Following the Romans

A few weeks ago we had our two week October holiday. I will miss having these autumn holidays when I move back home. The first week I stayed in Frankfurt, and loved being lazy. I saw a few friends, but mostly just got up and did as I pleased. The weather was lovely, so I went for a few walks, did some shopping and enjoyed the sunshine streaming into my room. When I sit in my new chair I am facing the window and can enjoy the sunshine from there. The second week I went away for 5 nights. I first went to Trier, then to Xanten and finally met up with Regina and stayed with her parents for a night. The first two stops were to see the Roman towns of Augusta Treverorum (Trier) and Colonia Ulpia Traiana (Xanten). Both reached their height of power and status in the later centuries of the Roman Empire. So far most of what I have learned has been about earlier times, so it was nice to connect what happened later with what I already knew. Trier was the capital of the Western Roman Empire when the empire was split, and was where Constantine the Great ruled from when he was Caesar of the Western part of the empire. Xanten was elevated to a Colonia by Emperor Trajan, hence the name Traiana.

Trier

My first view of the Porta Nigra. My hotel was only a few minutes from here.

Some beautiful timber-framed houses on the main market square.

The electoral palace, built right up to Constantine's Basilica

I arrived in Trier late on Saturday. That evening I had dinner on the Kornmarkt (sitting outside!) and took a short walk around the old centre. The next morning I had a quick visit to the Dom and then headed to the Landesmuseum. I was waiting on the steps when it opened at 10. They had an excellent history of the area, with lots of information and artifacts from the Roman era.

My favourite room was full of mosaics (my favourite above). They had many intact mosaics.

After a rushed two and a half hour visit to the museum, I had a quick stop at a bakery for some food, and then went straight to the information centre to join an English walking tour. The tour itself was not very good. The lady running it produced some facts, but wasn't a great story teller and did not show enough interest for my liking. The only other group on the tour was an american family living near Stuttgart. They were very interesting, and I enjoyed chatting with them.

Next I headed to two more Roman sites: The imperial baths and the amphitheatre. Both were mostly ruins, but had audioguides that explained what it would have been like. The baths even had a guide with videos, which was great for imagining what it would have looked like.

The imperial baths

The amphitheatre, which sits on a hill higher than the centre of Trier. After I walked the rest of the way up for a view of the whole city.

Monday I had the morning in Trier before an early afternoon train to Xanten. I first stopped at Paulinskirche, which was around the corner from my hotel. The outside was almost completely hidden by scaffolding, and so I was not expecting the beautiful inside that I found. It had a small cemetery attached to the church, and I took a short stroll around there in the sunshine.

The inside of Paulinskirche

I decided to walk back along the river, but it was so beautiful that I ended up walking along the river all the way to the far end of the old centre, and then back in for a final stop at the Dom and Frauenkirche. The weather was perfect fall weather. The sun was shining so the leaves were glowing yellow as they fell to the ground. Unfortunately this was hard to catch on camera.

This part of the path really made me wish I had my bike and was biking the Mosel river.

The roman bridge, still using foundations built when Trier was Treverorum.

The Dom cathedral with attached Frauenkirche.

Last walk through the Porta Nigra before heading to the train station.

For this whole trip I decided only to take regional trains. This way I avoided the blurred countryside you see when riding an ICE. This made a great trip to Xanten, except for the first train which seemed to put me to sleep! I took a regional train to Koblenz, then another to Duisburg and finally a small state train to Xanten. I really liked any time we were directly following a river, either the Mosel or the Rhein. And the trees were all such pretty colours :)

Xanten

I stayed at a very cute hotel in Xanten. Even the ceiling was painted with clouds!

My kind of store! Bikes and sewing machines.

This was the restaurant where I ate both nights in Xanten, sitting outside under their heaters.

Tuesday morning, walking out to the Roman museum past an old windmill.

Tuesday morning after breakfast I headed straight out to the Roman museum. Luckily the medieval town of Xanten was built outside of the old Roman city. Because of this they have been able to make the whole area of the Roman city a museum and archaeological park. They have recreated some of the walls and gates, as well as some of the buildings. The foundations of the baths have been covered, and are now part of the large museum. The museum and park have an audiovisual guide, with 83 different stops. All in all I was there for almost seven and a half hours!

A model of the town. The orange buildings they know for sure how they looked, because of archaeological digs.

A view from the museum looking down at the baths.

A recreation of the small baths at the reconstructed Herberge (inn house). 

Looking back over the Roman city, after I climbed up the large west gate. 

They have left most of the park as grass, marking out where the streets were with paths and hedges.

After my visit I managed to drag myself back to my restaurant for dinner, and then straight back to the hotel to rest. The next morning I had a train at 11, so had some time for another walk around.

The street leading to the train station, where I want to live in Xanten. It looked especially warm and cozy the night I arrived. Unusual for city/town centres, they had detached houses and a large grassy area between the sidewalk and the road.

 Next stop: Wuppertal (to ride the Schwebebahn!)

View from the front as we rode the train.

I met up with Regina. Neither of us were big fans of the train as it rocked side to side as it drove!

One last view of the Schwebebahn.

Hattingen

Regina and I then gave up on Wuppertal and drove to Hattingen. It has a gorgeous old town centre, with many timber-framed houses in the style common to that area of Nordrhein-Westfalen.

The streets looking down to the church, as it got dark. 

The very square style of timber-framed houses.

Castrop

Our last stop for the day was Regina's home town of Castrop, just outside of Dortmund. I stayed over night with her at her parent's house.

One of the old coal mine towers, from the Erin mines. They were founded by an Irishman who came to the area. The mines are now closed, and this tower has been refurbished as a landmark. They have an Irish tree grove below, with the 12 different trees for the months, like a zodiac sign. I think I was the elm tree. 

The next morning I got on an Sbahn to Dortmund, and then an IC train back to Frankfurt. I enjoyed seeing some of my favourite places from our bike ride down the Rhein this summer. Mostly I just enjoyed the river and the trees and relaxing before being back home in Frankfurt.

A view of the Rhein through the autumn trees.