Rest Day
After a leisurely breakfast, I strolled down to St Peter’s Cathedral and visited the Pilgrim Office. They were pleased to see me. I almost expected the huge bells to announce my arrival. Once my credential was stamped, I enquired about accommodation in Merzkirchen at the end of the next stage and they said there wasn’t any. It’s a bit of a wilderness.
The cathedral is the oldest in Germany. Building started in 270AD and it’s been extended and improved ever since. I thought it was a bit of a mess with several new bolt on churches and chapels as well as the usual shops etc.. The highlight is the Seamless Robe of Jesus, worn by Jesus during or shortly before the crucifixion. The robe is kept in a chest behind the choir but it is occasionally displayed. When it was last shown in 2012, half a million people came to see it. It’s genuine; I saw the certificate of authenticity. The Cathedral also has a holy nail from the Cross of Jesus and a sole from one of St Andrew’s sandals.
Trier has seven UNESCO listed Roman sites including some baths and an amphitheater. I restricted myself to the impressive Porta Nigra Gate, paid a few euros and climbed up the stairs for a good view of the city.
After a vegan bowl in the Katzen Temple, a popular cafe inhabited by cats, I went to the Karl Marx house where he was born and grew up. It was a fitting exhibition to the great man rather than a display of the sort of rubbish I endured in Beethoven’s house in Bonn. For awhile, in my student days, I was very close to Karl, both philosophically and physically.
Pilgrimage 
Interesting. I thought, according to Asterix, the Romans didn’t invade much of the German barbarian lands, but clearly they left quite an impression there.
I’m no expert on the Roman Empire but they seemed to have come from everywhere and invaded everywhere. But what did they ever do for Britain??
Peter T (when he was teaching Classics, & Augustus in particular) spent a couple of days exploring Trier’s Roman heritage. And visiting Karl Marx’s house. It’s good to see your photos as I doubt we could find anything to play his videotaped recording on these days!
Those old video recordings! I spent ages copying ours onto digital tape and then again onto MP4 and made DVDs for everyone. And now DVD players are on the way out! But you can always get your tapes converted to digital and it’s good to see the past again