It's all in the translation

We were sitting at an outdoor cafe on a canal in Amsterdam with Baby Brother and Partner when Hans brought up the subject of the Rosetta Stone (don't ask me how these discussions get started because I haven't a clue!). He had just mentioned the three languages that appear on the stone and Baby Brother corrected him. It turns out there are two languages and three scripts. The languages being Egyptian and Greek, and the third script is demotic which is another form of hieroglyphics.

This is the kind of repartee that goes on in Hans' family. In my family everyone tries to remember which neighbor got drunk and threw fish in our swimming pool.

But anyway, by the time we arrived in Germany (with the Traveling Pie) I'd forgotten the Rosetta discussion. We traipsed around Trier and took in the sights which include the largest Roman gate still standing, and a church that has been burned down and rebuilt so many times that I hope the next invaders realize that destroying it would be redundant.

We had just passed the old sight of a nun's cloister when we saw this graffiti scrawled all over an ancient wall.

I remarked that perhaps about a zillion years from now when aliens excavate this area they'll try to figure out what civilization left their writings upon these walls.

That's when Hans (who does not share my sense of humor) surprised me and said in a somber voice, "I hope they have someone who can decipher the Graffiti Stone."

This made me laugh for the rest of the day.