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The Romantic view says "wow, look at all these buildings, the interesting people, the artwork, the legions marching down the avenue". On the otherhand, life there would have been pretty much no different than today: politics, economy, putting food on the table, need a new pair of shoes - day to day life.
I certainly wouldn't mind being a "visitor" to several time periods in the past, but quite honestly, I wouldn't want to live in any of them...I like being a 21st century citizen...even with all the crap and terrible things that exist in this day and age, the amenities far outweigh the negatives.
What a coincidence. I just finished reading this....10 Reasons The Past Was Way More Disgusting Than You Realized - Listverse
Geo
My Grandmothers house had chamber pots, they were emptied in the toilet at the top of the garden. In Newcastle they used to collect all the pee for the tanning and dying industries, people say you cant take the piss out of newcastle but we have done it for generations.
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Urine used to be Newcastle's third biggest export after coal and beer, with some reports suggest it was even the first.
It was used for a variety of things at different times throughout Newcastle's history – ballast in ships, a stripping agent to turn wool into wearable clothes and in the tanneries to remove hair and guts from animal hides.
The urine was collected from public urinals or barrels in the city, but people who worked in this urine industry weren't too keen on others knowing.
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Possible origin of the phrase "taking the piss"