Rhineland Wineland, I’ll Have the Dunkl

Our first destination in Germany was Heidelberg. We are spending our time in the Pfazl-Rheinland region. You have no doubt heard of the Rhineland but the term Pfazl, or Palatinate in English, was new to me. The term may have come from the Roman era but we’re not sure. This area is south of the Rhine and was part of the Roman Empire. It was also the area where our ancestor, Michael Eisen, came from in the 1700s and he is the subject of Edeana’s new book.

So naturally we came to Heidelberg to visit the Kurpfalzisches Museum. Unfortunately they didn’t allow photo-taking so I’ve already forgotten everything I’ve seen in the museum. It’s difficult because there is rarely any English on the museum signs and I haven’t been able to buy any English museum guidebooks. If I can’t take pictures then I’m lost.

Our place in Heidelberg was very nice, probably because we were only staying one night. Seems to be working out that the places we stay multiple nights are never quite as nice as the one night stands. The Backmulde Gasthaus had orange towels and a really large glassed-in shower. No flimsy plastic shower curtain trying to cling to you as you soap-up in a 2’x2′ space and then step out onto a flooded floor.

There were gummy-bears on the pillows and at the front desk. Gummy bears seem to be a thing there. There was even a shop in Heidelberg filled with gummy bears and a gummy bear football pitch in the window.

Of course, our first night in Germany we wanted to eat some German food. I had dunkl beer and snitzel with spatzle. The dark beer was good but I think that once was enough for the snitzel and the spatzle. It made for a very beige plate and a very bloated feeling. There was a extra menu at the restaurant, called a Spargel Menu which we thought was either a Spring Menu or a Seasonal Menu. It seemed to focus around a course of a pound of white asparagus with other things added.

Next day and we are off to Trier on the Germany/Luxembourg border. In Roman times it was known as Colonia Augusta Treverorum and was home to the Treveri tribe. Trier has the best Roman remains in Germany. We had a full day of Roman ruining and I took Edeana on a forced march around the town to see all the spread out ruins. We started at the far side with the Roman bridge which was apparently saved during WWII because Patton was able to capture it very quickly. The little guide we had said that there are still empty charges on the piers left behind.

Next we crossed town to see the Kaiserthermen or Imperial Baths, then further out to the amphitheatre.

Then we plodded diagonally across town aiming to go to the Archaeological Museum but overshot it and hit the Constantine Basilica instead. This was a huge structure that survived more or less intact because it had been converted into a Christian church.

At this point we headed for the museum bistro and ate lunch first before tackling the museum. The museum was really good and exhausting because it had so much in it. And we were allowed to take pictures. No guidebook but a decent amount of English description for the exhibits.

This region was known for its Roman glass production and some of the pieces are just amazing. I haven’t seen anything like them before.

There was also local pottery production.

It was after 4 when we got out of the museum (so much for getting all the Roman stuff done and then going to see the Karl Marx Haus) and we still had the Forum Baths, the Dom and the Porta Nigra to see. We doubled back a bit and hit the Forum Baths which were beneath a very modern glass building. They seemed very clean and sterile. It was really a learning facility for children and was empty by the time we got there. But we met some new Roman friends.

Exhausted we ditched the Dom which was a newer church built on top of where a Roman temple was and made the Porta Nigra our last stop. This was a city gate whose white stone turned black due to some kind of parasite or something. It is a large structure and looked like it could use a good cleaning. Not much to do there but look at it. Then a much needed beer before heading back to the hotel.

The Hotel Primivera did not give a good first impression – it was a long way from the train station, the receptionist was a bit ditzy, the elevator wouldn’t open because it hadn’t completely come down, the room was very white, etc. They offered breakfast for 5 euros which seemed quite cheap, but we took it and it turned out to be as good as anywhere else so a really good deal.

Then we ate at their Italian restaurant and it was really good. It was here that we clued into what spargel is (I’m sure some of you figured it out a lot faster than we did, or you’ve already read Edeana’s blog post). It is asparagus. More specifically big fat white asparagus. Primivera had a special menu too but it seemed a lot better than the one in Heidelberg. We actually ate there both nights because it was so good. The first night I had a salad with avocado, prawns and white asparagus, and Edeana had spaghetti with spargel. The second night we shared a spargel, cherry tomato, ham and hollandaise sauce pizza. Really delicious, if a little out of the ordinary.

Now here it is your moment of mosaic. They had some really good mosaics at the Archaeological Museum in Trier and it was hard to choose, so you get two.