Xanten

Tuesday June 25th Had a very nice buffet breakfast before meeting up with Jeremy, went to Xanten by train, a place with an interesting history. It's a cathedral city with walls & towers that date from the 16th century.
After climbing up inside the Kriemhildmühle (top right), a working windmill, we walked to the partial reconstruction of the Roman colony, which was founded in the time of Emperor Trajan around 200 A.D.








No one knows which god was worshipped at the Hafenstempel (above left). Other buildings include a Romanesque inn and herb garden (above right) and a large amphitheatre (below left).








Above right: an amazing example of Roman technology - a crane that could lift 9t blocks of stone.
After a cheap €5 lunch at an outdoor restaurant, we visited the Cathedral (left), which has been wonderfully restored since the Second World War. We especially admired the amazing life-size sculptures of the crucifixion outside (above right).
A grassed quadrangle containing an interesting monument is surrounded by beautiful vaulted cloisters behind the cathedral.

Part Three: Germany

Wednesday June 24th Another fine day! We went to the railway station at 11, admiring the Godiva chocolates there but they were too dear: €50/kg! However, we bought some cheap, yummy chocolate-chip brioches and had a nice cup of coffee at the station café!
The ICE train was very comfortable and it was hard to believe it was going very fast at all! There were a couple of interesting events on the way: 1)the lady opposite us apparently had the wrong ticket, and only spoke Spanish which the ticket inspector didn't know. As she was only going to Liège, she was allowed to proceed.
2) After arriving at Aachen, 2 armed policemen entered our carriage and went to speak with a man sitting further forward - but he wasn't arrested or anything!
Liège: a very beautiful traffic overpass by the Station, designed as a gracefully curved suspension bridge. The station was also very attractive.
The Belgian countryside looked pretty, lots of livestock, small fields and as one went east, it became hilly rather than flat.
Part III - Germany
The landscape quickly changed: larger fields, more trees, lots of modern flat-roofed houses even in small villages.
Aachen was interesting at first with lots of allotments containing fancy sheds, some resembling tiny cottages, also some large houses with nice gardens. Unfortunately the rest was ugly!
Köln : We saw a barge go under one of the huge bridges over the Rhine. We changed to a local train here, finding one's platform using the station timetables was SO easy.
On arrival in Duisburg, where was Jeremy? On the opposite platform of course! But we soon met up in the subway, and took the U-bahn to Duissern, the section of the city where he
lives.
After dropping off our things at the hotel, we went for an interesting walk towards the inner harbour (left) past an interesting sculpture (right).










The huge Lego giraffe (above left) outside Legoland is an amazing sight! The Evangelische Kirche (above right) is close to the ruins of the Old Market,(below left) which dates from Roman times.
We enjoyed some yummy ice-creams, very welcome as it was very hot, admiring the bird-woman (right) – a Duisburg emblem.