WHAT WE DID!

SATURDAY MORNING

After an hour and half sleep, I (pretty much literally *g*) fell out of bed and rolled into the shower. Making it down to breakfast, I was met by an assortment of very sleepy, but happy souls - the exception being bouncy Becky, who was still on a caffeine high from all the 'Dr Pepper' the previous night!

Having had breakfast I made my way into the lobby where I was met but the fresh faces of our six new daytrippers! After some brief (ok hurried *g*) 'hellos', badges were handed out and we congregated in the lobby. We lost one daytripper due to travel and baby problems (poor Esmerelda), but with the newbies in tow, the group headed for the bus and made their way into town for the Roman tour. I waited for the few remaining sleepyheads, before following the mob, so we were 5 minutes late.

As we approached the town hall steps, we easily spotted our Roman guide, Paul - well ok, so the Roman outfit was a dead giveaway but...hey! *g* Paul quickly demonstrated the same sense of humour I'd seen when chatting to him about booking the tour, so after convincing him that I really didn't have a note from mum to excuse our lateness, but that the dog had eaten my homework, we set off.

For the next hour and a half we made quite a spectacle as we wandered all around Chester's high street! Well ok, we would anyway *g* but to be fair it was a Saturday and half-term and we were following a guy wearing clothes that dated back to BC - thankfully they didn't spell authentically *lol*

Paul was absolutely fantastic! He has a real passion for his work, which is very evident when he speaks. He also has a wicked sense of humour and managed to drop more than the odd comment about the 'brilliant' *ahem* excavation work done by our previous city councils! *LOL*



During the tour he took us to some of the Roman remains, explaining in great detail and making it very easy to visualise how things would have looked. He also critiqued some of the earlier beliefs and findings about our city and discussed the fact that it is now believed that Chester was far more important in Roman Britain than had previously been thought!

Our final point on the tour was the Roman Amphitheatre, where he explained why they now believe that the information on the tourist sign is wrong. Instead they now have proof that it was in fact once a huge arena with several tiers, shops, etc. The sort of place that would feature in a city suitable for the Emperor to visit! Cool huh? *g*

Inside the amphitheatre Paul talked about the 'sports' and 'entertainment' that would have taken place within the walls during Roman times. Grabbing Loui from the crowd, he asked her to help him demonstrate the type of things they came up with to make sure that the slaves didn't get eaten too quickly by the animals - therefore ending the entertainment too quickly.

He explained how the *ahem* sport had changed over the years, as they slowly realised that slaves were finding ways to get killed almost instantly! Although he did point out that even having your neck mauled by a lion could take up to a minute for you to die! *yuck* In fact, he did it with a little too much gory enjoyment *lol* It truly is amazing what a girl will do after you've conjured up images of Russel Crowe in her head - right Loui? *g*

Moving over to another wall he took of some of the armour he was wearing, so that we could pass it round! I'm talking HEAVY here too - and that was just the shoulder pads. Paul dresses as a Roman all year round, in gear which has been constructed to be as accurate as possible - right down to the water buffalo leather and woollen underwear! *g* The idea is that this way he can understand any problems they would have had and make the alterations - ie, if he's too cold in winter, they would have been too!

After making us laugh with tales of how he'd spent a great deal of time slipping over (and exposing his woollen underwear to Chester's elderly population), he concluded that the Chester Romans probably avoided a similar fate but not wearing studded sandals all the time! Having laughed a little too hard at the stories, Janet then found herself 'volunteered' to help him demonstrate the weaponry.



Paul talked us through the different aspects of the armour and weapons, and exactly how and why they were most effective! He also pointed out that all Roman's were right-handed, through necessity! Sorry Josiah! *g*

With the tour ending, we thanked Paul for a fantastic time and then took some group photos. As the afternoon had been left free from planned events, people peeled off in mini groups to see more sights or to find a bit of retail therapy. I grabbed some lunch, and then with Becky in tow, I popped home to grab some M7 necessities that had been forgotten - and an extremely needed coffee, which I'd missed at breakfast!

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