June 4- A Day At Sea

Comfy Reading Spot

Beautiful Front Desk

Observation Lounge

Chandelier

Sunday morning arrived with us both having rested really well. Bed is comfortable as always on these ships.

Lobby Area

Room Service breakfast came right on time. We ate and by then it was time to go to the 10:00 lecture. Regent has some cruises that are connected to the Smithsonian and this is one. The lecturer is a Professor from San Diego State, Joanne Ferraro. Her first lecture was entitled Roman and Norman Legacies

Outside Explorer Lounge

She began with a brief history outline:

550-350 BC Celts ruled the area

150 BC Gauls took over

55-410 AD Romans came

Romans were lured to the area by grain, gold, slaves, and iron. They brought much borrowed from other countries but put a Roman twist to them all. The brought laws, all weather roads, use of coinage, military architecture, the arch, and in 313 AD Christianity.

Prime 7 Restaurant

The Roman city of St. Albans linked all the cities in the area with all weather roads. Common structure include blocks and grids carefully laid out, markets, walls and gardens, a forum, arenas and theaters, temples, and basilicas which were originally courts of law. 

The Romans added practical considerations like speed bumps- who knew- , water tanks, fountains, drainage and toilets.

The arch was the most revolutionary achievement. It existed in the time of the Greeks but the Romans improved the design so an arch could support a much larger and longer structure. This was made possible because of a new formula for concrete. Concrete was first made of a mixture of sand, lime, stone and water, but it dried too quickly. Pozzalana, red clay, came from Italy and adding that enabled the concrete to dry slower and larger buildings could be built.  Pozzalana made possible aqueducts and public baths. The “keystone” at the top of an arch let the arch bear the weight and thus an arch could span large areas.

In Pompeii the aqueduct divided into three streams of water into the city- Nobles, Baths, and Town. In a drought  the noble water was to be cut off so the water went to the people. I wondered if it really worked that way?!

The Romans built the 73 mile  long Hadrian’s Wall to keep the Scots out of England. The wall had military encampments every miles or so. These camps had a heating system called “hypocaust” which consisted of a raised floor where heated air from furnaces flowed beneath the floor in clay pipes. Some parts of the wall stood 16 feet tall. The military camps were self-contained. The Romans left the area in 410AD.

The Normans controlled the area from 1066-1154. They were powerful French Aristocracy who also did things to preserve the Anglo-Saxon traditions. William the Conqueror from Normandy conquered England in 1066. The Normans were originally Viking invaders.

William sailed to England to claim the throne. The Battle of Hastings in 1066 is depicted in the Bayeaux Tapestry, created 1073-1083 and currently hangs in Bayeaux, France. Years ago we saw that on our trip to Normandy.

The Normans built churches and castles all around the area mainly to put their stamp of authority. Normans brought all of England under their royal control with the feudal system.  They did keep some of the Anglo-Saxon laws. The Domesday Book was the effort by William the Conqueror to survey and create a list county by county of all the people, chickens, ducks, cows, house and anything else for the purpose of taxation. He then used the taxes to build castles, keeps, cathedrals all across the area.

We did learn a great deal from her lecture but she obviously didn’t get the memo about making it entertaining by adding in a few good stories. We’ll see about the next ones.  

Afterward Jim explored the ship taking pictures of the amazing chandelier in the atrium. He overheard someone say it cost 5.4 million dollars. There are smaller flat versions up and down that hallway. Just gorgeous. The bars and lounges are so comfortable and lovely. The Explorer has a very elegant feel about it all. Regent has promoted this as the most luxurious ship afloat and I think they are correct!