Ancient History : The Mystery of Rome's X Tombs

Dr. Michael C. Scott

I finally managed to catch-up on my prescribed Ancient History viewing last week. The Mystery of Rome’s X Tombs, presented by my favourite Ancient Historian, Dr Michael Scott. youtube. In the programme the good Doctor examines the current research being untaken by an international team of specialists, on a large number of human remains found in the so-called X-Tombs in Roman. The tombs came to light when flooding caused a collapse in some Roman catacombs. The programme was directed by Dr Olding. He has posted lots of pictures from the production on his website.

Once again, thanks to the person who upload the programme to

I highly recommend the programme. In Scott's usual style he combines education with wit and of course bag loads of charm. At one point he refers to parts of the catacombs as “bunk beds for the dead”. He gives an understandable explanation of carbon dating [link] especially for the non-scientists. Other favourite bits include: his reference to the top of the Insulae [Ancient Roman Apartment Blocks]as the Penthouse, and not one you would want to live in; and his reference to all “the Poo”. Rome apparently produced about 

50 000 kg of human waste a day.

 At the end, Michael offers a hypothesis on about who these people might have been. So if you like a good detective story, try and watch the programme. Oh yes, you will also learn about DNA fishing.

Michael Scott has a new three part serious starting this week about Ancient Drama called The Greatest Show on Earth . Still need to catch up on Mary Beard’s documentary about the Roman Emperor Caligula.

Wine, Athletes and Hair Cuts

Wine in Wiesbaden

Church and Wine Festival Wiesbaden

Last weekend the 38^th Wiesbaden Wine Festival started. It is all ather civilised and offers the visitor the opportunity to sample local wines and sparkling wines from the region. Mostly white wines, so the red wine drinkers might feel left out. All at very reasonable prices too, between 2.50 to 3.50 € a glass. We went down on Saturday and Sunday.

On Sunday we got speaking to this really interesting German couple. Perhaps, I found them interesting because they found me interesting. No, that cannot be the reason could it? They had both visited South Africa on a number of occasions, so we were able to exchange views and ideas. It was nice to actually talk to people for a change rather than be ignored or invisible, as I often feel I am. People say you need to talk to people in German to improve your language skills; but in order to do that you need to get the opportunity to talk to people; and not only the people pushing in at the check-out. [And they might not even be German these pusher-inners]. So it is possible to meet interesting people when you go out and I look forward to meeting more like the couple I met on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday also saw a Triathlon [swimming, cycling, and running] take place in Wiesbaden. When we walked down to the Wine Festival on Sunday we noticed that there was hardly anyone around, after it had been very well attended on Saturday. We were wondering where everyone was, thinking that perhaps they had tasted too many glasses of wine the previous night. There was some evidence to this effect on the pavements. We followed the signs of life and discovered where the rest of the town, and all those under the age of 60 were hiding. They were watching the final stages of the Ironman/woman competition. It is very motivating watching tri-athletes complete, although I often wonder if they are remotely human or perhaps some sort of alien breed of A-personality over-achievers.

Two observations: Firstly the Master of Ceremonies was an extremely irritating man. His accent soon revealed he was South African. Not only did he have a ghastly accent when he spoke German, but he went on about Cape Town being the most beautiful city in the world bla bla. Cape Town is nice enough, but it really is not the centre of the universe, contrary to what the people who live there think. In fact he never stopped talking the whole time, and made all sorts of comments about the competitors’ smiles and goodness knows what else. He kept addressing the competitors by their first name. Makes me wonder how the German competitors felt about this. The usually prefer to be addressed as Herr oder Frau, rather than Jurgen or Anna.

The other thing that made me smile was seeing an old lady chain smoking while all the hyper- fit, athletes ran past. Watching can be very exhausting and she had no doubt earned her cigarette.

After watching the running for a while we went back to the Wine Festival. I think the festival ends this coming weekend. I imagine I might find myself there at least once more at the weekend. Before then I need to have my haircut. This is always a bit of a challenge for me. So far I have been to two hairdressers in Wiesbaden and on both occasions I decided not to return. The last decent haircut I had was in England in April. London is a bit too far to go for a haircut. It seems to be very difficult to explain to the people here what I want. I even show them the photographs of my hairstyle from the UK, but they are still not able to manage it.

So I imagine I will be wondering around aimlessly over the next few days hoping to find someone that can do a decent job, at a decent price. I am all for the fact that hairdressers in Germany now earn a minimum wage, prior to this some people were paid 3.60 € an hour. A few years back I could and did get my hair cut in Berlin for 5.00 €. On the two most recent occasions here in Wiesbaden, I have paid multiples of 5.00 € for worse haircuts. Even the offer of a free 10^th haircut at either of these places; has not been sufficient reason to return! Wish me luck as I look for a hairdresser, here in Wiesbaden. If I am really lucky I might find one that I can go back to for a second visit in a few week's time, but I no longer believe in miracles and wonders.

Germany and the Art of Queuing

I have had two occasions in the last few days to consider the issue of Queuing in Germany. It is something that the locals really do not like doing. Be at the bus, the bakery or supermarket. They prefer to stand in a huddle and then to push their way forward. On Sunday I went to our local bakery to buy some bread rolls for breakfast. And instead of the good people standing one behind the other, they stood around in, you guessed it, a huddle, and the dominant individuals were service first. I am not a particularly pushy person, so I always tend to lose out in these competitions. I do not generally try to complete, as I consider this pushy behaviour very common, rude and beneath my dignity. I did start to get a tiny bit irritated when the fourth person who had arrived after me was about to get helped before me. The lady at the counter finally noticed me and I was actually serviced. You could say I need to be more assertive and pushy now that I live in Germany, but it is not my nature, so I will just quietly mumble to myself about it [or Blog].

Yesterday, I was at Lidl [not the most upmarket store around]. You could of course say that if you go to Lidl, you should know what to expect. Well Lidl, is usually okay, but this particular one is rather pokey and badly laid out. Between staff unpacking pallets and people with walkers and prams it is a bit challenging. After I had managed to negotiate my way past the above mentioned hazards, I was finally in the check-out queue. There were two lanes open, but the queue only split just in front of the checkout stations [you do not want to decide until you are right there]. The result was that there was a space in front of the one till/cash register/check- out because the person had not yet decided which queue was moving faster. No problem for a particular woman, she simply walked to the front of the queue, and said to the person behind her, “Well if you are not going to stand here, then I will”. To a general outcry the old lady in question found herself “shamed” into going to the back of the queue.

There is another rather strange custom here. If you are in the check-out queue and have a lot of items, there is an expectation that you will let people with a single item or fewer items than you ahead of you in the queue.  I do this occasionally, but people actually have the nerve to ask, if they can push ahead of you.

This is only one of the reasons, why I do so love shopping in Germany.

CSD Wiesbaden 2013

Last Saturday was the Christopher Street Day (CSD) - Gay Pride March in Wiesbaden. It was the second year that this had taken place in Wiesbaden. This year there was a march though the pedestrianised part of Wiesbaden. About 500 people toke part and although much smaller than in Cities like Frankfurt or Berlin, I feel that we got our message out. Saturday was extremely hot and we had expected rain showers, but they did not materialise. At the end of the March a cultural festival had been arranged at Schlachthof, a cultural venue close to the Wiesbaden train station. There was the usual panel political discussions that one has come to expect at these functions in Germany. I think that the representative of the Pirate party made the most sense, or at least he was the best speaker. It was also good to be greeted by the recently elected mayor of Wiesbaden, Sven Gerich.

After the political debate a number of artists performed. We left around 5 pm and returned later for the after party. I am pleased that I went, even if it was not the personal social success I had hoped for. I felt that I had performed my political duty on the day. To be seen to take part and to add to the numbers was vital when so many other were not bothered to show their support for CSD. Obviously too busy enjoying the freedom of expression that other had fought for on their behalf. The after party itself was very well attended.

Day 5 Brussels - European Parliament

Today we were shown around the European Parliament. We were very lucky to have been taken on a guided tour by a very well connected. After getting very lost and wondering around the area, we finally managed to find the Parliament building, after asking several people for directions. The building is truly impressive and so was the canteen. We were even allowed to visit the Parliamentary Chamber. The only people present, apart from us were two cleaners. This tour has been one of the highlights of my week so far. It is always nice to meet friends who have done well for themselves. So know I have a better idea of how the system works (And it does work, Sorry Mrs. T[hatcher]), after it was explained by some one who works there.

The Place to Meet

Day 4 Brussels - Da Vinci Exhibition

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Today, to keep out of the heat, we visited the Da Vinci Exhibition in Brussels. A number of models had been created from the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. Of course there is also the very interesting TV series called Da Vinci's Demons,but it is probably educational in slightly different ways.

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There were models of flying machines, tanks and all sorts of engineering bits and pieces. In addition a very detailed gallery dedicated to the Mona Lisa.On the smaller (human)scale some poor chap lost something valuable at the exhibition. He was seen walking from room to room searching the floor despondently.

And AWAY

Crossbow Cart

Tank

Photo of Mona Lisa

The only shiny thing that I saw laying on the floor was a discarded sweet wrapper. I do hope that he found "His Precious". But like Smegal, I guess not. No the guy did not look like Smegal....He had only lost something valuable.

Day 2 Brussels - Atomiun

Today was as hot as it was yesterday. We made an early start and decided to visit the Atomium. We caused some confusion at the ticket office when we said we were from Germany, but wanted English audio guides. Although the exhibition is a bit dated, considering the structure was opened in 1958. And some of the displays do not tie up to the audio display it is well worth a visit. On the upper levels there are some very interesting multi-media displays.One of my concerns about driving to Brussels was what to do about the car. But this turned out to be less of a problem than anticipated. You can park at the Atomium for 5€ for the whole day. The afternoon was spend hiding from the heat and we only ventured out again in the evening.

Brussels Week

This week I am in Brussels so not much posting to happen. Drove from Wiesbaden yesterday.

Was a nice drive actually, except for the roadworks that are always present on the German Autobahn. Driving is really cool because as you know there are parts that have no speed restrictions. Once we got to The Netherlands we had a speed limit of 120 km/h. Fortunately, we had cruise control otherwise it gets a bit boring. It is extremely hot in Europe at the moment. The car measured 34 degrees Celsius. We a arrived in Brussels at about 3.30 pm.

Steve Grand’s “All American Boy” Gay Kiss

Speaking of challenges and finding solutions, I have to mention someone that has inspired me. My Inspirer (Okay I really wanted to say Hero) is Steve Grand. Steve is an American singer and song writer, and obviously he can play the piano also. His self funded (he apparently maxed out is credit cards to the tune of 7000 $) video; of his song, “All America Boy” currently has reached over 1.4 million views on Youtube. He is not the first person in the history of the world to go over their credit card limit, but few people can claim to have had such an impact, with not keeping to their budget.

And not that I ever thought I would quote the Daily Mail in England, but they sum it up thus; ” Singer Steve Grand has put his early music career on the line by not only revealing he is gay, but kissing a man in the viral video clip for his debut single, 'All-American Boy'". In order to understand what the fuss is about you need to watch the video. I think that in Steve finding his voice he has given a voice to millions of others. His bravery will undoubtedly make him a Hero to many, many more people than he has already become. Well done and hats off to You, Steve.

  

He has demonstrated pluck, self-belief and youthful optimism. There are two messages here: 1.We must believe in ourselves and take ACTION if we want to achieve anything and be effective in our life. 2. We cannot help with whom we fall in love. Perhaps we can all learn to react with more kindness and compassion to those who express their love for us. Steve Grand is to be highly commended for taking a stand and starting a dialogue, but more importantly for sharing his thoughts and feelings with the often cruel and uncaring world. 

Finally, my Ancient Greek text book has just arrived from the UK. I will need a Hero to help me with that, either me or someone else.