Nina's Birthday Party (Merzbach), Porta Nigra (Trier)

Yesterday I went on a day trip to visit my old friend Nina, her husband Jörg and their baby boy, Moritz. Much to my own shame I must confess that I did not attend Nina's and Jörg's wedding, because it took place while I was in Chicago. (Likewise, I skipped another friend's wedding for the same reason, and since she also had a baby boy recently, I may go on another trip soon(ish), and I will then report on that, too ... Ironically, my friend Homa from Chicago is getting married these days, and I was forced to turn down her invitation as well.)
Nina (to the left in the top left photo) and I became friends in college. We both were chemistry majors in Kaiserslautern (which you may find on the map of Germany that shows my travel route a bit to the east of the starting point near Saarbrücken), and so were in fact most people you see on the first photo. Not all of them were in our year, but Britta and Stephanie ("Steffi") were. Britta is the blonde holding Moritz (I apologize for using the wrong shutter setting for this shot), and Steffi is the brunette watching over the snoozing baby.
Nina, Steffi and Britta form an interesting triangle. Nina and Steffi go back a long way, having been even high school class mates. If I remember correctly, chemistry wasn't the first choice for either one, but that's what they ended up with. (In the first two years they were roommates.) Going with chemistry apparently didn't hurt them too much, I guess, since both met their husbands. Britta, on the other hand, was Nina's companion in Glasgow, Scotland, for one semester abroad; an adventure I was also a part of. Steffi and Britta later went on to do a PhD in physical chemistry with the same advisor (I left that group for Berlin after the final undergraduate thesis), while Nina did hers in organic chemistry.
Now, yesterday's journey of mine began as early as 6:30 am, when I left the house to walk to the train station. At around 7, I hopped on the first train, which took me as far as Saarbrücken ... only a 10 mile ride. After a ten minute layover, I hopped on another train to Trier, which took 90 minutes, and where I had a full hour wait until I could continue. From Trier I went on to Euskirchen. There I only had to cross the platform, where the last train to Rheinbach was already preparing for its departure. Since I was a little early for the party, I had a snack at that train station, until I took a bus to Merzbach, where Nina, Jörg and Moritz currently reside. Total duration, one way: seven hours. I stayed at the party for about three hours ... then I had to leave to be home without spending a night at a train station in the goonies. Jörg gave me a ride back to Rheinbach, and guess what? The train I was supposed to take from there was cancelled! That meant an extra 30 min wait before I could ride back to Euskirchen (only 15 min). There I found, much to my relief, that a train to Trier would leave soon, and be there at 8 pm. From there trains depart for Saarbrücken every hour until very late (and more than a few actually go as far as Homburg or Kaiserslautern for which they have to pass through my hometown, St. Ingbert).
In Trier, I was stalled for another hour, so I decided to do a quick sight seeing trip. Trier happens to be the oldest settlement in Germany, being founded more than 2,000 years ago by the Romans. The so-called Porta Nigra (or Black Gate), has been left by them and can be visited. It is located only a few minutes from the train station in Trier (which the Romans used to call Augusta Treverorum), so I decided to seize the day and take a few pictures. (I am sharing my favorite with you on the bottom left.) - Eventually, I rode to Saarbrücken, and since this train does go to Homburg, but not on Saturdays, I had another final layover there.
When you look at the map, you will find my traveling route indicated. I find it a bit ridiculous that was on the train(s) for five hours one way, when the net traveling time was actually only 3.5 hours. But there are two problems: first, I used the so-called Happy Weekend Ticket (39 €), by which you can use all short-distance trains on one weekend day (which must be designated prior to the trip). You may even bring a long a few others, but the ticket must be signed, so the holder must be present and cannot pass the ticket on to someone else when he doesn't need it anymore.
The second problem is that there weren't any long distance trains available that would go, say, from Saarbrücken to Cologne on my route, because (I think) those can't used the existing tracks. Taking long distance trains would have deviated me so much that the trip would have been only (much) more expensive, but not faster.
I wish they would introduce a fast connection from Saarbrücken to Cologne, or at least make the layovers significantly shorter, but another problem is that there are more hills than population between Trier and Euskirchen/Cologne, so this will probably remain wishful thinking in the foreseeable future.
Nevertheless, I had an awesome day, and it was particularly nice to reunite with so many friends, even for just a short time. Additionally, the weather improved a lot throughout yesterday, from rainy-gray to spring-like. I think I have to see them again soon, also because it has just occurred to me that I didn't taste any of Nina's father's products yesterday - the man runs his own vineyard!