Aurelia

Watching the images on tv of the tsunami dragging a mountain of debris as it rushed inland has been one of the most terrifying things I have seen in quite some time. Hard to imagine what it must be like to have your whole life swept away in a matter of seconds. Truly tragic. I do hope your dream was indeed just a dream, Caldrail. This is probably not the most pleasant way to go.

We can have a Via Appia to start with.

Hip hip hurray!

Hope you have a great one! Cheers to you.

Happy birthday, O Imperator. May your vast domains continue grow and prosper for many years to come.

Interesting guess, but it's not in Switzerland.

I think the quote you are looking for is: Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 1 (1776) I'm not 100% sure but I think this is based on a quote originally attributed to Seneca.

It's not in France either.

Great idea! Btw, I think monopoly would be more correctly translated as monopolium (nominative)

It's not in Germany.

Why, thank you very much! Here we go...

Kerkouane?

Tunisia?

Antioch? Aphrodisias? Not sure if I'm allowed to give more than one name. Anyway, if neither, then I'm fresh out of ideas and will need another clue...

Haha, I can definitely tell the lady is Brazilian! But it sounds more like Greek than Latin to me.

Would it perhaps be somewhere in Ephesus?

I watched "The Eagle" a few days ago, and unfortunately I cannot say I share in the general enthusiasm. Going to see it at a movie theatre was not an option because all movies around where I live are dubbed, so I had to watch it online. I also wondered about the blurry scenes and thought it was just due to the bad quality of the movie file I selected but reading what Crispina wrote, I guess it was jut meant to be that way. It also took me a while to get used to it. I don't know about the theatre version, but the one I found online didn't provide any subtitles during the long scenes in which the Seal People talk in their own language. It is very boring to watch when you don't really know what they are saying (ok, I could assume what was going on but still). Btw, I totally agree with ummidia quadratilla, they did look like Mohawk Indians! It often felt as if I was watching a Roman/Scottish version of "The Last of the Mohicans" and half expected Daniel Day-Lewis to make a sudden appearance and save the day. All in all, not a bad film but not great either IMHO. I haven't read the novel but I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy it a lot more.

I sympathise with you, Doc. It's not easy making a living as a language teacher. I worked as a freelance tutor for about 2 years after I graduated, giving mostly private lessons (in English). The best paid jobs for me though were translation jobs: I remember once I made about 3.000 Euros for 10 days worth of work translating 8-10.000 words from French into English. That was sweet.

When it comes to Latin pronunciation, here's my 50 cents. It's a very enlightening video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-l4uoistRg&feature=related

Deserves an Oscar!!

Oh, does Provence have an accent? That's news!

It's a ski resort named Gerlitzen (http://www.gerlitzen.com) in the south of Austria. Since I'm living in a town literally at the crossroads between Slovenia, Italy and Austria, there are actually several ski resorts around.

Ok, then how about Italy?

That's still the same site in Portugal (Mirobriga), but those olive trees are indeed reminiscent of the Provence.

Last week I signed up for a 3-day "ski course". As I currently live near a ski resort, I thought I might as well give it a try - for the first time in my life! I was lucky because even though I signed up for group lessons, there were not a lot of people around so I ended up with a private instructor. By the 3rd day, I was already going down a real slope, what a rush! I'm seriously considering investing in some good equipment so that I can try it again next winter. Sorry to hear about the Yang situation. At least you have the pure alpine air to look forward to.