Athens: Vacillating with Vespasian

It's a funny thing, running an intellectual bog blog. Most people quite rightly don't give a crap and would rather chew off their own arm than read a single word of an obscure and ranty site about toilets, but every now and then one receives feedback from unlikely quarters. It turns out, for instance, that Our Mum has turned quite evangelical, and spends her time, when she isn't pissing off to Perugia on a whim to take photos of al fresco dining areas, informing people of the existence of our blog and exhorting them to read it. Consequently, we received a tip about an intriguing TV programme chronicling the history of toilets from a friend of Our Mum called Elena, which you can view below, as we have made it this post's Festive Video. We would like to extend our most gracious thanks to Elena; it was a spiffing and most invigorating video!

Since the programme in question starts off with a review of toilets in the classical world, we were reminded of some rather exciting bogs that we encountered in Greece last summer. Ergo:

Strolling around the Roman Agora in Athens with Our Mum, enjoying the unidentified pieces of marble (here is a question for everyone but especially Medievalist (With a Side Interest in Roman Archaeology) Friend: We have an app that can identify plants from just a photo. Where is the app that will identify random bits of Roman marble? How hard can it be to create a database of images of cornices, sarcophagi and columns and make it into an app so that lazy people on holiday can pronounce expert opinions on bits of marble rubble without having to learn anything or do any work?) and trying not to dwell on the sensation of sweat running down literally every crevice of our body, we stumbled across a Roman latrine! We happened to note the seat in the picture below and, eagerly scanning the horizon for an informative sign (we really do love clear signage), had our hunch confirmed! We had sauntered into the Vespasian latrines without even trying! As world-archaeology.com so eloquently puts it,

Entering from the marketplace through an antechamber, the lucky Athenians discovered elegantly raised seats over a deep channel lined with marble. Athens surely touched Vespasian in a way that cold Britain failed to, judging from this simple yet endearing monument to his largesse. 

This is an intriguing theory. Does the internationally recognised crapness of British plumbing in fact hail back to the era of Vespasian? At any rate, it seems that Vespasian was a solid dude when it comes to sanitation; regular readers will remember Exuberant Archaeologist Friend's account of Vespasian-era lead pipes in Rome.

You may imagine our happiness when suddenly clapping eyes on this toilet seat
in a far corner of the Roman Agora! On a totally unrelated note, there is a terrific restaurant just on the other side of that fence, on the corner, with very friendly waiters and excellent coffee.

A clear and informative, if somewhat dull, sign

Next up, we have pictures of the public baths by the Temple of Zeus! We spent an unreasonable amount of time, as Our Mum will verify, rambling round this area and taking toilet selfies with the ruins. What can we say? We were on holiday, and that is our idea of fun. (If you enjoy this kind of activity, do get in touch. We are finding it increasingly challenging to find people willing to go on holiday with us. We can't think why this might be.)

We are not, as a rule, excited-jumpers-up-and-down at the Privy Counsel,
considering such behaviour to be annoying to the point of being morally wrong,
but we jumped up and down with excitement when spotting these hypocausts!

A soothing circular pool

A comfortable seat for chatting to a friend?

The remains of many, many pillars

A helpful and informative sign

We went, of course, to the Acropolis, where we marvelled at the view and admired the diligent Athenian workmen restoring the ancient ruins. We also came across this random structure, near the entrance. We have no idea what it is, but took a photo on the off-chance that it is anything to do with water or sanitation (is that some kind of duct in the centre?). If any of our readers - including, but not limited to, Medieval (With a Side Interest in Roman Archaeology) Friend - has information about what this might be, don't be shy, send us an email or carrier pigeon!

An unidentified Athenian structure. THERE WAS NO SIGN!!!

No bog blogger worthy of the name would fail to take a picture of the public toilets below the Acropolis. You're welcome.

The sewage pipes in Athens are somewhat delicate,
and quite often one is requested to put toilet paper into a bin, thus.

A helpful sign instructs one not to put paper anywhere near the pipes.

Regular readers will recall our exuberant account of the toilets in the Acropolis Museum a few years ago. Readers, we went back!

As you can see, everything looks exactly the same,
which we find hugely reassuring. Also, the korai were still magnificent.

One of our favourite pastimes when in Athens, apart from staring dreamily at objects in museums, deciphering Greek signage, using the relatively-free-of-sexual-harassment public transport (we were on the tram one day, marvelling at the fact that we hadn't been sexually harassed yet, when some dude decided to harass us, showing yet again that patriarchy never sleeps), drinking Greek coffee, and buying cheap wine in the supermarket, is wandering round Syntagma Square, imbibing the atmosphere and enjoying the shade cast by the lemon trees. Imagine our delight when we discovered that this historic place boasts public toilets! They are tucked away in a corner and are very hard to find, but they are bona fide public loos, staffed by very friendly toilet attendants.

We cannot fault this door, its lock, or its coat hook.

This is not an ideal toilet, considering the fact that there is no toilet roll
and the flush mechanism has been mended using duct tape. Still. Like the Greek economy,
this toilet just about works, and the staff were super friendly.
Is this, in fact, a metaphor for the Greek economy?

 
We're never sure how interesting our readers find random pictures of hotel room toilets. To be on the safe side, here are some potentially thrilling images from the Oasis hotel in the Glyfada area of Athens. It's a very nice hotel, with very friendly staff, and we enjoyed many splendid evenings drinking the local wine on the balcony of our hotel room, but wished there had been fewer children, and also fewer Italians, in the pool. (We adore Italians at the Privy Counsel, but for some reason Italians in swimming pools are considerably less charming than Italians who are not in swimming pools. No doubt science will one day find an explanation for this phenomenon.)

No problems with the plumbing here! You can shove virtually unlimited amounts of toilet paper down the bog with no repercussions whatsoever. Also, you will notice that the toilet roll has been folded into a neat point at the end, which is the golden standard of the Olivia Joules Hotel Critera, and which is bound to give you a positive toilet experience if you give a crap about such things (we don't).

We are rather fond of this seventies symphony of pastels.

Assuming that you have even read this far, we congratulate you on your stamina and vow to let everyone rest before we post this many photos in one go again. If you have an hour to spare, please enjoy the Festive Video below! We found the toilet humour deplorable, and advise you to skip that bit, but the rest was both informative and edifying.

As you were. (If you weren't, why not?)

Festive Video: Ifor ap Glyn / Cwmni Da / Western Front Films / BBC 4, The Toilet: An Unspoken History

Related Reading:

All posts featuring Our Mum

All posts featuring Medieval (With a Side Interest in Roman Archaeology) Friend 

An intriguing post featuring Vespasian-era lead pipes:
Lead Pipe Dreams

All previous posts featuring Greece:

Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts, But Totally Trust the Toilet Attendant 

The Ancient Agora Museum in Athens - Unbridled Stoicism

Stark Raving Nudity 

Christmas, the Acropolis Museum, and an Academic Debate (And Some Very Festive Calypso Music)

Melancholy Musings from Mykonos 

We Cheer Ourselves Up, Again, Using Pictures of Caitlin Moran and Greek Museums

All posts featuring Roman plumbing

The ominous unlockable door of Perugia:

The Ominous Unlockable Door of Perugia

We Cheer Ourselves Up, Again, Using Pictures of Caitlin Moran, and Greek Museums

Thinking about Caitlin Moran makes everything better. We cannot stress this enough. We don't know how much time you have had to spend lately on writing stupid and uninteresting essays, or exterminating fur beetles, or dealing with students who think that 200 words is a reasonable length for a discussion essay. But we've spent a large portion of our days recently doing just that, and it sucks an unreasonable amount.

Add to this a stop at a women's shelter flat to visit some lovely women fleeing domestic violence. Then spend some time reflecting on the fact that said lovely women are having to hide in a flat without being able to go out, while the men who have beaten, raped, and threatened to kill them are free to walk the streets, have coffee with friends, and generally do whatever the hell they like. Soon you start to feel the need for A LARGE DOSE OF CAITLIN MORAN.

So. Here is an emergency picture of Caitlin Moran:

CAITLIN MORAN MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER.

Then, to complete this exercise in staying reasonably sane, let's look at some lovely soothing toilet photos. We favour, today, the photos we took in the Archaeological Museum of Mykonos. We like museums. We especially like Greek museums. They are full of things we love - really old shit, dug up from the ground. Bits of marble, and vases with rude paintings, and ostraka, and hair pins, and bronze mirrors, and domestic appliances. Let's have some Greek museum awesomeness!

This was a beautifully clean and harmonious toilet.

We appear to have mislaid the picture of the sink (damn pheasant), but here is a coat-hook!
N.b. the soap was really good.

A glimpse of rampant culture, through the door of an unrestrainedly civilised toilet - heaven!!!

A beautiful juxtaposition of old and new, elegant and vulgar, stone and carton?
Or a heinous sacrilege?
Tudor Friend got very upset by this picture, considering it a base and brutal use of a cultural artefact.
But the stele was right outside the bog!

Funeral amphora, 7th century, depicting the fall of Troy.

If we had a broken statue of Hercules that we needed to fit
into a random corner of a museum, we would also do this.

Today's festive video is super not-festive. Violence against women and girls is a real thing.
This is why we need Caitlin Moran, and rampant feminism. If you haven't read anything by Caitlin Moran recently, go to the nearest library AT YOUR EARLIEST CONVENIENCE. (We were going to say IMMEDIATELY, but really, aren't we all stressed enough already without adding more demands?)

Video - Hurray for the Riff Raff, The Body Electric

Related Reading

Last time we felt a desperate need to cheer ourselves up by looking at pictures of Caitlin Moran:

We Cheer Ourselves Up Using Pictures of Roman Plumbing, and Caitlin Moran

More Greek museum awesomeness, to fortify and delight us:

Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts, But Totally Trust the Toilet Attendant

The Ancient Agora Museum in Athens - Unbridled Stoicism

Stark Raving Nudity

Christmas, the Acropolis Museum, and an Academic Debate (And Some Very Festive Calypso Music)

All posts featuring Caitlin Moran

Stark Raving Nudity

Having suffered various traumas* recently, it is with unbridled joy that we sit down to compose a post for our beloved bog blog. What's more, we sit down to compose a post for our beloved bog blog in the smug confidence of having been informed that Halloween is nearly upon us, thereby eliminating the risk of us suddenly waking up, panicked and hungover, and realising that we need to produce a Halloween special THIS MINUTE OR IT WILL BE TOO LATE TO JUMP ON THE COMMERCIALISED CULTURAL BANDWAGON. (Like happened last year, for instance, and the year before that, and... You get the gist.) Rest assured, dear readers, that we have the Halloween special post thing totally in hand! It is not, however, today's post.

Today is all about Greek nudity. We have discussed, on several occasions, with Shewee Fiend Friend, what a rampant shame it is that male nudity is almost obsolete in popular culture. The female body is sexualised and displayed in all sorts of contexts, but when does one get to perv over a tasteful male nude? Despicably seldom, that's when! The Victorians were all over the male nude, erecting statues left, right, and centre, but the taste for that sort of thing seems regrettably to have gone the way of the lace doily, the aspidistra, and macassar oil.

Contemplating, one fine afternoon, a statue of the Dying Gaul, we and Shewee Fiend Friend agreed that there should totally be more male nudity everywhere! Greece is a good place for enjoying statues of people being comfortably minimalist in their approach to clothing, although there are museums around the world that cater to the nudity-inclined. Glyptoteket in Copenhagen is a favourite one of ours, though there is of course no pleasure like going to the original source - the National Archaeological Museum in Athens! This museum really is a wonderful, wonderful place, filled to bursting with so many, many of the kinds of things that we at the Counsel like to perv on most - Bronze Age swords, gold funeral masks, urns, loom weights and, above all, statues of naked Greeks!

The staff, also, are nothing short of heroic. We rolled up at the Archaeological Museum one afternoon in July, having spent the morning at the Ancient Agora Museum, and carrying the sweatiest rucksack in the whole history of mankind. Seriously. It looked like it had been for a swim in the Aegean Sea. It was heavy. It was dirty. It was, basically, the rucksack of someone who's been going round for several hours doing nothing but perving on Greek statues, and sweating. It was very unpleasant. The lady in charge of the cloakroom didn't even blink. She gave us the sweetest smile, and accepted the rucksack without grumbling! (For another example of kind and friendly Greeks in public service, see Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts, But Totally Trust the Toilet Attendant.) We were immensely grateful to not be thrown out for being sweaty, uncouth barbarians!

So, after this wordy and learned preamble, let's have some Greek nudity! (Again, some pictures may be slightly sideways. Remember, please, that looking at sideways pictures is a valuable lesson in creative thinking.)

*Traumas were, in no particular order, grammar-, earwig-, and misogyny-related.

Ha! This handsome and hygienically-minded dude is wielding a strigil!

Dogs, strigils and naked Greeks are some of our favourite things!

HUNKA HUNKA! Seriously. We can't get enough of this dude.
(The camera is probably there for a reason. Wouldn't surprise us in the slightest 
if people tried to snog the delicious statues, if left unattended.)

The toilets in the National Archaeological Museum were considerably less fabulous than the rest of the museum, but considering the very high levels of fabulousness being maintained by said museum, perhaps we will forgive them.

A depressing toilet WITH NO FUCKING SEAT, but there's a very festive flush pedal on the floor!
(For more toilets with no seat, see There Is Too Much Going On. This Post Will Probably Give You a Migraine.)

No complaints regarding the handle or lock.

This coat hook is not the kind you rave over, dream of, and take home to meet your mother, perhaps,
but as coat hooks go, it is perfectly okay.

We really, really, really like this toilet-roll holder, the Tork Smart One. Read more about it here.

This is a wall-mounted flush mechanism - turns out the  flush pedal on the floor was a fake! A FAKE!

Here is an unrelated picture of Exuberant Archaeologist Friend perving over enjoying looking at a bust of Socrates.
The picture is called ERMEHGERD SERCRATES.

Tudor Friend has helpfully provided today's festive video. It is pleasantly rich, we believe, in Eastern mystery and rampant festivity, although perhaps a little lacking in Greek nudity.

Festive video - Anonymous, Awesome Violin performance in Toilet

Related Reading
Previous posts from Athens:
Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts, But Totally Trust the Toilet Attendant
Unbridled Stoicism - the Ancient Agora Museum
Greek nudity in Copenhagen:
Hanging Out with Hygeia at Glyptoteket
Perving on the Classics in general:
Arachne-Philia and German-induced Euphoria
More strigil action: Privy Counsel Pin-Up - James Purefoy
More nudity, courtesy of German Friend: The Spirit of Christmas - Urinals, Mixer Taps, Relief

Pictorial Eloquence

Tally-ho! We've been busy as [insert industrious animal of choice], here at the Privy Counsel, running hither and thither, and probably other directions as well, and generally racking our brains, taxing our intellect, and engaging in a fury of cerebral activity. Our frantic industry has rendered us unable to tend to our bog blog with the attentiveness to which it is accustomed, and as a result, the pile of toilet pictures in our archive has grown to an alarming size. We suspect there are a couple of dwarves and a pheasant trapped in there - we can hear them muttering at night, and scratching the walls - but the sheer volume of pictures means we can't get in far enough to help them. A radical reorganisation seems indicated, and will definitely be executed as soon as we can spare the time. Any decade now, in fact.

In the meantime, here are some pictures that kind people have sent us recently, and which haven't even made it into the archive, having instead lain in a large unorganised pile on our desk, therefore being easy to find. Tally-ho, yoik, and all that.

Bogsley Hansson Friend sent us this festive greeting from Canada. A goose indicates to ladies that this is where they should head when nature calls, while a stag (below) performs the same office for gentlemen.

We could wax loquacious on the subject of gender stereotyping, but actually we're still really busy.

Tudor Friend calls these toilet-seat covers "classy and toilet-related".
We are unable to resist the temptation to consider them also "Elvis-related".

According to Semi-Intellectual Friend, this is an Iron Age toilet in Gurness.

A dear friend who we like to refer to, for reasons lost in the mists of time, as Uncle Sean,
sent us this picture, with the most eloquent caption:

"There I stood, poised at the urinal, zipper, hand, posture as you would expect,
with no further intention than relief, but there before me this artwork, this quote, edification."

We fucking love toilet poetry. If you find Uncle Sean's musings inspiring, you may want to check out
Danish Friend's bog poetry, or even Intellectual Friend's toilet graffiti.

Another thought-provoking contribution from Bogsley Hansson Friend, this time from Seattle.

Since we try to end all our  blog posts with a festive video, here is a most convivial clip of a highly festive Twitter acquaintance of ours, the Loo Tour Lady.

Festive video: The Loo Tour lady

Related Reading
If one gets too overworked, one can end up believing that one is a tiny, speckled hamster:
Safety at Work
If you enjoy the combination of archives and art: 
Blurry, Lop-Sided Archive Musings
Danish Friend's bog poetry:
Christmas 2013: Shetland Shithouses Part II. Umm, Poetry in Motion?

Intellectual Friend's bog graffiti:
The Intellectual Streak Continues: Leeds University Library Bogs, or, Yorkshire Graffitti

A Roman Moment

Let's have a Roman moment! In view of the Machiavellian weather this winter, and the widespread plumbing misery in the world, we've been thinking that there should really be more Roman plumbing. More awesome aqueducts! More slaves chopping enormous quantities of firewood to heat hot water for the bombastic baths! More of everything! More, more, more! Imagine our delight when we were alerted to the fact that the remains of a Roman bath have been found in London recently!

What a lovely sight! Image from London SE1.

"Although it's a very small pit and we haven't looked at the details fully yet, it has certainly given us an insight into the eastern edge of the Roman settlement that has really been quite a blank for us up until now," says the Network Rail Archaeology manager Chris Place, according to London SE1.
The article continues, "The works at London Bridge, when taken together with the findings of excavations along the route of the Borough Viaduct – where a Roman bath house was discovered – and on neighbouring sites such as The Place, are helping to build up a much clearer picture of Roman Southwark.
'There appears to have been some very substantial – almost opulent – Roman buildings,' said Chris [sic]. 'We are starting to get a feel for that part of the settlement.'"

Before we go on with  more archaeological news, let's have a brief intermission. How about a lovely informative video?

Intermission over. Another article from London SE1 informs us that,

"'In Roman times the main settlement was on the north bank of the river Thames and was connected to the settlement at Southwark by the first London Bridge. Much archaeological work has been done in Southwark over the years, but we were still surprised to discover ruin[s] of this nature and size' [says Chris Place].
Network Rail and Southwark Council are exploring ways of preserving the remains beneath the new building to be constructed on the site. Where appropriate, key finds will be deposited with the Museum of London where they will be available for study by the public."

On the tiles! In the bath! Image from London SE1.

 Probably all regular readers know in what high esteem Roman baths are held at Privy Counsel HQ, and can imagine our riotous joy at this news! Hurrah! Nunc est, as ever, lavandum!

Related Reading
If you like aqueducts: Let Us Wash, for the Germanic Hordes May Appear at Any Moment
If you like toilet paper: The Finer Points of Roman Hygiene
If you enjoy the thought of soldiers getting naked: Roman Bath Museum - Crap on a Stick
If you, too, have friends who are stark raving bonkers: Roaring Good Roman Fun
If you, too, find Roman plumbing unbearably exciting:  Nunc Est Lavandum - Bath-Time!

Wasting Away: More Roman Bog Roll II

It's lucky our friends read the papers, even if we don't. Turns out the BBC, that eminent news machine, has cottoned onto the story we reported on yesterday, thanks to Norwegian Friend's studious news consumption. An article pointed out to us by another friend (really we have so many friends now that we don't know what to do with them all, although one idea would be to gather them all together and have a giant party)  says pretty much exactly what our post yesterday reported, but with the addition of a learned classical allusion. Apparently, a helpful toilet-related ancient Greek proverb said (and we recommend you take note):

"Three stones are enough to wipe one's arse".

(For more learned Greek musings, see this archive post.)

Historical toilet paper: so fascinating! This stuff is from the Castle Museum in York.
"This Paper guaranteed to be perfectly Pure and Free from all Injurious Ingredients.
Specially recommended for Water Closet  use, also as a Disinfectant and Deodoriser."

Related Reading
Wasting Away: More Roman Bog Roll
A Calamitous and Inflammatory Blend of Toilet paper and History
Historical Toilets, Baths, and Kitchens - A Useful and Humbling Lesson

Wasting Away: More Roman Bog Roll

Recent non-blog-related drinking activity renders us temporarily sluggish of intellect and short of attention span. The task of producing original material of our usual cerebral and entertaining standard is, we regret to announce, oh fuck it, we can't be bothered even finishing that sentence. Let us contemplate, for the sake of solace and diversion, this article sent to us by Norwegian Friend. The Telegraph writes:

A museum which kept ancient artefacts on display believing they were early gaming pieces has discovered they were actually used as a primitive form of toilet paper. The Roman artefacts, deliberately shaped into flat discs, have been in the collection at Fishbourne Roman Palace since the 1960s. And up until now the museum thought the items were used for early games, such as draughts. But, a British Medical Journal article has now proposed they have a very different function. The broken pieces range in size from 1 inch to 4 inches in diameter and were excavated near to the museum in Chichester, West Sussex in 1960. It is well publicised that Romans used sponges mounted on sticks and dipped in vinegar as an alternative to toilet paper. Yet, the idea these ceramic discs might also have been used is a revelation.

The Telegraph article has some absolutely spiffing images of the Roman toilet paper shards,
including one featuring a curator with the best beard we have ever seen on a curator, ever.
However, because there has to be some bloody limit to how much theft of the material of others
one indulges in even on a day plagued by hangovers and verbal diarrhoea
flung in every direction by the young, ignorant and abhorrent, we insert here one of our own pictures,
from the Historic Toilet Tour of York.

Museum curator Dr Rob Symmons said: "When pottery like this is excavated it is someone's job to wash it clean. So, some poor and unsuspecting archaeologist has probably had the delight of scrubbing some Roman waste off of these pieces. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that we could still find some further signs of waste or residue. However, these pottery pieces have no monetary value because we are essentially talking about items once used as toilet roll. The pieces had always been catalogued as broken gaming pieces but I was never particularly happy with that explanation. But when the article produced the theory they were used to wipe people's bums I thought it was hilarious and it just appealed to me. I love the idea we've had these in the museum for 50 years being largely ignored and now they are suddenly engaging items you can relate to."
Symmons, who has been at the museum for seven years, added: "We will obviously have to think about reclassifying these objects on our catalogue. But we hope the pieces will make people smile when they learn what they were used for. They would have probably been quite scratchy to use and I doubt they would be as comfortable as using toilet roll. But in the Roman era it was that or very little else."

This would be a good starting point for us to set off on a long rant about how scratchy bits of rock are still better than ridiculous, environmentally destructive, polluted-by-chemicals toilet paper (past rants available here, here, here, here and here), but frankly we cannot be arsed.

 Related Reading
The Historic Toilet Tour of York
A Calamitous and Inflammatory Blend of Toilet Paper and History
The Roman Bath Museum - Crap on a Stick
The Finer Points of Roman Hygiene 
Let Us Wash, for the Germanic Hordes May Appear at Any Moment
Roaring Good Roman Fun

A Draining Kind of Day

We don't know what kind of day you're having, but we're having one of those grey, muddy ones. To help alleviate the more alarming symptoms of depression, we're enjoying this picture of a Victorian drain today. As mentioned in a previous post, it was unearthed during the archaeological excavations in Hungate, York.
 The area was once a Victorian slum, and one can quite happily imagine the stench. One is grateful for modern plumbing.

Our favourite Victorian drain, in Hungate

Related reading:
Plumbing, Blessed Plumbing
The Historic Toilet Tour of York

Gärdslösa: Runes and Royalty

It's time for some culture. We don't know about you, but after yesterday's frivolous post we at the Privy Counsel yearn for some intellectual content. Let's get medieval!
We happened to visit the church of Gärdslösa on Öland, an island off the east coast of Sweden.  Gärdslösa is the best preserved medieval church on Öland, and boasts possession of two runic inscriptions. One is on the wall near the door, and reads, "Jón/Jónn has crafted" (read all about it at the University of Aberdeen's Scaldic Poetry Project site).  The other is on a fragmented stone, and says, teasingly, "Gunnbjǫrn and Sveinn ... and Jóhan ... Thorkell(?), their very(?) good father, ... Oddvarr(?) carved the runes ... stone ... " (details here or, if you're so inclined, here).

The runes that Jón carved. Image from Schleugerhard.

Gärdslösa Church. Image from Wikipedia.

Now for the toilets. Gärdslösa Church generously provides hygiene facilities in a charming little building in a corner of the graveyard. The whole ensemble is exceptionally neat and charming, if slightly '70s in design.

Note the wheelchair ramp: disability-friendly as well as decorative!

The soap smelled extremely nice

Disability-friendly and clean

Funky seventies tile-lookalike linoleum

To continue the royalist content of a previous post (we're telling you this because we know you secretly love royalty), we may mention in passing that Margaretha, sister of the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, was married in Gärdslösa. Wikipedia, informative as ever, tells us that Margaretha is number 196 in the British royal succession. We imagine her sitting at home in a  dark room, dabbling in voodoo to set off a plague epidemic. As another aside, here's a charming rendition of a song mentioning the King of Sweden:

Festive video: Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, Minnie the Moocher

Related Reading
Some of our favourite royal-themed posts:
By the Sea - A Toilet Blogger's Holiday
Toilet Hurling - the Sport of Kings
The Royal toilet at Kronborg - "A Fould and Pestilent Congregation of Vapours"
Blogging Something Rotten
Waltzing Around Amalienborg

Rocking Around the Toilet

After our recent frivolities it's time for some serious intellectual content again. As you know, the Privy Counsel gets excited to the point of cardiac dysrhythmia about cultural activities, high-brow as well as firmly low-brow ones. Kind, intellectual friends recently took us on an educational outing, to see some Bronze-Age rock carvings.

Rock carvings. Try as we might, we couldn't see any toilet-related activities depicted,
although pretty much every other topic is covered.

We can only approve of this!

Oooh, shiny! And hygienic! And stripy! That's three of our favourite things!

The soap smelled very nice

Not one but TWO sturdy coat-hooks.

That's eleven points, and Hygeia shivers with pleasure.