Thursday, 24 August. We left Frankfurt right after breakfast, drove down the north shore of the Rhine. I hadn't checked the map carefully and didn't realize until too late that there were no bridges across the Rhine until long after we had to head west toward Trier. Fortunately, there was a ferry at Rudesheim, probably the most popular town of the Rheingau wine area. The ferry ride provided a relaxing interlude and took
us across to Bingen. We drove straight to Trier, original home of my maternal grandfather (so I thought at the time), where we had lunch. The city claims it was founded 1300 years before Rome. It was once the Roman capital from which they ruled Britain and France, and it is the richest city north of the Alps in Roman remnants. The most famous of these is the Porta Negra (Black Gate)(c.180 A.D.), once the northern entrance to the Roman city. It's an unusual gate because it has nearly 150 windows in it. Trier also has a Roman Bridge (c. 150 A.D.); an amphitheater that had a seating capacity of about 20,000, the oldest Roman ruin in Trier (before 100 A.D.); the Imperial Baths begun by Emperor Constantine (early 4th century) but never finished; and the huge Basilica (c. 300 A.D.), once the throne room of Emperor Constantine, but later converted into a church. St. Matthias, the Apostle, is also buried in Trier.
The old city center of Trier was badly damaged in World War II, and still hadn't been fully restored, so we didn't spend very much time sightseeing there. Sharon's main interest was in buying souvenirs and presents to send home.
We left Trier and drove to Bitburg Air Force Base to get gas before leaving Germany. I phoned Major Vidaver, an Air Force officer we had met at a conference in Verona, and he referred us to a hotel and restaurant in Luxembourg City. We entered Luxembourg on a small country road, reached Luxembourg City without incident, and found the City Hotel easily. We had dinner at "Der Stuff," reportedly the most popular French-style restaurant in the city and loaded with old world atmosphere. We all ordered cordon bleu, the specialty for which the restaurant was renowned. This was our first French-style meal, Moselle wine and all, and it was delicious. However, Sharon was not used to European food and ate very little. To make matters worse, when she tasted the cordon bleu she loudly exclaimed, "This is terrible!" to the consternation of our waiter.
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