One of the Seven Wonders of Portugal, Palacio National da Pena, a fairy tale palace standing on top of a hill above Sintra is said to be the oldest palace inspired by European Romanticism. Thought I know a few things about Romanticism – as a believer in cross-cultural currents- I know of Romantic poetry, and drama, painting, music and even of the “age of reflection” impact on science (love it! I have to write on this soon) but seeing this castle made me wonder what is it that makes Romantic architecture, Romantic.

Imagination? Intuitive perception? Visually strong colour combinations or mood? Strong emotions? (…) Drama! Dream like pictures maybe?

I can’t go wrong if I say Palacio da Pena reflects the mood of Romantic lyrical poetry of that time. I’m not just saying it: there’s evidence. It’s Byron who wrote in a letter to a friend that the “village of Sintra is the most beautiful in the world” and called it a “glorious Eden”. You can’t really go more Romantic than that, can you? I am sure you expected a looooooong theory to explain what makes this palace Romantic. Well, I guess Byron’s testimony will do. He sounds very convincing, even managed to make me choose Sintra over Evora – a long-time (childhood, in fact) favourite. For many years most visitors haven’t been aware of the original chromatic variety of the palace; it used to be entirely grey, as the colours of its facades faded. It was only at the end of the 20th century that the original colours were restored.

Romantic writers experimented with opium and other drugs (no names, sorry) and that’s because they wanted to drive out reason just so imagination can take away. Same did the Surrealists looking for states in which what is deep down in our minds may come to surface. I love the strange confusion between dream and reality, I’ve got imagination and hope and therefore true freedom. I believe in the reality of our dreams (yes, Dali’s, you read my mind)

Call me irrational (please do, I’ll love it!) and let’s never talk about you can’t save the world, Didi thing again!

Expectations are scary, especially as they’ll keep growing bigger and bigger with each positive sign. A smile, a few nice words, a wink or a midnight text can do miracles, and your little small wishes become big expectations. Overnight. Well, now you’re lost: (…) you all know what follows, not long now before disappointment comes along.

Whenever I am disappointed, it’s my own fault. I’ve been long trying to throw the blame upon others and I know it doesn’t work. They’re just being who they are. My expectations are at fault.

The advice is simple: just drop expectations! Don’t think you can get away with lowering them, no. Just drop. Sounds good, but can we really take this pressure of ourselves? Can we let others off the hook of our expectations? Remember it all started with wishful thinking (not sure you can help that), a smile and a few nice words.

Don’t allow your wishes to become expectations (this word really freaks me out) unless you’re ready to be bitterly disappointed.

- happy for a dandelion in the back garden, wish to be taking photos in the orchard tomorrow, not expecting a sunny day though -

Tonight we’ll be talking about the exciting new world of digital media (yes, I should be reading on digital strategies tonight) and the Roman town of Pompeii (no, I should NOT even touch books on ancient history).

2. Situation Analysiss

What do they teach us on a Marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation course? Well, they start with the beginning. And the beginning of marketing sounds as follows:

“Etched on a dusty kerbstone amidst the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, you’ll find an engraved p£n!s, strategically carved to point the way to what, at that time, was one of the most popular brothels in the area. Guides will tell you it’s the “oldest advertisement in the world, for the oldest business in the world”. While the truth of that claim is debatable, the phallic ad is certainly very old” The Pompeii p£n!s was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed the city on 24 August, AD 79, but the true origins of marketing go back much further that that. (…)”

3. Objectives (goals):

Well, this is why I love marketing: it’s full of surprises! Initial objective was to get on with my emarketing final project draft, but as you see, we end up discussing one of the myths of Pompeii (their actual number is scary) – the brothels.

4. Tactics and actions:

Funny place to read again about the legendary number of brothels in Pompeii, most likely, only one. Not sure there was much promotion (display advertising here) needed, I’d say 100% market share should be relatively easy to obtain for the only existing brothel in the area (therefore by far the most popular!). I am afraid we have been too easily taken by the artistic sketchy image of the brothel and pimp given by Roman comedy (indeed a mirror of those times, but one to turn Roman society upside down, and not to be taken literally).

Pompeii is full of archaeological traps and the truth is that we can’t really distinguish between the dedicated brothel and any of the other places in town where sex and money were not kept separate.

Most of the prostitutes in Pompeii were probably the barmaids or the landladies who sometimes slept with customers after closing time, sometimes for money. Researchers doubt any of them thought of themselves as prostitutes, or called their work place a brothel.

5. Conclusions:

Sorry to disappoint you, but it appears that the search for the Pompeian brothel is a category mistake. Sex for money was very common back then and almost as diffused through the town as eating, drinking and sleeping. Except in one case and I shall be back on that another time

6. Control:

The only place that meets all the criteria to have possibly been a dedicated brothel usually proves to offer the tourist only a brief pleasure. A stream of tourists queue for it, but it has been calculated that the average visit lasts roughly three minutes. Disappointed visitors say the local guides do their best to make it appealing and I guess it’s true, as I heard some not entirely accurate stories. It’s a shame really and, sadly, we forget how sceptical scholarship can sometimes be more exciting then sensationalism ☹

Some local guides have been heard to explain:

“The paintings have a practical purpose. The prostitutes couldn’t speak Latin, you see. So clients had to point to a picture before they went in to let the girls know what they wanted.”

Not sure a brief visit time of 3 minutes and a KFC like menu display makes this place a brothel.

7. Recommendations:

The very date of the explosion is another myth, as the real date probably was a few months later than usually thought, so my personal recommendation would be never to trust marketers: we are trained to try and pass a fancy-not-at all-accurate image as the truth

- this plan is a mock-up; don’t give it too much attention-

Hope is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—

Autumn feather from Gog Magog Downs – not just some hills, but the giant who turned his back and went away after being rejected by the nymph Granta (River Cam).

A child who doesn’t like Jules Verne at all, but finds Edgar Allan Poe very, very charming will undoubtedly grow up (grow up? Ha ha, it’s getting FUNNY) to love Marry Shelley’s Frankenstein and find it one of the most Romantic (and romantic) novels ever.
I know it might sound odd, but when you think about it, you realise that horror is a very important feeling in Romanticism; Gothic is somewhere in between terror and romance and stereotypical characters like ghosts, Byronic heroes, mad women, angels/fallen angels and magicians are all very Romantic. Shall I go further and say prosecuted maidens and vampires could even become, in the right shade of light, erotic?

I haven’t thought about Allan Poe in ages (shame!) and I wasn’t particularly excited about this Halloween. What about an Edgar Allan Poe by Roger Corman Halloween all-nighter? The Raven, The Pit and Pendulum, The Tomb of Ligeia and The masque of Red Death. Temping, tempting, tempted!

And now, my go for the Wanderer above the Sea of Fog!

Nice try, but nothing like the ink and sepia of Caspar David Friedrich whom I greatly admire for managing to stay only “half mad”!