It snowed the morning we headed out to Ida Oberstien. At least the sun came out for a little while

Downtown Baumholder is a pretty German town.

Good pastry but scary looking chef in the window.

This is the gate leading into Trier on of the oldest towns in Germany.

This will give you an idea of how large this is.

Smelly artwork.

Inside the gate which dates from the 4th century you can see the massive upper floors.

Looking down inside the arch.

The buildings around Trier date back hundreds of years.

From the top of the Gate looking down on the street below.

Here are some of the former rulers. If you look close you can see the date is 1036.

Another ruler.

Here is proof that I climbed up way too many stairs to get a birds eye view of the surroundings.

One of the upper rooms, there is still one more floor up.

The view from inside the looking out.

Very old carvings.

Every floor was massive.

Holly finally found another color coat to wear.

Looking down on the Christmas market.

Entering the market. In Germany it takes about a dollar and a half to buy one Euro.

Lots of nice shops with German goodies.

Mmmm potato pancakes. Very tasty.

I always thought Schmuk was a bad word.

Ah a latte at last. All the coffee was very good.

Strange artwork Can you see the pig being split?

Hm, could this be T Mobile?

Large version of one of the Toys they make.

Around back was another Church.

Very ornate, Like the rest of Europe.

Amazing artwork everywhere. This is to the right of the main entrance.

This is to the left.

More Castle ruings by Ida Oberstien.

Church in the rock. Literally.

Laura and Holly by a water wheel.

Lots of shops.

Laura doing what she does best.

Hm, this is going to be expensive.

Ida Oberstien.

My daughter gets her good looks from me. :)

After a hard day shopping, beer and tea go great.

My sweetie.