I think it was 2015 too! In the summer. I took a sabbatical and took 2 solo trips: first to Guadeloupe and Martinique, then to Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Japan. It was SO much fun!

I don’t remember that one in Ghent, but I know what Gordon was talking about. People in Europe built circular staircases in a way that made them easier to defend. The attackers, moving up the stairs clockwise, had the center pole on their right. That meant they had little room to wave a sword with their right hands. The defenders, moving downwards counter-clockwise, had the center pole on their left, so they could swing a sword better with their right hand. Presumably that castle in Ghent had it backward!

I agree! The medieval European ones tended to be more utilitarian, I think. These (Matsumoto and Himeji, at least) seemed to manage to be strong and defensible but to be beautiful at the same time.

I know what you mean! And yet it was built for the same purpose as any medieval castle in Europe: to protect against enemy attacks. But that’s the beauty of travel, isn’t it? Questioning assumptions!

Yes, I assume so. I know that single story houses had little sunken hearths in the middle of the room, but they couldn’t do that in a multi-story wooden structure like this.

Thanks, Carol!