It seems strange that I’ve been home from my trip to Europe for a couple of weeks and I am finally just now writing about my last day. I’m committed to writing about the entire trip, if for no other reason than to preserve my own recollection of all that I did.

My last day in town took us to the oldest city in Germany, Trier. Trier at one time was part of the Roman Empire and boasts some gorgeous ruins. 


The Porta Negra sits empty now, but in its former life has stood as a military front to the city and a chapel.


The stonework is so old and worn, it looks as though it’s survived a fire. 


Inside, the stone carvings are beautiful. It’s hard to believed they were carved so long ago. 

 


At the far end of the Porta Negra, we visited a large Cathedral.


Then, we headed to another site of some early Roman Empire ruins. 

 


There was some great shopping in Trier.


I found a fabulous antique book store that had awesome antique maps. I bought a vintage map of Paris from 1865 for my sister and snagged this United States map from the late 1800’s that is marked entirely in German. 

Then, we cruised by this Antique Store and stopped in to check out everything from furniture, glassware, books…you name it, they had it by the boat load. 

All in all, Germany was one of my favorite places, due in part to the fact that I was able to recover a fair amount of what I learned way back when in High School and College and speak some of the language. At least, enough to say, “Ich spreche sehr kleine Deutsch. Sprechst du English?”