Tag Drei und Vier.......The Wrath of Khan.

So far it's been an incredible first few days in Trier.  But let's back up for a moment and journey to Trier together.

As Katie and I were still somewhat waking up on our last day in Frankfurt, we got online and ordered our bus tickets only to find out that our Hostel had no printer capabilities.  Such a dilemma was causing us some frustration considering we really didn't want to travel back into downtown Frankfurt simply to find an internet café to print these tickets.  However, we concluded that there wasn't any closer place (not in the airport or surrounding area), so we ventured once again into the heart of the city by train.

The endeavor actually wasn't as much of a hindrance as I make it out to be.  Der Zug is actually quite a convenient way to travel.  It's basically the German version of the Washington, D.C. metro.  Several different lines of trains all coming to a collective in the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof allowed us to get off and jump from one train line to another with ease.........and we may or may not have skipped on purchasing tickets.  Gotta save money somehow...lol.  Once we got to the main train station in Frankfurt, we successfully navigated through the underworld-like area of the train station, located the Internet café, printed out our bus tickets, and hopped the next train to the Frankfurt airport, allowing us to board a bus, and subsequently embark on our next adventure; the journey we came for: Trier. Oh might I mention that our bus driver didn't really check our tickets... -___-  We probably could have simply shown up and got on--better safe than sorry, though.  No worries!

The time that it takes to get from Frankfurt to Trier is 45 minutes, maximum.  Das Bus that we took decided that it was necessary to take 3.25 hours, instead.  It worked out for the better, though, seeing as we were both exhausted from all of the running around we had already done; it was nice to leave the stress of self-navigation behind in Frankfurt, and sleeping on der Bus to Trier.  Furthermore, the scenery was very pleasant and the few towns and small cities that we stopped in along the way were quaint and beautiful. Incidentally, the notions of Germany being a very "green" country as far as energy is completely accurate.  During our travels, there was never a plot of land within our view that didn't have at least three wind turbines (basically gigantic windmills that produce energy rather than a tangible ingredient such as grain or flour).  As well, a tractor-trailer and its entourage of others tractor-trailers passed our bus on their way to setup yet another wind farm.  It takes one full-size tractor-trailer to haul ONE propellor for one wind turbine.  Each part has to be separately carried by individual tractor-trailers and then assembled on site--these things were massive in comparison to some of the ones I've seen in the States. Pretty cool that such an effort is being made for clean energy.

On the road to Trier we saw so many small village-like towns nestled within the hills of Germany.  The lush greenery surrounding them made the colors of the towns much more vibrant.  Furthermore, I learned why there are so many references to Black Forest, Germany--it's not just a specific place in Germany. Instead, it's
referencing the how the types of trees in Germany create such density that it's completely black within the forests.  The trees here are unlike anything I've ever seen--or rather, ever paid attention to.  Instead of their branches being spread out through the whole of the tree, the branches and their thick covering of leaves do not start until 3/4 the way up the trunk of the tree.  Incidentally this foliage is very condensed at the tops of the trees, thus hindering an exceptional amount of light to pass through, creating a blackness underneath--thus, a black forest.

After our three-hour trip bus ride, with butts hurting and tired eyes, we stumbled into die Jugenherbergen (Youth Hostel) in Trier around 6:45pm, local time.  However, our trip leader met us at the door with worried expressions and questions of where we were and why we weren't here earlier!  We explained that the bus took a longer route and she was just happy that we made it--she even said it was her acting like a mother hen, wanting all of her little chicks to be safe and sound hahaha!  Unfortunately, because everyone else had already gotten there, we needed to quickly eat our dinner that was saved and head straight to a meeting to go over a few essentials.  We finally all met each other and said our hellos, immediately starting to crack jokes and create havoc.  Afterwards we all decided to hang around and explore die Jugendherbergen so as to get acquainted with our new residence of drei Wochen.  Upon going outside a few os us decided to get into a pickup game with some German kids who were staying here with us for a couple days.  It was awesome!  They were very enthusiastic and really want to play Fußball with "die Amerikaner".  That night we decided to call it an early night, seeing as everyone was tired and jet-lagged. Thus the closing of day one in Trier, DE.

  

In all honesty, I can't even begin to write down what I've experienced in Trier for the past two days.  I saw most of this city through a camera lens so that I would never allow myself to forget such an incredible place.  From urban artwork to 2200 year-old Roman ruins and buildings, Trier has blinded me with an insurmountable wealth of knowledge and information that can only be explained through sight. Therefore, please enjoy these photos:

 
 

 

 

 

 

These are simply a fraction of the pictures that I was able to take.  Even with these pieces, the feelings that I experienced with many of these (especially within the cathedrals of Trier), cannot even be expressed in any form--they need to be experienced on their own. These photographs simply try to provide a glimpse into the world and history of Trier.  I hope you can experience even a fraction of my own feelings and perhaps, even experience something inside yourself :)