Our parking ticket covered us for 24 hours, so we decided to visit the Roman site and the main museum in the town. I again walked the short distance into the town to get some fresh bread and was delighted to find a white 'split tin' loaf. These are very common in England but we had not seen one on the Odyssey and it made a pleasant change from the rather heavy and often fennel-flavoured breads that we had been having.
Although there were scant remains of the Roman town, great efforts had been made to display them well and make them interesting. Our first stop was the Roman Temple site with its commanding view over the river and countryside and where many of the buildings had been reconstructed. From the finds they had been able to establish the deities that the temples had been dedicated to and there was a good display of finds and information boards, unfortunately only in German. We then walked on to the site of the Forum where there was very little evidence to see but bronze models showed the layout and appearance of the buildings in two different periods. The final part of the site was the 'small baths', originally attached to the residence of the Roman Governor. The ruins here were more substantial than at the temple site and they had been left as they were, without extensive reconstruction. They were very well presented with a raised walkway all around the baths and a high section gave a very good view over the whole site. Being the 'small baths', everything was on a small scale and that made it easy to view – a microcosm in Roman Baths. The boys in the school party especially enjoyed sitting on the Roman latrines – the wooden parts of which had been reconstructed. The teacher explained how the Romans used the sponges on the end of sticks and that amused the whole group. Walking back we found an area in front of a block of flats that was being excavated, showing quite extensive remains of buildings.
We walked down into the town to the Algau Museum with displays of life over the ages on many floors. This was interesting but only visual as all the writing was in German. Our ticket also covered the 'Alpine Museum' and, as we had time, we popped in there on the way back. On the ground floor was an exhibition of church art – wood carvings and paintings. These were good but we have seen an awful lot of such things. The upper floors had displays on hydro-electric power, forestry, early mountaineers and the history of skiing.
We returned to Henrietta and set off for Lake Constance, known as Bodensee in Germany. Descending to the lake we entered Lindau and very soon came across the camperstop car park, which was some distance from the lake. Being only mid afternoon, we decided to drive along the edge of the lake and perhaps find somewhere to walk. We soon discovered that the road ran a little way inland from the lake and most of the lakeside itself was lined with houses. We gave up . returned to the camperstop and set off on foot for the lake. Fifteen minutes walk took us to the bridge leading over to Lindau Island in Bodensee. From the shore we could only just see Austria and Switzerland that also claim part of the lake – the gloom in the distance meant that the tall mountains appeared only as dark shadows against a grey sky. After a brief look at the island, we walked back to the car park and prepared dinner.
Photos: The reconstructed Roman Temple site; The Roman 'Small Baths'; An interesting Roman building uncovered in the on-going archaeological dig; There was a general election in Austria but there were also some elections in this area of Germany. Would you vote for Rotter? It is probably a good description of most politicians!
Although there were scant remains of the Roman town, great efforts had been made to display them well and make them interesting. Our first stop was the Roman Temple site with its commanding view over the river and countryside and where many of the buildings had been reconstructed. From the finds they had been able to establish the deities that the temples had been dedicated to and there was a good display of finds and information boards, unfortunately only in German. We then walked on to the site of the Forum where there was very little evidence to see but bronze models showed the layout and appearance of the buildings in two different periods. The final part of the site was the 'small baths', originally attached to the residence of the Roman Governor. The ruins here were more substantial than at the temple site and they had been left as they were, without extensive reconstruction. They were very well presented with a raised walkway all around the baths and a high section gave a very good view over the whole site. Being the 'small baths', everything was on a small scale and that made it easy to view – a microcosm in Roman Baths. The boys in the school party especially enjoyed sitting on the Roman latrines – the wooden parts of which had been reconstructed. The teacher explained how the Romans used the sponges on the end of sticks and that amused the whole group. Walking back we found an area in front of a block of flats that was being excavated, showing quite extensive remains of buildings.
We walked down into the town to the Algau Museum with displays of life over the ages on many floors. This was interesting but only visual as all the writing was in German. Our ticket also covered the 'Alpine Museum' and, as we had time, we popped in there on the way back. On the ground floor was an exhibition of church art – wood carvings and paintings. These were good but we have seen an awful lot of such things. The upper floors had displays on hydro-electric power, forestry, early mountaineers and the history of skiing.
We returned to Henrietta and set off for Lake Constance, known as Bodensee in Germany. Descending to the lake we entered Lindau and very soon came across the camperstop car park, which was some distance from the lake. Being only mid afternoon, we decided to drive along the edge of the lake and perhaps find somewhere to walk. We soon discovered that the road ran a little way inland from the lake and most of the lakeside itself was lined with houses. We gave up . returned to the camperstop and set off on foot for the lake. Fifteen minutes walk took us to the bridge leading over to Lindau Island in Bodensee. From the shore we could only just see Austria and Switzerland that also claim part of the lake – the gloom in the distance meant that the tall mountains appeared only as dark shadows against a grey sky. After a brief look at the island, we walked back to the car park and prepared dinner.
Photos: The reconstructed Roman Temple site; The Roman 'Small Baths'; An interesting Roman building uncovered in the on-going archaeological dig; There was a general election in Austria but there were also some elections in this area of Germany. Would you vote for Rotter? It is probably a good description of most politicians!
No comments:
Post a Comment