>> the dirt road where you got laughed at (with literally knee-slapping) by an old shepherd when you told him how you got fleas,

OK, now I really want to hear how they got those fleas the old guy was laughing about :)

Also, the background to the blog- that's such a nice reconstruction of the interior of a Minoan palace. Where is it from?

I remember the first time I saw such a reconstruction (of a Minoan palace, again- there's just something with how colourful those tend to be); it made me long for the ability to see the place as it was when it was still standing. I always thought a reconstruction in some 3d engine would hit the spot.

Perhaps that's a bit of a counterpoint to the OP's assertion that technology inches us away from the real life of people past. I think there's times where it legitimately helps us, by providing a crutch to our imagination. After all, drawing things by hand (like the blog background) and using a computer, is not so different. GIS is a whole other thing though, I'd guess.