In August 2006 I visited the Roman fort of Saalburg, a part of Upper German-Raetian, and at that time I wrote a review that the German section of this World Heritage Site was not well known compared to its counterpart in England because the German Roman frontiers were hard to see as it was almost entirely built by wood and right now most of them are just many small traces on the grassland or the few stones in the forest. It was really hard for normal people to appreciate this site. The only place you can get some imagination of Roman fortress is Saalburg, just north of Frankfurt, which has a fully reconstructed fort and good museum. Saalburg Fort has been mentioned in ICOMOS document as the only new reconstruction part of German-Raetian that ICOMOS accepted as a WHS, so it tells you something about the quality of this place. At that time, the best way to see Saalburg was to take a train to to Saalburg via Bad Homburg and followed the hiking route to "Romerkasteel Saalburg" for about 2 km. I remembered that I walked through lovely forest and saw some traces of the Raetian which was quite fascinating to see some ruins left in the German forest, after a good long walk in nature it was quite shocking to discover that Saalburg fort is just next to a very busy German Highway.

A decade later in December 2016, I have visited the most famous part of this UNESCO site, the Hadrian’s Wall in Northern England and the lesser-known Antoine Wall in Scotland, it was a totally different experience with the German one. Hadrian’s Wall was located on the beautiful grassland hills with the long line of stone wall that seem to be endless. Something that really remarkable to see and easy to appreciate. I drove from New Castle to Carlisle and saw many well-preserved sections of this great heritage site. I did many brief stops to hike along the wall and to admire the breathtaking surrounding of Northumberland and Cambrian landscapes. One of my favorite parts is the Cawfields section near the town of Haltwhistle. Not only has the Hadrian’s Wall reached one of the highest hills, the view of long line of stone wall was almost similar to the Great Wall of China, the nearby Cawfields Quarry where the Roman cut the stone to make the wall were also interesting to see. While the Hadrian’s Wall offered a remarkable experience, the Antoine Wall brought me back the memory of the German part. The Scottish section actually was quite similar to the sites in Germany. There was almost nothing to see except some earth mounds. I would rather say the German part is actually maybe better at least there were some stone foundation left, but for Scotland, there was really nothing. Fortunately, I combined my trip with the Falkirk Wheel and the contemporary giant art of the Kelpies which made my trip more enjoyable.

I believe that this World Heritage Site is going to expand to include other Roman Frontier especially in Eastern Europe and the one in Netherlands. While I have no objection to add more sites as their historical values are quite obvious, the question of is there anything left to see is my main concern. I really enjoyed Hadrian’s Wall because it is something that really exist, something I can see, touch even climb on it, and actually one of the best World Heritage Site of England. But in Germany and Scotland, sometimes I need to use a lot of imagination to appreciate the empty sites. I hope this great site in the future will not become the collections of obscure pits or holes or anything that archaeologists and historians can link to the Roman.