Trier Local Customs

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I never drink wine alone, even with other people, if they do not drink wine; a bit a pity in the Mosel Valley, but it is a rule for me; so I enjoyed the locally or nearby Trier brewed beers; Germany is well known for its beers, and even the rather “common” are very pleasant to drink, and on the first picture is a popular “pilsner”, a bitter one, as I like them.
On the second picture is a dark malted beer, brewed with pilsner technique: dark malt, one fermentation, and aromatised with hops.
Of course, all beers in Germany are brewed according to the “Reinheitsgebot”, law of purity, meaning the ingredients are malt, water and hops, nothing else, and certainly not preservatives; that helps fro preventing headaches if you happen to drink a bit a lot. . . .

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Pétanque is a very popular game in southern Europe, and specially in France, but this very convivial game has been exported in other Europen places and it was a nice surprise to see these people playing pétanque in the Elector Prince’s palace garden. It is usually played on village places, in the shade of plane trees or mulberry trees, but here, the trees are beeches and the décor is quite “historic”; the players had beer or Mosel wine, for refreshments, different from the French Pastis. I had some fun looking at them for a while, and having a short chat, during which they told me that game is called “boule” in Germany, greeting them for the nice place where they played; they did not mind, just liked the game. . . .

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Having a drink at the terrace of a pub close to the Porta Nigra, we witnessed an interesting scene which can be considered as a local custom. Bachelor parties (not sure the English wording expresses exactly this event; the German “Junggesellenabschied” (bachelor life farewell) or the French “enterrement de vie de garcon” (bachelor’s life funeral) are to me much more expressive, explicit and poetic) are a common custom in many places and I even remember mine, but the one here was an original one, and it was interesting to watch the young future husband doing his best to get money for paying drinks for himself and his friends: wearing a T-shirt stuck with small coloured hearts, and a big necklace with little bottles, he visited all female clients (symbolising his “ex” or the ones he would not have a chance to “know”) of the pub and offered a heart or a bottle and received some money in return.
He seemed to do well, and I guess he and his friends may have had some difficulties to return home late in the night. . . .

I guess we all agree on this on; there is nothing more exciting than going travelling - exploring another country, experiencing a different culture, travelling around in new ways, sampling the local cuisine and chatting to the local people for a different perspective on life.

However during our travels we learned that there is one certain thing that you should be aware of and prepared for to make sure that the trip is as easy and enjoyable as possible. We always try to see everything once we're there, but this is not always an act of responsible travelling. We always talk to thIe locals and we know that they have the information about just the right spots to visit and how to undertake them. It will not only enhance your experiences but also avoid any unnecessary hassles.

For us the travel tips we have written in this section made the most of our travel experience and we came home in the same happy, healthy state that we left.

from the city center, go to the south, accros the mosel river, climb up the hills, leave the town, there you are.....you'll get the trier forest. Here you can hiking, jogging, playing with your dog, mountain biking, playing soccer (there is a soccer field!), visiting a small zoo, feeding wild pigs your old bread, folowing a brook until you get your self back to Mosel valley again, have a picnic of course, dining at wiess haus restaurant, etc. I visit the forest once a week but never get bored. You'll always find a new path that leads you to an unexpecting place, it's a kind of surprice. Look at the beauty of the trier sandstone... it is older than the huge one in Luxemburg.

if you like skateboarding & acrobat biking, join the locals every nice-wheather afternoon in Basilika. Trier don't have a terrific arena for this activities, but gathering with the skaboading community must be nice.

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Germany is well-known for its Christmas markets. Every year, thousands of people come to Germany around Christmas time to visit them.

Of course, Trier has its own Christmas market. From around mid November to about two days before Christmas you can visit the Christmas market at the Hauptmarkt and in front of the Cathedral.

The Christmas markets are open daily from 10:00 (Sunday: 11:00) am to 8:30 pm.

I was told that this kind of Betlehem is German tradition and you can see it in every possible sizes aroound. I just liked this one because this is part of the Christmas markets going in the centrum of the town. Unfortunately, I came too early to see and feel this atmosphere but I am intended to be back there soon to see it. But back to Betlehem, the mechanism is very great, there is a big fan and if this fan is a friend of wind they together move the BEtlehem around and people going by should see all typical scenes of Jesus Christ birth. Really tricky...