I'm Back

It was fun and interesting. No catalogue photo can make up for seing the beautiful Silver Treasure of Kaiseraugst (a collection of engraved plates and cups, plus a number of spoons and other tools for serving food) in the original, or to closely inspect a Roman helmet of which there were several, some with gilded ornaments. In Stuttgart, I had even more luck because Ars Replica, a society for living archaeology, demonstrated several crafts, among them shield-making, naalbinding* and bone carving. You could dress in a tunica and Roman sandals, or point a handmade spear at some unsuspecting visitors.

There were several gravestones accompanied by maps and items that stood for the biographies of some officers and soldiers serving at the Limes and Rhine border. They came from all over the Empire. Several life-size models showed Roman infantry and cavalry officers, some with original pieces of equipment; and you could visit a Mithras shrine.

The special feature in Karlsruhe was Roman food. Interesting, but the combination of herbs and spices is a bit unusual for our tastebuds. And garum is so not going to become my favourite, I'll stick to ketchup. :-)

Stuttgart is a business town (Mercedes, Porsche and several other big companies), so I got a weekend rate at the hotel and could afford a good one. The weather played nice, too, it only rained during the night, and the days were sunny with just a few clouds chasing over the sky. Still way too warm for November as well. I managed to see the place where I lived as a child; the entire quarter has changed very little, even the old playing ground is still there. The trees are larger; the chestnuts in the schoolyard a delight for the kids who see their first years there today. The family in the flat below ours still lives there - that is, the parents, the girl with whom I played has two kids of her own by now. They invited me for coffee.

La Traviata was great, with good singers and the production while modern, not overly experimental. At least, the singers didn't roll around on the floor a lot, which else seems to be the fashion nowadays.

* Alex Bordessa has a pic of a sock she made herself. Not my thing, I don't have that sort of skills.