Today was one of the best days we have had at PKAP this season. We started our day at the Larnaka Museum. We stopped in so that Brandon could look at some of the metal objects we have collected during our survey and excavation seasons. He was able to see some of the artifacts, but we will need to wait on some of the metals (especially the coins) to be conserved and should be able to see them next summer. We then were able to look at some of our more complete artifacts that reside in the storeroom of the museum, versus our sherds which are stored at Terra Ombra. I have to confess that I had forgotten about some of the artifacts that we collected. Brandon got very excited when he pulled out a box with a basket handled amphora that included the handle, neck, and rim. It was actually pretty exciting to see how all the pieces fit together – as I reread that last sentence I realize how big of a nerd I sound like. But still, very exciting moment for the ceramicists.
After dropping Brandon and David’s students (Kaylee, Tim, and Jimmie) off at the 
museum, David and I headed up to Idalion – a very amazing palace complex north of our site. I was a little nervous because we were dropping in unannounced on Dr. Maria Hadjicosti – former Director of the Department of Antiquities and our collaborator on a monograph detailing our excavation work at Vigla and Koutsopetria. The museum at Idalion is about six years old, and a very nice looking museum with lots of open spaces and lighting, as well as some cool exhibits. We had a great visit, about three hours long, where we talked about the monograph and plans for moving it forward to publication. She even showed us some of her Hellenistic and Classical pottery from Idalion and it was nice to see how it compared to our collection from Vigla – some very interesting similarities, including basket handled amphorae.
After getting back to Larnaka, David, Brandon, and I went out to Vigla to see how our site looked and make sure that it was ok. I know that sounds strange, but we wanted to make sure that there were no…….shall we say….sudden changes in the landscape. Everything looked the same, which is great. Once again, I was reminded of what a spectacular view Vigla offers of Larnaka Bay.
Finally, after dinner we went for a walk on the boardwalk to see how the preparations for 
the upcoming Kataklysmos were proceeding. Not only are more vendors setting up their booths, but the place that sells the best loukoumades during the festival opened up tonite. There was much rejoicing, at least on my part, and as you would expect, to celebrate we immediately went and bought……ice cream at Haagen Dazs. Why not loukoumades? That would be a rookie mistake and this is not my first rodeo, you need the people cooking the loukoumades to have time to get in the groove, perfect their technique, let the oil age, etc. Tomorrow night? Sure. Tonite? Too soon.
RSM
Ancient History Ramblings 