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My History Tours

Been to someplace of historical interest? Planning a trip? Have a question? Post here!
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michellemoran
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Post by michellemoran » Thu October 8th, 2009, 8:06 pm

We've been doing it for eleven years, and for half of those years we did it on two teachers' salaries. We would save (okay, my husband would save - I would hinder him!) for 9 months and travel for 3. We still travel for three months out of the year, and it's less expensive than you would think. It's more about having the time (which is why we chose to go into academia). We also don't have children or pets, which can be lonely, but that's the trade-off we've made for now. If that should change, we want to move to a place where - like Gabriele - we can step out of our front door and trip over history. That way there will be less expensive flights involved ;]
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robinbird79
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Post by robinbird79 » Fri October 9th, 2009, 2:25 am

We're surviving (barely) on what my hubby makes working for Delta. :( I have been thinking about going back into teaching but with my little boy, I'm not overjoyed at the idea (he just turned 2).

We can fly anywhere for free so that's not the issue...the issue is having money to actually stay somewhere I wouldn't be afraid to step on the floor in the room barefoot. Hahaha.
Currently Reading: Crown in Candlelight, R. H. Jarmen

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michellemoran
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Post by michellemoran » Fri October 9th, 2009, 2:49 am

the issue is having money to actually stay somewhere I wouldn't be afraid to step on the floor in the room barefoot. Hahaha.
Which can actually be quite a challenge in many hotels in Europe (and to be fair - a few in the US too)! When I come across something too awful to bear, I whip out my laptop and fire off a tripadvisor review. Most are incoherent ramblings done at 3am in the offending hotel, but it makes me feel better :D
Last edited by michellemoran on Fri October 9th, 2009, 2:53 am, edited 2 times in total.
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robinbird79
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Post by robinbird79 » Sat October 10th, 2009, 3:45 pm

[quote=""michellemoran""]Which can actually be quite a challenge in many hotels in Europe (and to be fair - a few in the US too)! When I come across something too awful to bear, I whip out my laptop and fire off a tripadvisor review. Most are incoherent ramblings done at 3am in the offending hotel, but it makes me feel better :D [/quote]

I use tripadvisor for trips here in the states! Its a great site!
Currently Reading: Crown in Candlelight, R. H. Jarmen

http://almostcrazymommy.blogspot.com

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Gabriele Campbell
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Post by Gabriele Campbell » Wed February 17th, 2010, 7:01 pm

Oh dear, I was here last time in October 2009. Yikes, I've really allowed this place to fall into ruins. ;)

But something has to go when life gets too busy, and forums are usually on that list. And then comes the point when you've been away so long that reading up on stuff would take time, and you stay away even longer ....

OK, I'm not going to read up on everything, but I'll try to be a bit more active again. That includes alerts to interesting new blogposts for those who don't follow The Lost Fort anyway. So there are posts about Doune Castle and Duart on Mull now, the latter with some Scottish clan feud and a Spanish galleon. A bit about a German castle, the Hanstein, and for the Roman geeks here a fun little something about a Playmobil army I found marching around in a museum in Haltern:

http://lostfort.blogspot.com/2009/12/ro ... l-fun.html

Enjoy :)

annis
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Post by annis » Wed February 17th, 2010, 8:25 pm

I absolutely adore those ever-so-cute Playmobil Romans! I want some of my own :) Didn't some of the aquilfers wear wolf's heads rather than the lion ones? Could be what your little standard-bearer has on. I'm sure I saw the reason why somewhere--

Ah, here it is:

A Lion (leo) pelt is thought to have been generally worn only by the Aqulifer, Signifer or Vexillarius of a legion (legio) unit.

Bear (ursus) and Wolf (lupus) pelts were frequently worn by the standard bearers of century and cohort units.

Don't know the reason why they wore them, though- I guess a totemic transfer of the animal's power or some such. They must have been rather hot and smelly to wear!

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parthianbow
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Post by parthianbow » Wed February 17th, 2010, 8:44 pm

Har har - Roman geeks?! I wouldn't know about that. Excellent post - I'd seen it on your blog, Gabriele.
Annis - did you know that there's actually a bit of controversy about whether the standard bearers did wear animal (strike that - I meant wolf) pelts or not? There are no surviving depictions of them wearing one...(who would guess that I've been spending time on romanarmy.com threads? :D )

For another set of figurines, check out this recreation of the massacre at the Teutoberger Wald in AD 9 ('Give my back my legions!' etc. etc.)

http://www.timemachineminiatures.com/pd ... ooklet.pdf
Last edited by parthianbow on Thu February 18th, 2010, 10:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: error!
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Gabriele Campbell
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Post by Gabriele Campbell » Wed February 17th, 2010, 10:17 pm

Heh, I seem to have a number of readers who never comment. Wish I could open up comments again, but after a troll traipsed through my blog and left its muddy footprints on the carpet - twice - I had to disable anonymous comments and set up moderation.

Very nice, though I have a few minor issues with the display. The Cherusci seem to wear Suevi knot hairstyles, the train had been abandoned the second day and would not have been in the final ambush, and I very much doubt Arminius who was wearing Roman uniform until a few days before would have gotten away with that beard, plus he looks too old - he was 23. The German wall is missing, too, but this is perhaps not a mistake since we're no longer sure the excavations at Kalkriese (with the wall) represent the final day of the batte - the second day looks more probable, imho. Which implies there's a lot more Roman stuff lying around somewhere. :)

To make it even more realistic, they should have put the display in a shower. :D
Last edited by Gabriele Campbell on Wed February 17th, 2010, 10:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

annis
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Post by annis » Wed February 17th, 2010, 11:27 pm

Posted by Parthianbow
-did you know that there's actually a bit of controversy about whether the standard bearers did wear animal pelts or not? There are no surviving depictions of them wearing one-
Darn, another cherished archetype down the drain! Are animal-skin wearing standard-bearers mentioned in Roman documents anywhere?

Btw, I discovered that there never was a Roman naval station called Theodosia at Dumbarton, though everyone feels it unlikely that the Romans wouldn't have had some sort of base there. It turned out to be a case of “reader beware’. A friendly librarian in Dumbarton told me the original mention came from a spurious 18th century book by Charles Bertram, called “De Situ Britanniae”, which purported to be a comprehensive history of Britain through the Roman and Dark Age periods, transcribed from a medieval manuscript Bertram discovered, supposedly written by a monk called Richard of Cirencester. As this book conveniently filled in all sorts of gaps, it was gratefully received and has been widely quoted ever since. Sadly it was a total fraud, though not exposed as such until the 20th century.

This sort of thing makes you wonder about the authenticity of received wisdom about many aspects of antiquity. Where did the story of animal-skin wearing standard-bearers originate? It must have come from somewhere. There are depictions of soldiers wearing animal skins on their helmets on Trajan's column, but these men haven't been identified as standard-bearers as far as I can tell.

The Teutoberger Wald miniatures are very cool . Has anyone read Turtledove's recent novel, "Give Me Back My Legions"? It seems to have drawn fairly unexcited reviews. Here's one from Mary Harrsch
http://ancientbooks.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... harry.html
Last edited by annis on Thu February 18th, 2010, 4:46 am, edited 5 times in total.

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Gabriele Campbell
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Post by Gabriele Campbell » Thu February 18th, 2010, 9:02 pm

Got some Roman daggers posted today. Gotta love pointy shinies. :)

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