The last stop, but one of the longest, was at Kaiserthermen (Imperial Baths). This was a very cool place, even though it was pretty much nothing but ruins, it was very interesting and a place I know the kids would enjoy just running around. Above ground.

There is a whole network of tunnels under ground that were very, very, very interesting.

Fun Facts:

• Trier’s ‘youngest’ historical baths were built under Emperor Constantine in the first half of 4C.
• They were never used for their intended purpose.
• Measuring 250×145m (820.2ft x 475.7ft) - was one of the biggest baths of antiquity.

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We stopped for lunch after going inside the Porta Nigra. It was a nice break, in a shaded side street at a little German stop that didn’t offer much in English service, but that is ok. They had good food and once I learn how to ask for stuff minus onion in German, we will do even better!

Setting back off after lunch, we made a pit stop off at St. Gangolf’s church.

There isn’t much information in the history book that I have, but I will have to do some research and edit this post at a later time with that.. For now, I will end with the few pictures.

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After spending much time inside the Cathedral, we continued up the walking plaza to make it finally to our original destination, the Porta Nigra. The tour office for Trier is here, and where we planned on starting the touring venture. But due to where we had parked, the Porta Nigra became our third stop of the day. For a total of 4,20€ we had unlimited time (I am sure until they closed at least) to spend looking around the Porta.

Now, just what is the Porta Nigra?

• Porta Nigra (Black Gate), is the biggest surviving city gate north of the Alps.
• Built in the last third of the 2C.
• Gained its’ name in the Middle Ages, when the light-coloured sandstone blocks turned grey-black with age.

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Continuing on our journey, we came to the Trier Cathedral and the Church of Our Lady. The Church of our Lady is currently closed for renovations, and wont open again for at least two years, but we did get a couple pictures from the outside.

Fun Facts:

• Both originated from a double church built in the 4C.
• Were constructed in 326 under Emperor Constantine.
• Legend: they were built on the site of a former residential palace of Empress Helena
• The most important relic in the cathedral, the holy tunic, is kept in the Heiltumskammer.

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Roman Basilica * Aula Palatina

We started our little private tour out here. Trying to figure out what one building was, Kevin spotted, as he put it, “A Big Building”. We abandoned our first building for this new one and come to realize it was the Basilica.

Historical Information:

• Emperor Constantine the Great has it built on the remains of his former imperial palace in the early 4C.
• The Aula Palatina was probably the throne room or audiance hall. It comprises a single huge rectangular building with an apse at the northern end.
• The outside walls are 2.7m thick (8.85ft.)
• Inside the hall measures 67m (219.8ft) long, 27m (88.6ft) wide, and 30m (98.4ft) high.

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The Electoral Palace was added, thou we didn’t visit it, we did walk the gardens a bit.

Kevin and I were driving around, the weather has turned nice, so I took my camera out and we took some pictures. We needed to stop at the Spangdahlem AB for the mail and a few other pit stops, so Kevin drove by an area I had said I wanted pictures of.

The air base has many buildings and such that are left overs from WWII, but this building looked a bit older. It looked like it had some history, that goes back much farther then just WWII. I was right.

If you notice, the date on the plaque says 1911. WOW! Man this is rather old!

I have sat down to try and translate the sign above the door, but I think the best translation I could get was this housed a water reservoir at one point. Some of the words were kinda chipped away which made writing down the words a bit hard. But I have to say, it is still pretty cool little area! Maybe I will park and walk over to get a few better shots one day. For now, it is quick drive by shots that will have to do.