Friday, Rahel and I took a train to Aachen to visit the old homestead of Charlemagne. We saw his ornate cathedral, the ossuary in which his bones are kept, and even, from afar, his throne. After he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne chose Aachen (nee Aix-la-Chapelle) as his capitol. For a time it was one of the great cultural and intellectual centers of Europe, and it was here that Charlemagne began his reform of cathedral schools, which lead to a great renaissance in learning, and eventually became the modern University.
Though the center of the city feels quite old, Aachen was heavily bombed during WWII, and most of the city is quite modern.
After the Cathedral, we went to the old Roman Baths, which had a pretty heavy make-over a couple of years ago and are now a fancy spa. We had a good swim in the salty mineral waters.
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