Not too long ago I spent some time in Venice – city of canals, gondolagondolas, and pre-teen American girls. Venice has a long history of masks, costumes, and shiny things, so it is all very pretty, very touristy, and very expensive. At some points it really makes one wonder where all this money is going – it’s not like the streets are paved with gold. They don’t even have streets! Where is all the gold paving going on??

Well. Here, in the hotel bathrooms. It is difficult to convey exactly what the experience of entering this bathroom was like. I have never been to Egypt, and most of my knowledge of tombs comes from Indiana Jones and Disney World, but I gather the impression that the decorator of this hotel really latched on to the sarcophagus motif. I was almost (and by almost, I mean secretly) expecting certain tiles to be booby traps, and I may or may not have pressed more than one to see how long it would take for the room to fill with scorpions and sand. 

^Confusingly, not a gold button. And now while this might seem like a rather singular bathroom, I’d like to share what I found behind the men’s room door in a restaurant.

Maybe Venice has it right. Maybe we’ve been generally too modest with our bathrooms - too practical, too utilitarian, without any thought for the importance of the ritual. What is a tomb if not a place of eternal peace and restoration? Perhaps we should have to ascend nobly, while the golden toilet waits about on its mighty high altar. Venice reminds us not to look past the marvel that is the toilet and not to ignore the importance of tradition, ritual, and, above all, the afterlife and reincarnation. 

Hello everyone! I too greatly apologize for the infrequency of my posts. It is most unforgivable, but for the past 4 weeks I haven’t had particularly regular access to a computer as I have been travelling around the country. I have certainly come across many remarkable things during my travels like Romany gypsies and drunk Scottish men to name a few, but in terms of toilets I have been confronted with disappointingly mundane specimens. However, I upon arrival in Cornwall I was confronted with the following:

Ok, I suppose it is a bit self-explanatory. It does say directly on it what it is supposed to do… Hand wash. But how? Well I was puzzled too. There are no faucets! There are no handles! Those little button-looking things at the top, merely decoration! How is it supposed to wash my hands if I can’t turn it on? Well, as with many of the wonders of the modern age, this little contraption is automatic. You just stick you hands underneath the hood and suddenly a little squirt of clear soap will descend into your eagerly awaiting hands. Before too long a delicate little waterfall of warm water will descend with perfect timing, giving you just enough time to lather up your hands and wash all of the soap away. Finally, a pleasantly warm jettison of air concludes your altogether very pleasant (if strange and condensed) hand washing experience. My only quibble with this design is how unpleasing it is aesthetically. Otherwise… I wouldn’t be troubled if these started to pop up across the USA!

As it turns out, upon my return to Bristol I discovered that these 3-in-1 sinks are not unique to Cornwall and Penzance, but seem to be a favorite of train stations throughout the country!

Well that’s fine by me!

HI TUMBLR. I apologize for the gross infrequency of my posting, but a few obstacles, including a broken camera, have gotten in the way! However, here I am, back again, with a few fun things to point out.

Last week I had the great good fortune of cleaning my apartment’s bathroom, and while I was soaking the shower curtain (because I had come to learn that it was originally white, and NOT orange/pink/black) I realized that I never shared my own charming water closet – which is really something! So here she is, without further ado.

This is my bathroom, as seen from the door. It’s really quite a complex, and first time visitors get to play the fun game of “what’s behind door number one, and what behind door number two? … And whose pants are those?”

Let’s go into the door on the right first, right? It’s a small space, it looks tiny and toilet sized.

SHOWER. Lame. (But look at that freshly white shower curtain!)

And there’s only a giant sink over there, so it must be this other door!

And it is! And it’s admittedly a pretty normal toilet – that’s the flusher, up there in the wall. But look, it has a friend! And that little guy is a tiny laundry sink in which one can soak and wash their finer clothes. Note the soap dish and heater-drying rack combo next to it. So that’s where those pants came from!

… .

And if you don’t know what it really is, Wikipedia has a lovely page about it, with Chinese porcelain and all.

On the other side of the toilet room is a hand-washing sink, so one can really do all their business at once. And while I’m not going to complain about having a spacious bathroom complex, I might express some disappointment in the extremely small size of the shower. It’s not really like they were cutting corners here, and the wash sink is practically the size of a tub. But anyhow, that’s my bathroom here in the Ghig! 

You never really think about it, but toilets have the potential to endure for a long time. Porcelain, a common material used in the construction of toilets is very durable, and unless chipped, will probably stay put for years and years. 

I was reminded of this aspect of toilets when I visited some historical houses during the past couple of weeks. Both houses were products of the 18th and 19th centuries, so they weren’t too old as buildings go, but they sported a remarkable variety of toilets that illustrate just how well toilets stand the test of time. Different toilet styles and fashions may come and go, but people really haven’t messed with the basic design plan. If you think about it, a pit in the ground is fundamentally the same as a water filled bowl with a drain that whirlpools everything down to a mysterious sewer land.

Behold! A Panoply of Toilets!!

This beauty is from Cardiff Castle. Unfortunately the bathroom was roped off, so this was the best angle I could get. Just look at how intricate the painting in the bowl is! This bathroom is unique because even back in the 19th century it was equipped with warm running water. You could even flush the toilet! I would guess that the flushing apparatus is that white handle to the left of the main bowl. My one criticism of this design is that that wood looks like it would be both mighty uncomfortable (where is the contouring present in the modern toilet?) and mighty cold.

This picture is taken from an exhibit at the Blaise Estate. This estate is one of the biggest public parks in Bristol and is home to not only this historic house that has been converted into a museum (which showcases these beauties), but also a castle, and some archaeological sites. It was a bit of a hike from my housing, but it was well worth it! The toilets that follow are from the exhibit above.

Here’s the low-class version of the toilet above. This one certainly didn’t have running water as that little door in the front shows…. EWWWWWWWWW! 

This one is quite nice. Those flowers are absolutely lovely! The design has me a bit perplexed though… Surely there used to be more to it? If not… well I think I may speak for a few people when I say that this makes me glad for the existence of modern amenities!

I had to include this rather plain looking one for the inscription you can clearly see written at the top of the bowl. Notice anything special about it? No? It was manufactured in the lovely city of Bristol, where I currently reside! Bristol toilet pride!

I like this one! I’ve always been a fan of the mounted tanks with pull flush handles. Once again, note the intricate painting on the toilet base!

Finally, I thought that I would leave you all with a brief history of the toilet. It is most informative. Enjoy!