Things I’ve Learned This Week.

Happy Friday!  Yes, it’s THAT time of the week again.  And, as usual, it’s come around waaay too quickly.

It’s been a ‘difficult’ week this week.  I was of the impression during the Easter weekend, that I had been turned into Super Woman …. and consequently did a little more than my body is currently designed for.  Me body went on strike!  How very dare it!  It’s partially still on strike, but I’m hoping that me pretending to be fine and groovy will kick it into action again and we’ll be rocking and rolling as per usual very soon.

Well, as well as learning that I’m not Super Woman – which was a great .. no … HUGE disappointment to me,  I’ve also learned one or two other things, and I’m here to share them with you, so that you can be as educationamalised as what I is.  As what I am.  As what I woz?  As what I’m now?  As what…  erm….  As what you should be?

As you will be after reading this post.  (phew … that was touch and go there for a minute!) lol  😊

Ok .. let’s get going, shall we?

I learned this week, after watching a TV special, that there is rather a swish hotel in Marrakech which I’d really LOVE to visit.  It’s the most beautiful, (if not the best) hotel in the whole world.  It’s called:  The Royal Mansour,  and I know that I couldn’t do it anywhere near justice in describing it here, but boy oh boy I wish I could share the programme with you.

It was commissioned by King Mohammed VI, who often hosts his guests in its 53 private riads, which are situated in almost four hectares of fragrant Moorish gardens.

It has 53 two-storey villas which are set in beautiful, manicured gardens which have lily ponds and fountains dotted around them.  Privacy is at a premium there and even staff scurry between salon, pool and private patio via a network of subterranean passages, silently and almost unnoticed.  Each of the staff is so well-trained, and follow the ‘rules’ and guidelines of the hotel to the letter.  Service is impeccable and hyper-discreet.

Above ground, opulence is the name of the game.  Rooms are strewn with suede and silk carpets, velvet brocade sofas and crystal do-dads and chandeliers from Lalique, Baccarat and Venice.  breathtakingly beautiful, and if there, you’d have to throw yourself into its opulence or you’d feel out-of-place and possibly even alienated.

When there, the Villa you’ll rent is assigned 10 staff, to serve you with everything you could possibly need.  Silver Service meal?  You got it.    One, two and three bedroom villas are available, all with roof terraces shaded by a Bedouin tent and private patio plunge pools.  In addition to lavishly decorated bedrooms finished in the most exquisite detail, each villa has a salon with an open fireplace and a dining room.  You wouldn’t need to leave the hotel … in fact, you probably won’t want to.  They have everything you need right there.  Even a large library!

I’ve worked out that from where I live, I could take a flight to Marrakech and be there in just under four hours, and I’d pay roughly £190 for flight for a two day break.  Ok ..  this seems do-able … so far.    From my research, I’ve learned that the best time to visit is between March and May when the roses are in bloom and the days fresh and sunny.  So, right now would be a great time!  Things are looking hopeful!

I’ve been on the website ... and ‘pretended’ to book just a two night stay, from Sunday (23rd April) to Tuesday (25th April) and …. THEY HAVE A VILLA AVAILABLE!!!   Ohhhh this is looking so hopeful now!  (I just have to talk Mr. Cobs around to this idea … but I could ‘sell’ it to him because our 36th Wedding Anniversary is coming up in a few short weeks ….  ok … now I’ll go and check out how much this would cost (I have to protect the moths in his wallet from shock!)…  ok… it’s telling me that it will cost 27,198.00 but that’s in Moroccan Dirham, so now I have to work out what that means in British Pounds … hang on right there while I get that sorted out.

Now see, here’s the problem.  Cobs the Bogeyman doesn’t like anything costing over the amount of loose change he has in his pockets, so talking him into a two night stay at this lovely place, with just breakfast included (the man LOVES his stomach so breakfast alone won’t keep him going), is going to send his blood pressure up the scale and probably burst the blood pressure machine  …  for this will cost £2,119.45 for just two nights, plus the travel costs.  And what’s more … that’s the cheapest quote.  If I go for the luxury package for two … it would cost:  £10,920.55 for a two night stay, again with only breakfast included in that price.  In US dollars, that equates to: $13982.67.

I don’t think that two night stay is ever going to happen!

It’s a truly magnificent place.  If you’d like to check it out, I give you the link to their website.  Have a good look around and check out all of the various different Riads.  There are five of them altogether.  The Royal Mansour Hotel

I also have a link to the programme … but I don’t think it will work for those of you outside the UK, as it’s a BBC programme … but you could give it a try and see, just in case!  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08n8xhb

I also learned this week more about Pandora’s Box than I knew before.

Pandora’s box is an origin myth – which basically means the attempt to explain the beginning of something.

People have always wanted to know why things happen in the world the way they do. Before there was ‘science’, they didn’t have much understanding of how the world works, but they still wanted to know,  just as much as we do.  Human curiosity always asks why .. and then human creativity finds ways of giving an answer.

The story of Pandora and her box comes from Ancient Greece and is very old. Because of this, there are several versions of the myth.

Pandora trying to close the lid on the box that she had opened out of curiosity. On the left are the evils of the world who are taunting her as they escape. The engraving is based on a painting by F. S. Church

In Greek mythology, Pandora (meaning ‘all-giving’) was the first woman on earth.  Before humans there were the immortals (the Gods and Titans). The brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus were Titans (Giant people) who had fought on the Gods’ side in a war. Some say they were cousins of Zeus, King of the Gods; he asked Prometheus to create man out of clay and water (in many versions Hephaestus helps in this).  Epimetheus had to create the animals and give them their gifts of courage, swiftness etc.  He gave out all the gifts and had none left for Man.  So Prometheus decides to make man stand upright, like the gods, and give them fire (which Zeus did not want them to have – some say he had removed it as a punishment).  So Prometheus stole fire – some say from Zeus’ lightning, others from the sun and yet others from Hephaestus’ forge.

In classical Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on Earth. Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create her.  So he did, using water and earth.  The gods endowed her with many gifts: Athena clothed her,  Aphrodite gave her beauty,  Apollo gave her musical ability, and Hermes gave her speech.

According to Hesiod, when Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took vengeance by presenting Pandora to Prometheus’ brother Epimetheus.  Pandora opens the box containing death and many other evils,  which were then released into the world.  She hastens to close the container, but the whole contents had escaped except for one thing that lay at the bottom – Elpis  (translated as ‘Hope’,  though it could also mean ‘Expectation’).

In the original Greek stories it was a jar and did not become a box until the Sixteenth century AD.

A scholar called Erasmus, who lived in Rotterdam in Holland, translated a story of Pandora from Hesiod’s work. Hesiod was a Greek poet who lived about 700BC. Erasmus was translating the Greek into Latin (which scholars did all their writing in, in those days) and translated the Greek word ‘pithos’ meaning jar into the Latin word ‘pyxis’ meaning box. And a box it has stayed to this day!

Pandora, 1896, by John William Waterhouse

The myth arose as a way of explaining why dreadful things happened, such as people getting sick and dying.

As in many origin myths,  man had lived in a world without worry – until this jar/box was opened, which contained ills for mankind.  Zeus knew that Pandora’s curiosity would mean that she could not stop herself from opening it, especially when he had told her that she must not do so!

You can read more here:  https://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/pandoras-box-myth/

I also learned this week:  that the iconic ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ posters were never used in wartime.

And ….  That Gorillas can be put on the pill.  (But why would they want to be?)

That the longest palindrome in the Oxford English Dictionary is ‘tattarrattat’.  James Joyce used it in Ulysses: ‘I knew his tattarrattat at the door.’

The second man to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, Bobby Leach, survived the fall but later died as a result of slipping on a piece, of orange peel.  (forgive me … but I did have a little chuckle at the irony . . .  until I gave myself a stern talking to.)

I also learned ….  that at the end of August this year, it will be 20 years since the death of Princess Diana.  This shocked the heck out of me, for it really doesn’t seem like 20 years ago.

So … has your brain exploded with all this new information?  I certainly hope not.  The only reason mine is still going is because I learnt all this over a period of 7 days … where-as you are learning it over a coffee, and that’s a lot of new information to deal with all at once.

Well  … you’re here not only for the edumacation … I know you’re also here for a handful of jokes … so pin back your lugholes … we’re going in!!

The Jokes!

How do you throw a party in outer space?  . . . . You planet

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Why is the letters  ‘P’  a pirates’ favourite letter of the alphabet?  . . . .  Because without it they are irate.

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Two peanuts are walking down a dark street.  One of them is assaulted.

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What did the bra say to the hat? . . .   You go on ahead. I’ll give these two a lift.

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Q: Did you hear about the Mexican magician who told the audience he was going to disappear on the count of three?  . . .  A: He said, “Uno…dos…” then vanished without a tres.

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Q: You know why you shouldn’t go to the bathroom next to a Pokemon? . . .  A: Because he might Pikachu.

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Q: If you’re American outside the bathroom, what are you inside the bathroom?  . . .  A: European.

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and finally …  a little helping of Grandad jokes, for you to share with your Grandad, or, if you’re a Grandad yourself … to make you smile.  (or… if you’re a Grandma – pass them on!)…

Grandad is always complaining about how much things cost.  “£3.50 for a cup of tea!”,  “£1.50 for two custard cream biscuits!” ….  so I told him:  “Look Grandad, you just popped round.  I didn’t invite you!”

(give that one chance to sink in before you move on). lol

Grandad was remembering the days when “everyone could leave their back doors open“ …  which is probably why his submarine sank.

❤

Grandad died, and we didn’t get chance to say goodbye.  Which was all the more poignant because he drowned in a bowl of Cheerios.

❤

Tell your friends!  I’m here all week.  😀  [drums heard in the distance]  badabum!!

All that’s left for me to do now is wish you a fabulous Friday, and a truly wonderful weekend.

May the weather be mild and may each hour of each day bring you something to be thankful for.

Have a blessed day my friends.  Be good to each other.

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