Trier to Heidelberg (by train)

July 8, 2015

Today was cool enough to be comfortable to ride but quite breezy. Had we planned to ride anywhere, I'm certain there would have been a headwind because that's how it works.

After breakfast we left our bikes and bags at the hotel and set out to see some of the sights of Trier. First we headed for the Kaiser-Thermen or Imperial Baths and saw a few things along the way. The Imperial Baths were interesting mostly because of the scale. Had this structure been completed as initially planned, it would have been enormous. But Constantine moved his capital to his new city in Asia Minor, Constantinople, and work was stopped. When it restarted, the structure was completed to serve a different purpose.

On our way, we passed The Dom (cathedral) on the left in this view, with the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) on the right. Both belong to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.

The Frauenkirche was in use for a Mass when we came by so we contented ourselves with admiring the doorway. It was still closed to visitors when we returned later.

The arch over the entrance to the Frauenkirche.

Below the left side of the doorway arch ...

Construction of the Kaiserthermen (Imperial Baths) was begun when Trier was the capital of the Roman Empire, but never completed because Constantine moved himself and his capital to Asia Minor. The panel shows an artist's impression of the proposed facility.

Kaiserthermen grounds. The scale was enormous!

Kaiserthermen, underground service passage.

Next stop was the Rheinisches Landmuseum, and it was well worth visiting. The collection of mosaics was fantastic. I was also amazed by some of the glass objects. Almost two thousand years old, clear and beautiful and apparently unbroken. I had no idea clear glass was made back then.

Stop number 3 was the Dom. Since Trier was the seat of powerful archbishops for centuries, their cathedral was fittingly lavish. As always, my favourite element was the structure itself with its soaring arches.

One of the altars inside the Dom; the main altar, I think

Looking back down the nave. At the far end there is a curved wall...

... panelled in inlaid wood and with a series of statues like this one, all different.

The decorated stucco in the dome overhead made me think of a fancy dish my mother had.

This saint is accompanied by a rooster (I think that's what the bird is)

For lunch, we finally tried a Kebap restaurant since we hadn't swiped anything from the breakfast buffet. Very tasty, similar to but different from the donairs at home. Turkish vs Lebanese, perhaps.

The Steipe was destroyed in 1944 and rebuilt in the 1970s. The warriors on the corners are bigger than and above the saints on the facade. The citizens of Trier were not happy about being controlled by the Church.

A quick visit inside the Porta Nigra since we'd purchased a special admission card that included it along with the museum and baths. Glad we didn't pay 3€ each, though the German tour, with actors dressed as Romans, looked interesting.

Then we collected our bikes and gear from the hotel and set off for the train station. We timed it well, arriving on the platform about 10 minutes before the train's scheduled departure at 14:32. Unlike last night, however, when we'd watched one bike being rolled onto the 6:32 departure, there were lots of people and lots of bikes getting on. It was really crowded! But it was a regional train and after the first few stops there was more room and even some seats available, a good thing since we were going all the way to Mannheim, a trip of almost 3 hours. Most of the other bikes belonged to a group of men who got off only about 15 minutes before we did.

At Mannheim Hbf, we needed to change platforms. There was a lift but only one bike could fit at a time. We had 15 minutes to change and it was enough. Another 15 minutes on a very crowded train to Heidelberg and then the challenge was to ride to our prebooked hotel. We had learned our lesson in Trier!

There hadn't been a lot of hotel choices available online, but the Denner Hotel is okay. The location just off Bismarckplatz is convenient for the Altstadt and Heidelburg Castle, though somewhat noisy if you want the windows open, but that's not as important now that the weather has cooled. The bike storage isn't great, in fact it doesn't really exist. Our bikes are in the cellar of the cafe which occupies most of the ground-level floor of the building and we had to carry them down a flight of stairs to put them there. We weren't planning to use them tomorrow anyway.

We walked the length of Hauptstraße and ate dinner at Bier Brezel where we both had Weldebräu Schwartz and thought it was one of the best beers we've had so far. The beers were served wit a Brezel (pretzel) each, a nice touch and logical given the restaurant's name. The food was good too.

Our room in the Denner Hotel. It was the one featured on the hotel website when I booked (though we hadn't requested any room in particular)

Hotel Ritter, one of the iconic buildings of old Heidelberg. made from the same red stone as the castle.

Today's ride: 4 km (2 miles)
Total: 932 km (579 miles)

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