The Burges Bear

Building The Imperial Legacy

"Rome was not built in a day"

 And neither, let me tell you, was my Mum's garage!

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It is incumbent on every emperor  to bestow a physical legacy for the betterment and benefit of mankind; as well of course as to ensure the mark and glorification of their own magnificent reign.

Great baths, theatres, fora and aqueducts dominate the ancient world and still endure to perpetuate the memory of our imperial ancestors.

Indeed, it can be one of the pressures of being an emperor, to know that one must build .... and it is a pressure that I have not been immune from.  The last two summers have seen the emperor building his own modest legacy.

[Video of Great Garage Build, Kinross 2011. Click to Play]

So in my own modest way, I can now somewhat relax.  At least until next Summer, when ramping and landscaping will follow.  

Now Where Did I Leave My Bike?

[You need a good memory to find your bike in the local bike park - Ghent, Belgium, Jan 2012]

Christmas Tree - Bruges, Belgium

New Year in Flanders, Belgium

[Picturesque view form the Ghent Belfry Tower]

The Emperor was recently lucky enough to visit the historic Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges, Belgium.

[The canals of historic Bruges]

The Emperor was impressed with the abundance of medieval architecture, history  and culture.

Not to mention a  wide range of *strong* Belgian beers, world class chocolates, waffles and fries, that all helped fuel the Emperor's cultural excursion.
For the cities of Flanders see: http://www.discoverflanders.com/

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I am reminded that great, great .... uncle Julius took a campaigning holiday through Belgium  in 57BC and found the locals to be somewhat more unruly than they are now. Writing in his own war commentaries of the Belgae, Aquitani and Gauls, Caesar noted:

"The Belgae are the bravest of the three peoples, being farthest removed from the highly developed civilisation of the Roman Province, least often visited by merchants with enervating luxuries for sale, and nearest to the Germans across the Rhine, with whom they are continually at war."

[Caesar, Bellum Gallicum, I.1.3]

"The Belgae, they said, were the only people who half a century earlier, when all the rest of Gaul was overrun by the Tuetoni and the Cimbri*, prevented the invaders from entering their territory - the recollection of which made them assume an air of much importance and pride themselves on their military power. "

[BG, II.4.2]

*A considerable achievement, as the migrating hordes of the Tuetoni and Cimbri went on to rampage even the Italian peninsula, defeating Roman armies and further terrifying a generation to the menace of the barbarian north.

Skills

"Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills"

[Napoleon Dynamite]

[Replica Lewis Chessmen]

Kali [Kolsson] grew up showing great promise. Kali was of average height, well-proportioned and strong-limbed, and had light chestnut hair. He was very popular and a man of more than average ability. He made this verse:

At nine skills I challenge -

a champion at chess:

runes I rarely spoil,

I read books and write:

I'm skilled at skiing

and shooting and sculling

and more! - I've mastered

music and verse.

[Orkneyinga Saga, 58. Kali Kolsson]

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For the famous Lewis Chessmen, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_chessmen

For the most quircky, Napoleon Dynamite, see:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374900/

For Viking tales of the Orkneyinga Saga, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkneyinga_saga

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[Orkney]

Strange Trees

[A distinclty gnarled tree in the forrests around Oban]