Trier
Our transportation woes continued with more detours and closed roads. We ended up spending more time in the car than we expected because we didn't expect the complete road closures we experienced. We thought we would have to skip our planned trip to Trier but we were able to get there only a half-hour later than expected. Trier was founded by the Romans and still has many preserved Roman structures like the Porta Nigra gate. We parked the car and walked through gate and headed into the picturesque town center. We stopped at the magnificent Trier Cathedral then wandered through the gardens to the ruins of the ampitheater. We didn't have much time for lunch, so we stopped at one of the little shops for a snack and ate it on a bench before walking back to the car.
Moselle Valley
Janie had made plans for a wine tour in the Moselle Valley so we drove over there after Trier. We had some extra time so we stopped in one of the other wineries, Weingut Birnfel, along the river in the town of Mosel. We enjoyed the wine and bought two bottles to enjoy later.
Weingut Gindorf
We drove up the hill to Weingut Gindorf. We were concerned at first as we were in a residential neighborhood and had been promised a vineyard tour. But we met with the proprietor, an American ex-pat who had purchased the winery a few years back, and he walked us and two other couples down the street to where grapes were growing all down the side of the hill. We walked towards his vineyard as he explained the wine growing process as a light mist fell. At his vineyard, we sat and had pretzel bread and sampled several wines. As we started walking back, the rain began to fall harder so we were glad we had grabbed our rain jackets, although Thomas had not brought one. We dried off in the cellar of the winery where we tasted two more wines, including a sparkling Reisling and bought a few bottles to take back home.
The wine master had recommended a restaurant in a nearby town but they were not open yet. We stopped in another place near the river and sat down and ordered some beer and wine. We were ignored by the waitress and when we finally flagged her down, she said the kitchen was closed. But she had put menus down on our table when we arrived so it seems she ignored us to avoid having to serve food before the kitchen closed. We paid for our drinks and left and drove to Bullay and the Hotel Mosella. We thought we would get dinner in town somewhere and were pleased to find out the hotel was serving a meal so we ordered some beer and wine and enjoyed their German buffet.
