Advertisement
1
Entrance to town of Trier. This structure built around 16 BCHello everyone,
We are making our way along the Mosel River in Germany. We have visited the town of Trier, said to be the oldest town in Germany. They have evidence of Roman occupation going back to 16 BC. It is also the birthplace of Karl Marx. We went to the ruins of Roman baths. Seems the whole bathing production took about two hours. It started with physical activity--running, weight lifting, games, etc. Then, after everyone was good and sweaty, they would jump into a cold water bath and then go to the hot water baths. The underground tunnel system--still there--was so that hot water could be delivered to the various bathing areas. There was no source of hot water so it had to be heated and then delivered.
A few days later we rode to the village of Nennig to see "another Roman ruin". I thought that if I see one more Roman ruin I'm going to scream. This was amazing. It all started in 1852. A farmer was digging a garden and unearthed some odd looking tiles. Turned out to be the floor of a Roman bath circa 200 A.D. Three million tiny tiles that covered a floor
2
Roman baths surface of 160 square metres. 90% were recovered and cleaned up. The picture doesn't do it justice. There is evidence that these baths were part of a complex that was a school for gladiators. The mural depicts scenes of blood sports said to be popular in those days. Bear baiting was especially popular, but these guys would use any combination of animals--donkeys and tigers, alligators and, as the picture shows, gladiators.
The other day our hostess on the barge told us that one of her staff had become very ill and was hospitalized. She said that three people would be doing the work of four. It occurred to me that this was an opportunity for a different experience, so I suggested to her that I would like to be 'crew' for the next day and she took me up on it. I polished silver, cleaned the kitchen, peeled carrots, made sauce for dinner and washed dishes. It was actually fun. Besides, it was a very cold--8C--day with rain so I was happy to pass on the cycling. The 'Merlijn' has an interesting history. It was built in 1930 and spent the first 70 years carrying gravel and sand. The
3
Tunnels connecting Roman baths owner, Henk, always dreamed of having a passenger barge so he put an ad in the newspaper looking for a partner to make this happen. Jantien answered. Her background is with Best Western Hotels as a troubleshooter. The barge was re-built to accommodate up to 24 people in 12 cabins. Everything was done first class--fixtures, etc. The day before they signed their first contract was September 11. They had no business for almost the entire first year, but the bank carried them. Seems to be working out for them now. Oh, and by the way, they are a couple now. Kinda sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.295s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 10; qc: 60; dbt: 0.0737s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Lee
non-member comment
Roman Fixer-uppers?
Obviously you're having a wonderful "Grand Tour," just like they did in the 18th and 19th centuries. The watchword then was "travel, see things, learn things, get educated!" We await your power point picture show on your return, whenever that is. Much love Lee and Eleanor