12:22 pm:
This morning we had a lovely breakfast at Hótel Goldene Rose, probably the best we've had . Breads and fruit and cheese and salmon and fresh juice. Yum! It was also displayed really nicely. As I have said in the past, I will take a Euro breakfast over Little Debbie snack cakes and waffles in American hotels any day. 
 
After breakfast, we took a cab to see the Patton Barracks, where Bob and Maude were both housed in the late 1950s. We were able to see the gate. They were bummed that it had changed so much, that it looked overgrown and a little run-down. Now, refugees live in some of the houses. The driver also took us to the new American headquarters, which was more modern and is still in use. The fencing was built around it after 9/11, our driver told us. We likened this to someone who visited small towns where we lived 50 years ago. What would someone say who visited now? Still, they were glad they got to see it. We went back to the hotel and gathered our things and checked out. We took the 5 tram from Bismarckplatz to the train station, where we then took a short suburban train to Mannheim. From here, we connected to a regional train to get to Trier . We took an earlier train to Mannheim so we would have more than a 10-minute connection. I have seen the trains always running a bit behind, so I thought this would be better. 
 
Trier (tree-er) is Germany's oldest city and was once inhabited by Romans. It's population is about 114,000, so it will be the smallest city we have visited so far. I am excited to see some of the ruins, and the ride on the train is scenic and hilly. 
 
8:30 p.m. 
We arrived in Trier at 2:30 and walked the 10 minutes to our hotel, right next to Porta Nigra (Black Gate). This gates dates back to 108 A.D. ! It is held together by gravity and iron clamps. It has turned black over time, hence the name. The slabs were put together without mortar. In Roman times, it was one of four gates into the city. We climbed all 121 steps to the top and saw some great views of the city, especially of The Cathedral of Trier, dating back to 1270. It is massive, and absolutely gorgeous on the inside. We then had an early dinner, and then I took a walk to see the Roman Bridge, the oldest standing bridge in Germany. The nine pillars date from the 1100s. The top portion has been renewed twice. It was a great walk, and I bought a few postcards at a shop. 

Tomorrow will be a long day. We take a short ride to Luxembourg train station and then will take a cab to the American Cemetery, where we will meet our tour guide, Henri, who will give us a 'Battle of the Bulge' tour. This was the final battle of the war, and one of the bloodiest. Dad has been reading a lot of books about it. Henri and I have been in email correspondence since November. 
 
Auf wiedersehen!
 Jamie