4.5 Germany, The Sights
After losing an entire day, you’d think that we would have made some kind of attempt to rush out and see every sight available to us. Believe us, we did try. But jet lag is (apparently) a VERY REAL thing that is AWFUL and that will RUIN YOUR ENTIRE DAY.
Cue us waking up confused almost every day at 1:00 p.m.
Here’s the highlight reel of what we did experience, which for being brain depleted zombies I think is actually quite a lot:
1. Trier
We stayed with Catlynn in the little village of Knopp, about an hour away from Frankfurt, and an hour away from Trier. According to Wikipedia, Trier was a Roman city, ruling site of Constantinople and still holds many Roman artifacts today. One of the most impressive things to see is the Porta Nigra, an ancient city gate that still stands. It was honestly really beautiful and impressive standing after so many years. The gate was originally made of sandstone that was fastened together with large iron clamps, but the iron was pillaged in Medieval Times.
One of the most memorable paces we visited was the Trier Basilica. The oldest section was built by Constantine in 1180, and construction wasn’t declared finished on the whole building until 1207. I’m not necessarily a religious person, but as someone who grew up surrounded by Catholic friends, I am very familiar with Catholic churches. None I have seen before compared to the Cathedral in Trier. Located in the city square, there is a constant hustle and bustle surrounding the church. All of that immediately melts away as you step inside, surrounded by the sweet smell of incense and blanketed in the velvety quiet of people praying, or admiring the architecture. Pictures cannot do the immensity of the structure justice. I feel like it would be an honor to attend mass in such an ancient place.
It felt intrusive and gauche to take pictures in such a revered space, so I don’t have very many shots of the church. But if you look it up online there are several professional photos that show off it’s beauty.
If you’d like more in depth information about Trier, here is a great overview of some important landmarks. We passed by several of these on our trip, but were too uncultured to fully recognize and appreciate them at the time: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-things-trier-germany/
2. Triberg
My heart actually breaks a little bit when I think of Triberg. It was a 3 hour drive to get there. We were fool hardy and did no think of some very important factors before we made the trip: 1) Everything closes at 5:00 p.m. in Germany on Sundays and 2) It was going to be dark soon after we arrived.
My ONE GOAL for the entire trip was to see the Black Forest and eat some Black Forest cake. Mostly because the combination of doing those things simultaneously seemed really funny to me, and also because I genuinely just love forests and cakes. It was a no brain-er.
The drive up was stunningly beautiful. Think small historic villages nestled among sun dappled fields of the Swiss Alps. I could hardly believe the postcard we seemed to be living in. Once we arrived, we stopped for food, an endeavor that took approximately 2 to 3 hours to accomplish, but which was absolutely worthwhile in hindsight. The name of the restaurant was entirely unpronounceable to any of us, so I can’t even begin to guess where we went. What I will say is that that restaurant had some of the best food I’d ever eaten in my life. I got a simple pasta with ham and peas, accompanied by a warm mug of black tea. It was snowing outside and ducks were fighting on the lake as we sat nestled inside against the cold.
By the time we finished, our trek out to Germany’s tallest waterfalls had to be cancelled, as it was officially dark-thirty and the visiting center was closed. I saw the black forest all around me, its furry boughs thick with snow. I did not eat any cake, and sleepy and amused by our lack of success, we drove the three hours back home.
3. Heidelberg
While I enjoyed almost every place we visited in Germany, I would have to say Heidelberg really stuck out to me. It was our final day to be there and we visited with little knowledge of where Catlynn was taking us for the day.
Heidelberg is a very interesting place, a university town cut through with the Neckar River and absolutely oozing historic charm. We only spent a few hours trekking through its cobbled hills, and I wish more than anything we could have spent more time exploring this place.
On the agenda for the day, a visit to Heidelberg Castle, a relic from the 13th century. This had to be one of the best parts of the entire trip for me. It was overwhelming in the best way to see such a giant structure looming closer with every step up the hill. We went at the perfect time of day, the sun was setting and there was no one else around. Our trio was alone as we watched the sun set over the river and marveled at the history we were standing on (and also complaining about the bitter wind).
I feel so insanely fortunate to have been able to visit Catlynn and experience such amazing things. I would love to go back one day and explore more of the country with more time on our hands. Maybe then jet lag wouldn’t have been such an ass kicker.
Here’s hoping to many more adventures as the year continues!
- Laura