May 21 and 22 CD and I traveled. We went to Trier, Germany and Luxembourg. It was a quick little trip, but a lot of fun. We lucked out for one as it only rained while we were driving. Never once while site-seeing! 🙂
For one, I rented a MANUAL car to drive. I wanted to do it with no one around and that allowed me to work at my own pace. Plus it is A LOT cheaper to rent than an automatic. I studied up on it, just because that is what I do and really my only fear was reversing…for some reason. I decided I would only have to worry about that AFTER I had driven for a while. I WAS WRONG! When I went and found out where the car was located, it was not in the usual parking lot. It was in an underground garage where they had special parking for moms. Ugh. For ONCE I wished moms did not get special treatment. Then I thought, maybe no one will be around. WRONG AGAIN. They had men working on repainting the lines on the ground so I was a little flustered, but I managed to back it out ok. Not the best, but ok for a beginner. Then onto the road we went!
Here is the other thing. Manual driving is ok on the highway. It is getting out of the cities that is the tough part…and of course that is where we had to start. HA! I managed keep my cool and continued on. 🙂
Waiting to go to Trier and Luxembourg
We made it to our destination unharmed and it was quite a nice drive. Then trouble hit. The hotel was on a hill…going down. I parked the car to see if we could check in with thoughts that I could just ease out of the spot and go down the hill to turn around. Basically do a big circle. Well, that was not going to happen. The road led to a dead end at the river. I had to reverse up a hill, around a curve all while managing the manual…or roll into the river. I chose the first choice. The thing that broke the tension and made me not panic too much was that when we got to the bottom and I found out that we could NOT loop around, CD said “Uh-oh” from the backseat. I smiled and that gave me the confidence I needed to back all the way into a parking spot…where I left the car until we checked out of the hotel. 🙂
We settled in and then went exploring in Trier.
Hotel- River view room!
If anyone wants recommendations for hotels in Tier, I give the one I stayed with 5 stars! They were great! Good staff, good food, great location…and the AWESOME blackout blinds that I need and want. 🙂
Karl Marx House
Karl Marx House
Grasshopper Water Fountain
Trier had a very nice pedestrian zone so as soon as we got there, CD got out of the stroller to run and play as he had been in the car for a little while.
Toy Store
Can you spot the “famous” Bert and Ernie???? CD did IMMEDIATELY…and they were hidden on the other side!
CD’s gift. Thought it was a lollipop. Upset and then found out it was a pencil and eraser! AWESOME!
He didn’t want any souvenier that was related to the town. Just the pencil.
Market Square
Market Square
Market Square
Market Place
Searching for Snacks- with St. Peter’s Cathedral in the background
Must…Find…Snacks
Found the snacks!
CD did find the snacks and ended up making a friend here as they shared the snacks in front of St. Peter’s Cathedral.
St. Peter’s Cathedral
I thought it was beautiful. It was my favorite thing in Trier…besides CD…and one other thing you will find out about later in the post. 🙂
Outside St. Peter’s Cathedral
Inside St. Peter’s Cathedral
Inside St. Peter’s Cathedral
Inside St. Peter’s Cathedral
Inside St. Peter’s Cathedral
Inside St. Peter’s Cathedral
St. Peter’s Cathedral Bells- Trier Germany – YouTube
La Porta Nigra
La Porta Nigra
CD Outside La Porta Nigra with Mini- Karl Marx Statues
“I see”
There was a little exhibit where you could purchase the mini-Karl Marx statues…for around 400 Euros a pop! They also had these dogs, which CD loved…until we spotted my 2nd favorite thing in Trier (1st was CD, then this, then the cathedral). Look below at the next pic for my 2nd fav thing……
Statue PUGS!!!!!!
I would have bought all of them except I know there is NO substitute for the real thing…LOVE YOU BROTHER BEAR!
We then did a train ride that took us to all the major areas. Pictures didn’t really work on it, but I can say we saw them. Just no “captured” memories.
Train Ride
Evangelical Lutheran Church
Imperial Roman Baths
CD with my IC (Ice Cream)
And that was the end of the sight-seeing tour. We then headed back to the hotel to settle in for the night.
Waiting while Mom gets ready for dinner. Just chilling with Charlie Brown.
Looking out the window with Bert and Ernie
Now Bert and Ernie were supposed to be his “new” things on the trip, but while I was packing, he obviously spotted them with his sonar-Bert-and-Ernie-ability. So he technically got them before the trip…but still loved them just as much! 🙂
I had made the executive decision to eat at the hotel instead of out at a local restaurant. It worked out wonderfully as the staff was awesome, the food was fantastic and the company, both CD and the men around us, were hilarious! I ordered the same thing for CD as I was having- fish, however he ended up wanting my meal instead, so we shared. We even got a special dessert that was good! Yum! Then off to bed for another day of sight-seeing!
Drinking from the cup
Desert Sparkler
Desert
Desert happiness
The next morning, we woke up and went to breakfast at the hotel. It was yummy too, but pretty standard German hotel breakfasts.
Breakfast
Man, this boy can eat! I think he had 2 rolls, 3 plates of eggs, some fruit chunks, dry cereal, my juice, and who knows what else!
Then off to Luxembourg!
Welcome to Luxembourg
Flag at Pont Adolphe
Wind-blown
Now, we didn’t get any rain, but it was really windy in Luxembourg.
Monument of National Unity
Traveling Band
National Library of Luxembourg
National Library of Luxembourg
Grand Ducal Palace
Grand Ducal Palace Gate
Grand Ducal Palace Guard
Grand Ducal Palace Guard
Sleeping…So windy I put on the rain cover!
Building attached to The Grand Ducal Palace…Just can’t remember what it is.
Narrow Passageways
Narrow Passageways
Centre Culturel de Rencontre Abbaye de Neumunster
Casemates du Bock
NOT happy with the wind.
So I let him do the following:
Explore! Checking out Centre Culturel de Rencontre Abbaye de Neumunster.
And run.
Run…away.
And back to me. 🙂
Scenic Overview with Centre Culturel de Rencontre Abbaye de Neumunster to the right
Chilling by the banister
We then headed back to the car and had a nice drive back to Frankfurt. Where, even though I had fun driving a manual, I was happy to return it to it’s rightful owner. 🙂
That was the last BIG thing we did. Next BIG thing????? BIRTHDAY BASH for a 2 YEAR OLD!!!!! Wow, how time flies!