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.

Weybourne

Thursday 18th Woken at 1.20 a.m. by students talking in the street outside, didn't get much more sleep and Bruce got up at 5.45!  After visiting the doctors today, we went to hire a car to drive to Norfolk to visit Aunty Nellie and my cousin Dianne, who were staying there on holiday.
We had a little trouble on the M25, should have got off one junction earlier, got held up in roadworks.  We were surprised to find nobody at home when we arrived, they'd gone for a walk, thinking we'd get there a little later on.
Weybourne is an interesting place, and they were staying in a holiday home that used to be part of a Danish telecommunications set up - an undersea telegraph cable had been laid all the way from Denmark to the UK some years ago. 
The house is set in grounds that are now a nature reserve. Lots of migratory birds visit the area each year, and my aunt and cousin are keen bird-watchers.
We had an interesting walk to the stony beach and along the clifftop path.  Bruce & I came back through the village, passing a windmill and various other interesting buildings on the way.  We love the Norfolk style of building.  Photos below: Honeysuckle Cottage and Ship Inn.