New addition number 2

Pictures are:

1. Typical street scene in Trier.

2. The Porta Nigra, an ancient Roman city gate.

3. My group standing where all Trier couples have their wedding photos taken, in front of the Pink Palace. Photo by tour guide Jans.

4. Hostels are fun for kids - these guys have their eyes on the ball.

I added three new stops to the Europe trip this year, and this was one of them. I chose Trier because of its Roman history – we see 900 year old churches and castles all over Europe, but here you can visit 1700 year old churches, Roman baths, and fortified city gates. Now that’s old.
Our group split into two, each following a very knowledgeable and humorous guide. The woman who led James’ group has been a professional tour guide in Trier since 1959! Imagine that, most of the parents on the trip were probably just teenagers then, and Mr. Johnson and I were still a couple decades away from being born. Heidi the guide was, by all accounts, full of energy and jokes – I guess more than just the buildings last a long time in Trier.

In the middle of all this amazing history is a great pedestrian shopping area – one of the parents who survived the shopping in Paris the day before suggested this be the place for the longer shopping excursion next year. I asked Rens if he wants his first day off in Trier instead of Paris next year – but for him it doesn’t matter; he doesn’t really like his days off (except in Levanto).
The Warsberger Hof is an excellent youth hostel in Trier, and it is right beside the main town centre. The parents took advantage of that and all 11 of them abandoned their kids and went out for coffee in town after our excellent dinner in the hostel. Mr. J and I proved to be adequate babysitters, making sure the ping pong tournament didn’t get out of hand and our Fundy kids didn’t put any money on their billiards game against the middle school age german kids.

Craig