Europe > Cruises > Reviews > Emerald Star > Photos > Trier

Emerald Star Cruise Photos

From: Emerald Waterways cruise review: Nuremberg-Trier

Day 7: Trier

The last full day of our cruise began with the departure of Emerald Star from Bernkastel around 6:45 a.m. We were still in bed, and by the time we got up, the ship was cruising past more hillside vineyards on its way to Trier.

At 10 a.m., Cecelia Balint--the ship's head housekeeper--presented a towel-folding demonstration where passengers could learn how to make swans and other critters from bathroom linen.

A-Rosa Flora, which had been tied up behind Emerald Star in Bernkastel-Kues, was moored on our starboard as we passed one of many small caravan parks along the Moselle's banks.

We'd seen swans throughout the cruise. As we went past a marina, we saw a paddleboat in swan's clothing.

We arrived at Hafen Trier, or Trier Harbor, at 12:15 p.m.

The port in Trier was purely industrial, as you can see in this panorama from the Sun Deck that was taken during our arrival. (Click here and maximize your browser window for a larger image.)

The captain explained that the industrial harbor was as far upstream as the ship could go on the Moselle.

A cargo terminal of DB Schenker (Deutsche Bahn's logistics business) was on our right, and a scrapyard lay ahead of us as we entered the Hafen Trier. We were reminded of the time when our car broke down in rural Colorado and was towed to a junkyard for servicing.

Although the harbor was industrial, it did have at least one pontoon and gangway for visiting passenger ships.

Captain Mariceanu, never one to stand on ceremony, went ashore and climbed a grassy tank to supervise final mooring operations.

Tank cars provided a scenic backdrop. (For a larger panoramic image, click here and maximize your browser window.)

After lunch, Emerald Star's passengers went ashore for a bus and walking tour of Trier, which was a 15-minute drive from the port.

Trier is said to be Germany's oldest city. It's famous for its Roman ruins, which range from ancient baths to a 25,000-seat amphitheatre.

Our walking tour began at the Porta Nigra (built around 180 AD), the only surviving gate from the Roman era. It's located at one end of the city's pedestrian shopping district, shown in the upper photo.

Our guide explained that the Porta Nigra was assembled without mortar. Instead, the huge stone blocks were held together with iron clamps.

The upper floors of the Porta Nigra are open to tourists, but we didn't have time go explore the gate in detail.

(By nature, group tours are like a chef's tasting menu: If you really want to study a monument or other site in detail, you need to go back on your own.)

Trier's other claim to fame is the Karl Marx House (above the capitalistic EuroShop in the photo), where the socialist thinker, writer, and revolutionary was born in 1818.

The house is now a museum. According to a Wikipedia article, it attracts about 32,000 visitors a year, a third of whom are from China.

From the Karl Marx House, we walked through the pedestrian zone to the Hauptmarkt, or Main Market, where cherries were in season.

The Hauptmarkt is said to be "one of the most magnificent ensembles of histric houses in Germany."

Two of the market square's signature features are the Rotes Haus (Red House) and a Renaissance fountain that shows St. Peter, the city's patron saint, "surrounded by the four cardinal virtues of good city government: Justice, Strength, Temperance, and Wisdom."

Six streets lead off the Hauptmarkt--among them, the Judengasse to the Jewish Quarter that existed until the Jews were expelled from Trier in 1418.

Our guide led us down another street, marked by a Madonna statue, to the Dom, or Cathedral, which (according to the tourist office) is the oldest bishop's church in Germany.

The Domplatz, or Cathedral Square, was a busy place with locals, visitors, and a rubber-tired tourist trolley.

The Dom (shown here) was one of two churches on the square, the other being the adjoining Church of Our Lady. We visited both during our tour.

Most of the present-day Cathedral dates to the 11th and 12th Centuries, but parts of the building are from 326 A.D.

Our tour ended, and we returned to the Hauptmarkt to enjoy our limited free time in downtown Trier. 

We wanted to bring some good German Vollkornbrot home with us the next day, so we stopped in two of downtown Trier's many bakeries to load up on loaves.

• Tip: Bread is an amazing bargain in Germany. You can buy outstanding bread (especially rye and multigrain loaves) for less than half of what you'd pay at artisanal bakeries in the U.S.

We resisted the temptation to buy the VW Microbus cloth that was on display outside a fabric store. (We liked the illustrations, and it was hard to resist the subtly-printed references to "hippie," "beach," and "flower power.")

We discovered the U.S. president's favorite clothing store in Trier.

Durant couldn't pass up the chance to try a Trierer Bratwurst.

In Germany, styles of Bratwurst vary by region. In Nuremberg, for example, the sausages are small, filled with coarsely-ground pork, and chewy; in Trier, they're more like the Swiss Kalbsbratwurst, with a delicate flavor and texture.

On our way back to the bus, we saw a small boy rotating what appeared to be a large rock that was mounted on the pavement. Cheryl gave it a try, and it turned out to be an artificial rock made of a lightweight material.

City planners, please note: This is a great idea for parks, plazas, and pedestrian zones.

That evening, the Americans on board were invited to a Fourth of July party by the pool. Waiters served Champagne while Balázs Varga, our cruise director, greeted guests with an American flag.

(Canadians had enjoyed a Canada Day celebration three days earlier, on July 1.)

As a special treat, the crew showed the guests how the pool is converted into a cinema: The floor rises from the pool, the water drains beneath it, and a crew member dries the floor before chairs are set out for the movie.

After the party, Durant enjoyed a Bitburger beer with dinner. (The company's slogan, "Bitte, ein Bit" was too tempting to resist. Also, Bitburger is made just up the road from Trier, so it seemed only polite to wrap up our cruise with a glass of Bitburger Premium Pils.)

A butterfly accompanied our Dark Chocolate Chili Mousse with Spiced Berries, symbolizing our flight home to the U.S. the next day.

After dinner, we headed for the Horizon Lounge (shown here on the ship's Loungecam) for a concert by Die Pratzbänt, an outstanding brass band from Trier.

The group, which has been together since 2007, performed in Roman Centurion costumes. Numbers ranged from traditional German Blasmusik to modern compositions. It was a great show--probably the best night of entertainment that we've enjoyed on a river cruise.