A to Z Challenge T Trier

Trier, Germany

This is one of the most fascinating & beautiful cities I've ever had the pleasure to visit.
I say visit, but it's more like haunt or stalk (can you stalk a city?) I lived near Trier for 4 years while my husband was in the USAF & after that first visit to Trier I made it nearly a weekly outing.
The first thing that you notice upon driving into Trier is the Mosel River in all it's glittering glory with the lovely "wine-vines" cascading over the rolling  hills surrounding the city to the river below.

 

The next thing I noticed was how clean & well kept everything is. Germans truly take pride in their home, whether it be the interior of their home or the street in front of their driveway. Everything is picked up, groomed, swept, tended to with the upmost of care & love. (on an unhappy note you can always tell where the Americans live, it's not as "well kept")

 

Upon walking under the Porta Nigra you're immediately transported back into Medieval times. The art & architecture of this city is awe inspiring. I'd never been one to appreciate art, architecture or anything cultural until moving to Germany. Then my heart & mind were opened to a whole new world.

After coming through the Porta Nigra you begin seeing little outdoor cafes, shops & the best part, the market place in the middle where they sell flowers of every type & color. Some of the colors I'd never seen before except in a crayon box or after an accidental spill of several paint shades mixing together. Even though the smells of the vibrant blooms hit me well before I reached them I had to run to the booths & touch them to prove they were real! I was certain nothing that lovely & vibrant could have grown naturally but there they were & I was hooked. Buying "at least" one beautiful bouquet of flowers each time I went to Trier would become something of a tradition on my little excursions to the city.

My husband got a hoot out of my excited "touristy" attitude but promised there were better things to come. After leading me down a cobble stone side street that was so reminiscent of a fairy tale that I hardly noticed the shops, he stopped in front of a little street food bar. The smells of richly seasoned meats, onion & garlic infused sausages & sweet & savory sauces swirled together to tempt me. I looked up when I noticed he'd stopped only to see him smirking at me like a 10 year old with a secret. Well, his secret was a pretty darn good one!

He proceeded to order us drinks, beer for him, wine for me & the most amazing, decadent, savory street food I'd ever put in my mouth! I was at a loss for words on the wine & looked at him like he was nuts, as I was not a wine drinker... but this wine? AH, this wine was the nectar of the Gods, sweet, smooth, fruity, like juice if juice was a liquid dessert that danced on your taste buds on the way down! That was my first of many glasses to come of Bacchus. 

The food? My goodness, it was rich. We had a bowl of Goulashe, Beef Stew to my fellow Americans, but made in such a way that it's a downright sin to compare it to American Stew. Rich reddish brown, thick, warm broth filled with veggies & meat that just melted in your mouth. Then we finished up with something like French bread but thinner, covered in rich REAL butter, fresh ham, fresh cheese & loads of garlic, toasted to perfection. Dang, is anyone else drooling??

Ok, well as you can see I fell in foodie love with Trier, wino love, shoppers love was to come next...but that's another story.

Now that I've made myself drool I believe I'll go home & have a glass of that amazing German wine & dream about walking through the cobblestone streets of Trier, belly full of rich German goodies, hubby by my side, wine glass in my hand (plastic of course)