Friday, 16 September 2011
Back from Ireland
Hi there! Whilst we were in Ireland with friends we were talking about the strange custom in the 1700 where the husbands could sell their wives in the market by simply putting her on a plimth and another man would offer a price that the husband could accept. Mischiviously, one of my friends asked Peter how much would he be prepared to accept for me. Peter got serious and he replied that there wasn't a price that he would be prepared to trade for yours truly, my friends looked surprised at this answer and they said they were very impressed to hear this after a marrriage of nearly 30 years they said that was not the answer they were expecting to hear maybe that was a reply a newly wed man would give not after a 30 year marriage. I have to say I feel the same towards Peter as well and this brings us to.. in a couple of years time it will be our 30th wedding anniversary and I'm thinking of something special and romantic where we could go to. I Thought about the Orient Express, although I'm a bit claustrophobic I do like travelling by train anywhere especially if it will be to Venice and Austria on the way and all the lovely places the Orient Express takes you to. I also like the idea of dressing up in the evenings and imagine I'm in one of Agatha Christie's stories but without the murder because I think that would spoil the romance of being in such lovely surroundings. I'm however not too thrilled to hear that the rooms haven't got their own bathroom and you have to share it with other people too by walking along the corridor, that is what it really stops me from going ahead with this plan. We have done the cruise travels and frankly, we both don't fancy doing that again besides, I get sea-sick anyway. I'm thinking of something else to do and I would love it if someone can give me ideas. Where is a romantic place to visit. Whatever it is, it has to include Venice because for me Venice is the most romantic place on earth but of course there has to be many other places in Europe that I still have not visited that might be very romantic too. I would like it to be special, so there is no room for experimentation as I want everything to go smoothly and without a hitch. Any ideas?
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8 comments:
Hi Maria
Well, you may already have done what I suggest but here goes: what about a trip to Venice, and then hop across the Med to Egypt and a trip down the Nile, taking in the pyramids etc. This also has Agatha Christie associations, although obviously you don't want the murder in the cabin!
Egypt is a bit unstable at the moment, which is the downside. But at least you know that if an Arab offers 3 camels for you, Peter will turn it down!
Ha,ha,ha, Robert I would be devastated if Peter decided to trade me for the three camels although I think I have a few advantages over the three camels. Your idea sounds fantastic! and as the wedding anniversary is going to be in a couple of years time, by then Egypt would have got over their current problems. Mmm, I can already imagine myself smoothly sliding down the Nile in a ship at dusk visiting Luxor and the pyramids along the way, I found out that the same ship that was used in the Agatha Christie Death In The Nile film, is being hired out for this same expedition. I think I would really love to do that. Thanks Robert you have hit the nail on the head.
Hi Maria
I'm glad you like the idea. So they're using the same ship? Could you get Peter Ustinov's autograph for me?
Some years ago I read a book on Egyptian hieroglyphs and got to the point where I could translate simple inscriptions. Any advanced stuff defeated me, of course, but many inscriptions use the same formulae, so I was able to do a bit of translating.
Some of the Pharaohs' architecture is a bit megalomanic, but none the less awe-inspiring.
I think until a few years ago - and maybe still today - a few Egyptians were using the same irrigation machine that had been used thousands of years ago - a thing called a shadouf.
I used to be fascinated about Egypt since the age of 12 and read everything that fell on my hands, about Champolion and the Rosseta for figuring out the hieroglyphs and just like you, I was able to work out the meaning of some of them as these are like little pictures like an eye etc. I liked reading about Carter's discoveries, about Queen Nefertiti whose head is in the British Museum, their way of life, their millenary history I was fascinated and have always wanted to go so the way that I have pitched this expedition to Peter is.. the Agatha Christie angle. Peter is not too kin on visiting places where the main language is not English but there are many Egyptians who speak English and I'm sure that once we go there, Peter will love it, as Davina Cole our solicitor absolutely loves Egypt and any opportunity she gets, she spends her time there, besides that Egypt is only 3 hours away from the U.K. by airplane and from Venice even less. You will find that all great civilizations have had megalomeniac rulers, in China a whole generation of architects had to spend their entire lives building a great mountain with rocks to bury their emperors, the same goes for the Maya emperors in Central-America. The best irrigation system was in Baghdad which were destroyed by the Mongols when they invaded on what we now know as Iraq the famous hanging gardens of Mesopotamia being mentioned in the bible as well as the Incas in Peru in the Machu-Pichu site way up on the mountains they had an excellent irrigation system too.
Hi Maria
Yes I think that at a time when life was precarious and people had little undestanding of natural forces and how to control them, appeal to gods was the best bet for making sure that life would be at all tolerable. And the kings or emperors were the link with the world of gods and spirits. So someone who might seem a tyrant to us actually enjoyed a degree of veneration. But the importance of the king in making sure that the natural world behaved itself, that there were no floods or bad harvests etc, could actually be a straitjacket for the kings as they were kept away from danger and risk. I think one culture actually tied its kings to a chair and kept them there.
Well, I don't think we can control natural forces, look at what happened to Japan this year or Malaysia where 300,000 people died in one single wave, the earth is still changing, only two days ago there was an earthquake in the Himalayas and another one in Guatemala too, so we aren't in control of the natural forces. We understand why and how they work but unable to control their devastating destruction, we cannot even accurately predict when these forces will strike either. I think there is always veneration for monarchs look at all the European Monarchy including ours how much they are loved by the people and we know they have nothing to do with the forces of nature. Perhaps in the old days they did and when the crops failed they were blamed for it but not today.
Hi Maria
Yes, that's what I meant, in the old days when there was little understanding of natural forces. For instance, I think it was the Aztecs (or maybe the Incas) who made a human sacrifice to the sun, to encourage it to turn back and begin rising higher in the sky. I suppose it's only natural. By the same token, priests always report that in time of danger or disaster their churches are always much better attended than they are in the good times.
Another aspect of the quest to understand is the creation of myths. I suppose myths are mostly stories to explain how things come to be the way they are, but without there necessarily being any attampt to control nature through the myth. People feel comforted if they have an explanation, because they feel that any explanation is better than none.
I believe there are still one or two cultures who, when they see an eclipse of the moon, explain it by saying that a giant monkey is eating the moon.
The Aztecs made human sacrifices to the gods in order to ensure a good crop every year. Yes, its all so surreal that such silly beliefs would yield a good crop.
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