Salve Augusta Treverorum!

Today was a jam packed day of culture. We had a very early start and by 8.45, we were merrily cruising down the Rhein! We boarded in the nearby town of Boppard, and thankfully the weather was on our side (it didn’t stay that way the whole day, but more on that later!). We saw a number of castles, nestled in the hills overlooking the river, as well as several picturesque little towns. About an hour and half later, we disembarked in yet another pretty little town named St Goar, where we met up with Dan the driver and continued on to the oldest city in Germany, Trier. Now, Trier was conquered by the Romans in the first century and there are plenty of remnants of that era left to see. We started off by travelling through the town and making our way up a long, steep and windy hill (in the coach thank goodness!) and eventually, we reached one of the best viewing points, where our tour guides gave us some more information on the city formerly known as Augusta Treverorum. We then headed back down into the city and to the Kaiserthermen, one of the old Roman baths. Construction was started in the 4th century, but was never quite finished. Fortunately, enough remains to get a feel for what it might have been like. One of our students was very surprised to find the colosseum in Trier, as they honestly thought it was in Italy! Completely understandable confusion, given the similarity in style in the construction surrounding the baths… Bisma, on the other hand, was somewhat disgusted to discover that we walked through what was once the sewers of the baths! From there we travelled on to the bishop’s palace, the Kurfurstliches Palais. This was built for one of the bishops of Trier and is surrounded by beautifully landscaped French gardens. Next we visited two churches: the Protestant church, another Roman building that has evolved along the years and is now a very modern, open church, and the Roman Catholic cathedral, with its lovely gothic cloisters. Here we learned that the rivalry between the two faiths was so strong, that the bishop of Tier had the tallest tower of the cathedral extended in height, so as to be taller than that of the Protestant church! In fact, if you look closely, you’ll notice that the top windows are in a different style to rest of the building- that is why! Finally we made our way to the old market square, with its beautiful, traditional buildings. Here the students were given some time to roam around the pedestrian shopping area. Unfortunately, just as we were due to meet up, the heavens opened and we were caught in a most unexpected downpour. It was a quick dash back to the coach! This evening was quite low key with a simple quiz night. We learned some interesting facts about the teachers at Chadwell Heath. Your turn to figure this one out…Who coached David Beckham in badminton when he was 12 years old? A) Mr Bull B) Miss Chesters C) Mr Elia