooks under the bar so you can keep your coat with you while getting a beer.

Coat Hangers at Museum

After the gate I wander on back towards the other side of town to see the Cathedral. On the way, I stop at a different window and have an even better sausage on a bun and a cola lite (diet Coke).

The cathedral was large, big, and ornate as a cathedral should be. This one had a plack with all the bishops names on it - starting with the first bishop in the year 250.

Cathedral of Saint Peter

Also in the church was one of the biggest organs I've seen; considerably bigger than mine...

Huge Organ

Back on the Fußgänger Platz for more wandering past the open shops. The German bakeries and butcher shops certainly have a lot of street appeal.

Window shop of Bakery

After a while I found a hobby shop and looked at all the electric trains, remote controlled stuff, models, miniatures, and other neat guy stuff. Then I decide to top it all of with one final sausage so I go back to may favorite place - picture below.

Metzgerei (meat seller)

Now filled up, I wander back to the car. In Germany you get a ticket for the garage when you enter, then you pay at a cash machine before you leave. At the cash machine I needed 7 euro - and I only had 4 and several 50s. Only the machine did not take bills higher than a 20. There being nothing I wanted to buy, I figured I'd just get some cash at the ATM ... which turned out to be all the way across town at the Roman gate. Well after that journey, who can blame me for stopping to have an ice cream cone - whiskey flavored.

Nothing eventful on the way home. When I stopped to get gas, I had a perfect show of a parked truck showing the European tire configuration for their semis.

European Truck

Germany Day 66 - Friday, March 13 - 11 days to go

Got the 124 pipe to work. Yeah!! And on Friday the 13th!!

Here is a train at my favorite train spotting vantage point on my walks (with my cigar).

Train Spotting


Germany really values farmland. The villages are compact and high rise, but the farms start about three feet away - and they come right up to the roads also.

Farmland next to village

Perhaps because the villages are so compact and urban, they have whole areas of what look like third-world shacks. Turns out, this is where the Germans come to be outdoors and garden when the weather is good. So the village is compact so you can easily walk to what you need, and when the weather is nice, you can walk to your garden.

Garden Shacks



Telephones Lines On Roofs

There are not many telephone poles in the village. Here in Schwetzingen, they accomplish this by just running the power lines on top of the houses where they are out of the way.

Close up of roof

Germany Day 65 - Thrusday, March 12 - 12 days to go

Still working dag gum 124 pipe.

At dinner I bumped into a fellow we had seen several times before. He is a 60ish American staying at the Central to find a job in Germany. When Carolin was here, first thing she'd do is ask if he's got a job. Well, he wanted Carolin to know, he finally has a job teaching conversational English to Germans. What this really means is talking to them in English. He starts in a week.

Germany Day 64 - Wednesay, March 11 - 13 days to go

Nothing exceptional to report. Started on a simple project at work to copy the "file-ingest" feedpipe and create a "1 to 4" splitter pipe (the 124 pipe). Advertised as easy, but I seem to have three left feet for this dance...

Germany Day 63 - Tuesday, March 10 - 14 days to go

Dinner is included at the Central Hotel - so I usually (well, almost always) eat here. It's also easy because eating in restaurant in Germany is usually a relatively slow affair. Also, I get to have clearly German food without having to figure out the menu.

Usually there is a soup or a salad with a main course. Tonight, the main course was pig on a shingle - a piece of toast with ham and cheese on top warmed up. Good enough, but it was thin bread, thin ham, and thin cheese. No wander most Germans are way thinner than most Americans. Well, you don't keep up my vast girth on rations like those so I went out and had a Kabob afterwords and walked over to the train station and walked by the train tracks on the way back to the hotel so I could watch the trains.

Germany Day 62 - Monday, March 9 - 15 days to go

Back to work. :-(

Carl could not make it back from Weiden, so Bob and I had the whole very large training are to ourselves. Pretty quite day.

Germany Day 61 - Sunday, March 8 - 16 days to go

Coffee service at the Holiday Inn

The Holiday Inn had a major luxury for me - a coffee service!! No having to get breakfest just to get coffee. I was able to work in my room (blogging, getting pictures off camera, etc) until time to head off to the museums.

The Porsche Museum

The Porsche museum was closest, so it was first. Got there just after opening. What an amazing beutiful building. And what a great collection of cars!

The classic Porsche design

Porsche was an amazing man. The VW Beetle was his idea - and exemplified is goal in having a light weight cars.

Another successful Porsche design

Porsche liked practical designs and this was one of them. They sold a whole bunch of these in the 50s.

Hows it hanging?

Not sure what the point of this was, buy why not?

How could they!!

So now we know what it looks like inside...

The Mercedes Museum

After that tour, off to the Mercedes museum - which is huge with six huge floors. The building is a circular design, so you take an elevator to the top and walk in a circle down.

On the circle, the outside wall is a German history lessen and hall way and the cars are on flat spots in the middle of the spiraling hallway. Both parts were very interesting. They must have known I was coming because the history is conveniently printed in both German and English (my native language).

So here's an interesting political tidbit: At the Mercedes museum they make the point that the American's forced German corporations to have a third of their board elected by the workers. And Germany is known for its super strong unions. So here in Germany, Mercedes, Porsche, VW, and Audi are all doing well. But here in America where huge management salaries and outlandish bonuses and quarterly results are the order of the day, our car makers are bankrupt? I submit that the Germans actually have Boards the keep management from pillaging their corporations and hence the Germans are successful while GM goes bust.

At the end of all this, it was time to head back to the Central Hotel at Schwetzingen.

Here's a road sign you don't see much in the US

Those kinky Germans!!