Trier Local Customs

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It's wine which is still fermenting, and only available in September/October.

I stumbled across a stall selling it in the Hauptmarkt as I was about to head back to the hotel after a wee pizza.

The words "when was the last time you tried something for the first time?" went through my head, and I was right in there. €2 for a glass. Very pleasant. Very refreshing. And I sang all the way back to the hotel.

No, but seriously, its not that strong. I can still type.

I also tried their Blauer Spätburgunder too. Sounds very fancy, but it's what the Germans call pinot noir! Good stuff.

I've given the vineyard's website below. If I understood right, the local vineyards get to have a market stall for a few days each.

It was a lovely atmosphere there. 2 young couples who'd had a couple too many, but in a romantic student way. 3 late middle aged men buying by the bottle - Rotarians, I'd guess. 2 old women sharing their loose change to get enough for 2 more glasses.

I’m used to Bavaria. Rheinland Pfalz is a bit alien to me.

Or at least the beer habits are. No helles. No dunkel. Just pils or weisse bier.

I’m a helles drinker. Not excited about weisse. The pils is fine, as I’m used to Czech and Slovak beer. But these 0.25l or 0.30l glasses. Ouch. Its gone in a coupe of gulps.

I don’t drink litres in Bavaria (except on special occasions, such as the Oktoberfest), but 0.50l is just the right size.

Just saying...

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Just a funny surprise when I arrived at Trier; looking around, trying to find my way in the city, I picked out this tower (main picture), and thought I arrived in the old city centre. . . . . . . It was close to the city hall, (picture 3) so, in normal cities close to the centre; but when I had a closer look to the tower I scratched my head, discovering the concrete in the building and noticing most of the building was concrete. . . . . Locals nearby, whom I asked for directions, explained me that the tower was not exactly historic: it has been built during WWII. It was a blockhouse, disguised as a medieval building, in order to avoid Allies bombing of the area, and to hide anti aerial defence cannons. So, the militaries built old style shaped blockhouses, but with “modern” concrete. I fell in the pitfall, like, may be the pilots from the allied air forces. . . . .
Well, local custom, but a custom from the past. . . . . . .

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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.