We woke up in our tiny hotel room with crappy dorm-style bedding, and Tammy solo-tripped to the city center via tram while Dan and Noah went deep on the nice free hotel breakfast. Then it was pack up and head to the Luxembourg train station for our first destination: Trier, the namesake of our township in Illinois and Noah’s future high school (New Trier HS).
Unfortunately, Trier ended up being a low point on the trip due to a persistent rain, and after visiting Porta Nigra, Trier’s Roman gate that’s more than 1800 years old, we decided to cut our visit short and head to the next town along the Mosel River, Cochem, where a castle tour of Reichsburg Castle above Cochem could keep us dry.
We did just that, taking the bus to the castle and joining a tour in German. We loved the castle and views of the river and town, and Dan was surprised at how much German he could follow. Dan’s stronger-than-expected German comprehension and speaking was a recurring theme throughout the 3 days in his old country!
After train delays, we made our way to Bacharach, a small picturesque town along the Rhein River, and walked thru the empty (off-season) town to our very cute Inn-style hotel, Bacharacher Hof. Our wonderful room was eye-level with trains passing by as well as the river, and after getting a quick dinner at one of the very few open restaurants, we all went to sleep from our long, partially rainy day.
Dan – Tammy – Noah 
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