history lesson

Can you imagine walking around the ruins of a roman city??? Standing in a temple 1000 years old??? ok, maybe the temple doesn't have any walls anymore but its still 1000 years old so give it a break will ya! There was even a creepy sacrifice stand still outside the temple. The wall that surrounded the city still had a few parts standing and they re-built the towers and gates so you could go up and walk the wall, too cool.
The museum was built arround the bathhouse site. Only the floor, foundation, and some supports have survived. The towns people often used re-used the stones to build up other stuctures during the last 1000 years so most of the structures have been disassembled.
There were many artifacts found in dig sites all around Xanten on display in the museum. Road markers, grave stones, statues, and many many tools. The amazing thing about the tools were most of the tools we use today are just like the ones the romans used way back then. Hammers, planes, calipers, plumb bobs...it was amazing. The plumbing, sewer systems, and road work were all similar to todays roads too. In fact, some of the existing roads here in Germany are built on the old roman roads!
Thn there's the colosseum. 3/4 of the structure is still standing. The size of the stones used to build this thing must each weigh tons...how did they move all these huge things around?
All in all it was a great day. We were supposed to stop here, look at the ruins and then head off for Amsterdam but we spent so much time exploring the ruins that it was too late to continue our trip. This was one of the most amazing sites I've seen so far.