Friday:
I left home just before 0915 which gave me time to take the kids to school.
After about 20minutes of riding heavy rain shower, I was holding off putting my waterproof trousers on , even though a BMW rider who had been riding along with me stopped to put his on, I could see quite a lot of blue skies ahead.
I met up with Andre at about 1015 at a petrol station near Nieuwegein on the A2, we filled up and headed off after a short chat
We headed towards Luik where our first turn off of the motorway would be. I saw the turn off a bit late but took it anyway, Andre (being sensible) chose to ride straight on. Anyway I went flying off of the motorway forgetting that the exits in Belgium are quite often right angles :-0 after recovering from the corner I first thought I was being followed by Andre but shortly afterwards I realized it was a blue FZ1 as it passed me. Andre had stopped at the next petrol station on the highway and I called to check where he was, so I met him at the petrol station on we rode towards Spa, on some really nice windy roads.
Just before we reached Spa we passed a café along the river, on a picturesque stretch of road so we stopped for a really nice omlette & fries. After this we rode onto Spa, here we came across a small group of riders, one of the women riders rode a silver Fz6, so we followed her/them for a bit until they turned off.
Rode past the famous (formula 1) Spa/ Francorchamps circuit and once again onto some nice windy roads. We hit the main road for about 20 Km’s and just before we reached Bitburg we headed off to take the scenic (windy) route, we rejoined the main road again for the last few Km’s, to decend down a steep windy hill into Trier.
We arrived at hotel/hostel Wasberger hof, it was a historic building in the center of Trier and a sculpted horses head adorned the wall where there had previously been a stables (this had now been turned into a bar/ café) .
We parked our bikes in the courtyard and checked in to our rooms (single rooms with a bed, desk, cupboard and sink, the toilets and showers were in the hall) a little bit Spartan but very clean, the hotel had a friendly reception (and they spoke good English).
We parked up in the courtyard, freshened up and went for a walk into the beautiful city of Trier. Just out of the gate we passed a 13th century tower, where we saw a tour being given by someone carrying a blazing torch (medieval style not LED)
We took a walk to the Porta Negra, (2nd century Roman gate house) where we sat at a café on the pavement overlooking this magnificent building>
We even had a street entertainer turn up he turned his bicycle with trailer into a makeshift drum set and started drumming really well, what a welcome.
After this we went for a walk to the cathedral,
the Basilica of Constantine,An old Roman building which later became the bishops palace,
the town walls and the Roman baths,.
The Roman Amphitheatre was unfortunately closed for the night.
Karl Marx house (birthplace of Karl Marx).
We then went for a tasty kebab, and then went to the Irish pub for a drink or two. They played some good (rock) music and we finished the evening with a nice Irish whisky.