Shakespeare's school.I had a double dose of 'Classics' with a visit to the British Museum for a 'Septimius Severus Day', run jointly by the Roman Society, and the Association of Roman Archaeology. The day itself did not start well. We caught the train at Warwick Parkway on the first Christmas Shopping Saturday of the year. By the time the train reached us it was already standing room only, with nearly an hour and a half to go. For some reason the company had decided three carriages was enough! To be fair - sort of - the guard did apologise several times for the overcrowding. The reason given was that there were only three and not four carriages! No explanation as to why this was so, but at least he tried! The result was two very weary people by the time we reached London. Lunch was the first order of the day, at the magnificent Court Restaurant at the BM. Thank you Simon and Stanley for a wonderful meal. Then a quick scoot around the Grayson Perry exhibition. Let me say at once, the time available was nowhere near enough. If anyone has the chance to see it, please do. It's clever, quirky, and thought provoking. As for the lectures on Septimius Severus, they were well worth the effort to get there. There were three lectures, Dr Philip Kenrick on Severus' background in Libya, Dr Nick Hodgson on his exploits in Britain, from a Roman point of view, and Dr Fraser Hunter on the effect he had in Scotland, from the Scots point of view. I came away wanting to know more, and lamenting that I hadn't gone to Lepcis Magna when I had the chance.
I did have a strange experience though. At tea time, waiting in the queue, I started talking to the person next to me, only to discover it was a fellow OU'er I had 'met' several times 'on-line'. Life plays little games with us at times, and this was one of the better ones. Good to put a face to a name. Well. I am improving! I've managed to get a couple of pictures in this! Gold star to me!
