Relive the Trauma on the Mosel: Trier and Bernkastel

 And so a bit over a month over my last mishap over the Mosel, I'm back to where I started. Since I don't need air conditioning anymore in this weather, I'm saving myself valuable commuting time and only staying in Trier over the weekend. It was a miracle that both days of the weekend had clear weather (although I could only use 1 day because I was sick with period pain the first day) - at least I had the wonderful Porta Nigra always right in front of my hotel room window the whole time.

 It was a privilege to be able to see the gate in the very early morning light. (in the summer it was impossible because sun rises way earlier than I can wake up) And you get the see the city slowly wakes up to tourists and activities.

I then gingerly drove over to Burg Landshut, the trauma of having my car die on me while in the parking lot still very much alive. On the other hand, I did get an almost new Volvo SUV as a rental this time that had a uncanny feeling of stability and luxury. It took me a bit of detour and getting lost to get to the proper parking lot up a winding road on top of the hill (on hindsight, I guess I could have parked in the main town square and hiked up, but hey, parking is only free high up on the hill so...) I was expecting it to be a small-ish town with a not so well known castle ruin, but boy the non-stop traffic rolling into town at around 10AM really surprised me. Luckily the castle itself wasn't too busy and I could find plenty of spots to stand (or sit on the warm ground) to sketch around. It was great to be able to come back to the Mosel after summer and seeing the patches of coloured leaves pop up. 

Warming myself now in the sun after standing in the shadow for too long. I usually shy away from huge patches of just green, but I was up for a challenge this time! The air was humid enough to allow for some work-ability. I'm really happy with how this run turned out. I really had the feeling of time just flash past when drawing out the scenes. It was really therapeutic!

I debated going down to the city centre. But seeing that it was just a 15 mins walk on GoogleMaps I decided to get some exercise. The trek was definitely challenging, and I saw plenty of people struggle, especially in the hot afternoon sun. In the end I didn't make it all the way downhill, because I found a perfect perch on the walls of a vineyard (which also forms the path of the path downhill). Okay, I was originally going to do a scene with the vineyard in the foreground, but just as I was contemplating the scene, 4 old dudes showed up and announced that they needed to relieve themselves in the vineyard (?) so I just awkwardly left. But the new place I found was perfect, I was basically sitting above the heads of all the passerby and had a commanding view of the river, bridge, and surrounding hills. 

I still had some strength after recovering in the hotel room for a little bit, so I headed out to finally sketch the Trier cathedral near sunset. As I passed Porta Nigra I noticed a strange man with camera eyeing me sometimes. Since I was walking super quickly (and with purpose) he didn't really talk to me. As I reached the cathedral and started evaluating my angles, the guy spoke to me and told me he works for the local newspaper. He asked if I was a tourist and was quite surprised when I told him I'm not and that I live in Berlin. He said he was doing a feature theme of what people look forward to in Trier and asked if he could take a photo of me. To which I gave my best smile and said, absolutely not. I feel like I might have given him more patience if he actually spoke to me *while* I was painting. Now it just seemed he picked me because I was non-white and only for that reason.

The Mosel(le) Towns - Cochem and Metz

Was so glad to escape my tiny village on the Belgian border. The previous "Vatertag" celebration nearly finished me off. It was dead silence 20km all around me, but the only party is happening right next to my hotel room window, with booming stereo and loud people...all the way until 2am. And the hotel staff were acting as if they didn't know this is about to happen. According to my inquiries afterwards, it happens year after year on this specific day and somehow still no warning is given to hotel guests. They were sympathetic, but not apologetic. Guess that is what a small town feels like. Anyway, I showed up sleep deprived in Trier and checked into my (comparatively) big city hotel. The hotel was also fully booked but I had the most peaceful rest ever (nobody waking me up at 6am anymore thank god) I'm seriously contemplating sacrificing rest time and commute everyday from Trier, just so I could wake up whenever I wanted and not be forced to follow somebody else's schedule.  

Anyway I digress. After getting some focaccia (?) for breakfast and enough caffeinated, and also doing some much needed Saturday shopping, I started driving towards Burg Eltz after noon, thinking most of the efficient German tourists must have concluded their tours already. Indeed when I arrived, there were more cars leaving the lot than entering. Still, there were way more people than I anticipated. From what Rick Steves shot some years ago, it should be a hidden gem. I feel like the car lot must have been expanded twice already. Anyhow I parked my car and followed a muddy trail to the castle (turns out this was non-scenic longer path that they wanted us to take for some reason, the other shuttle car path was way easier and shorter) The only benches were used by some rowdy teenagers so I decided to just stand this time. I think one of the teenagers wanted to take a look, but I took a step away from him and I think he understood the hint and left me alone. When I was almost done, a man asked me to help take a photo. As I took the phone I realized it is a huge family of close to 20 people. And mostly importantly I have no idea how to take photos for people in German?? Anyway, then I realized that they're in fact Dutch and can, of course, speak perfect English. Crisis resolved.

When I was drawing I could hear the loudspeaker repeating that the wait for castle entry/guided tour is 1 hour. And it seems that you have to actually stand in queue to wait for your turn. Waiting in queue is not my cup of tea, so I just bounced after finishing my painting.  

I followed some comments on googlemaps and found myself the supposedly dirt cheap parking lot at Cochem train station that is 3 EUR for the whole day. I was not in a hurry (plus the day is long) so decided to get a bite at the train station restaurant. Man it was hard work trying to impress the grumpy old lady running the restaurant, but I think I managed it with my passable German and nice attitude. In the end, she even (slightly) smiled at me!! But seriously, why is it on the customer to make the effort. A restaurant would be the wrong business if you hate interacting with people!

Anyway, after getting fed, I strolled through the town center. It was pretty crowded, but not suffocating and I found some cute old buildings! (Also the sun came out!) This time a little girl (from an Indian family I think?) also took notice of me, but she came onto me so suddenly that I thought she wanted to sit where I was sitting. So I apologized and quickly moved a few inches away from her. This time the parents didn't try to stop her from bothering me and indeed she was standing a little too close for comfort (and also licking an ice cream??). Anyway, I was glad when the family left...

I was just strolling around and saw a sign up a small hill that says "Auf Eigene Gefahr". It immediately got me interested. After hiking up the small hill I came across this gem of a view. I didn't do it justice, being rubbish at doing overview scenes. It was super peaceful up here and I could sit on a bench and put my feet up! It was heaven! (okay, minus when a little boy rushed by and demanded to be photograph by his mom when he shoots imaginary cannons at the town below) 

The next day I left my car parked and headed to the train station to take that rickety old SNCF train I saw during my last trip. Everyone on the platform was waiting for another train to Mannheim and there were at most 3 of us who were taking the slow train to Metz. Anyway, I saw the train driver finish the last of his cigarettes and started our diesel train. The ride to Metzville was a solid 1.5hr, and there were almost no one until when we got to Thionville. It was pretty cool to roll by Perl/Schengen and see the triangle border between Germany, France, and Luxembourg. Okay, technically we just rolled by patches of wild grass and abandoned warehouses, but geographically speaking it is very interesting!

The inside of Metz station was a little underwhelming. Yes it has the honour of being voted France's best looking train station 3 years in a row, but it is also a working station so there wasn't much fanfare, just a lot of people coming and going. You do notice the Roman arches and detailed work on the columns, but only outside were there people taking pictures of it. There were some random young men just loitering/sitting on the benches, so I crossed another street so I could sketch away from viewing eyes.  

It's kind of hard to comprehend this is the same river that i saw yesterday, only this time in France. When driving it is always through different road networks. So the fact that these 3 cities are actually connected via a single waterway is kind of mind blowing. 

French cuisine definitely lived up to its reputation though. I didn't even try to pick a restaurant. It was kind of late already, so there were only a handful of restaurants that are still open at 2:30pm. I just picked the closest one (that is not even a proper restaurant, just a cocktail bar that serves some food) and had hands down the best meal of my trip. I feel like the best of the German restaurants have at most met my expectation and the food was tasty. But this tiny French restaurant had me sat there wondering what the heck did my tongue just taste. (it was a beet salad with a savory underlayer with green onion, and topped with whipped cream and sliced pear) 

Mosel, Roman ruins, and Karl Marx - Trier

 I managed to squeeze in a weekend of free travel while out in South Western Germany for work. I only got to stop by Trier in a high-pressure 30 mins window before I had to fly back to Berlin last time, so this time I decided to really take my time and just stay over for the night.

I was originally gonna take my time and chill a bit before heading over from the hotel, but then I remembered how backed up the only street into town was last time (basically down a steep winding road, then across the Mosel in one lane traffic, then finally into town. I ended up arriving before 10am, way before the weekend crowd arrived managed to easily snag a parking space on the 1st floor! 

I did a warm up at the main square before heading to Porta Nigra. The red silhouette in the back is the main cathedral, which sadly I didn't get a chance to do this time.

The side facing the city was covered up for restoration (apparently to make it less black...which is slightly questionable given its name) so I found a vantage point across the street on the other side. I guess, it is the most famous Roman monument in the whole of Germany?? I think originally it was symmetric, but it then lost one of its towers and was converted to a church (hence the extra bit on the left). The sun also came out at this point, which was great!

 

 

Next I made my way back to where I drove from and found a bench along the Mosel to do the Kaiser Wilhelm bridge. A guy actually turned around on his bike when he noticed me sketching. Out of whatever reason, he decided to speak with me in English at first, which is a huge red flag whenever I'm in a non-English speaking country, so then I just pretended I don't speak English but can understand German. He ended up asking if I'm doing a Erasmus program. I have no idea what that is, but said no lol, and then he just left. 

 

I challenged myself to do a overview, which I was never good at. It turned out...okay? probably because the shape of the river was doing most of the structural heavy lifting. I also got the chance enjoy the now super heavy traffic into town crawling past me. It was a little windy (the wind kept closing the lid of my palette), but still warm and sunny.

  

 

During my visit to the Kaiserthermen (where the lady selling ticket decided to hand me a guide in Dutch, after I told her I prefer English), it drizzled a bit, but I guess the structure above ground was not as interesting as the catacomb underneath (and I ain't sketching anything in the cold damp underground tunnel). By the time I hiked to the Amphitheatre, the sun is poking out a little again. After getting my ticket and heading into the arena, I saw 4 people in costume and gear fighting gladiator style, I almost thought I got like some "become a gladiator for the day" random experience ticket. And was relieved when they just ignored me. Again, the underground section was a little eerie, but very serene. This is probably the least crowded Roman amphitheatre I've ever been to, but also kind of random because there are vineyards on the hills all around it lol

  

Quickly remembering that tomorrow is Sunday, I managed to procure some toothpaste and a Kirschkernkissen from DM while waiting for my dinner!