Wed 11th 2007

Many borders to cross

We’ve been doing a bit of border crossing in the last few days. Because of the EU, there are no checkpoints or controls at most borders. You just drive and suddenly, you spot a little blue sign and that’s it, you’re in a new country. We crossed from France into Belgium a few days ago and made our way to Brugge for 2 nights. It’s a lovely little city with many fine Baroque and mock Baroque buildings, surrounded by canals. We spent an afternoon and all the next day there visiting museums, climbing the belfry and taking a canal boat trip.

While we were in Belgium we also visited Ghent which was equally, if not more impressive and it was a shame that we were only passing through and couldn’t stay for longer. Our friend Paul had recommended that while there we should try the frites with samurai sauce. We did and they were great. Thanks for the tip.

The next border crossing brought us into Germany and we spent 3 nights in Aachen, very close to the border. Aachen’s chief claim to fame is that it was the seat of power for Charlemagne way back in the ninth century. He built a cathedral there which still stands today, albeit with Gothic additions, but what a magnificent cathedral it is! Perhaps even more impressive was the Treasury museum beside it where we spent ages studying the paintings, sculpture and ornaments of the Cathedral. Both of us have now developed a new interest/ obsession with medieval religious artefacts and their imagery – particularly the reliquaries which house all sorts of fascinating relics. On occasions, certain relics seem to get doubled up and we have already come to the conclusion that the Virgin Mary must have packed an awful lot of clothes for the journey to Bethlehem and subsequent nativity.

The following day we drove south to Trier. It took a bit longer than I thought (a recurring theme on this trip apparently) but was well worth the journey. Trier is a picture postcard German town with lots of brightly painted baroque houses. It also boasts several Roman remains: baths, a gate, bridge and amphitheatre. We visited most of these. The amphitheatre was a bit of a let down though as it is now used as a concert venue and it was hard to get a feel for the place amongst the speakers, scaffolding and modern seats. The baths were much better with a maze of subterranean passages to explore. Once again we would have liked to stay longer and explore but there was too much else to do. We drove to Luxembourg City where we visited the Casemates, another underground network which were built as part of the city’s defences. Again, time was our enemy and we didn’t have the opportunity to see much more of the city before beginning the long journey back.

The last thing we did before leaving Aachen was visit the thermal spa for a morning of hot pools and steam. It did us the world of good.

Now we’re in the Netherlands in search of the somewhat elusive Hunebeden. We found a few small ones today but we’re saving the big ones for tomorrow when hopefully, summer will arrive.