Where am I? Omeletsmom

This week, we are visiting a castle that was completed in 1271.

It is built on an island surrounded by several artificial lakes.

The construction pioneered concentric castle defenses in it's home region, with inner and middle wards protected by high walls and towers.

The grounds feature several examples of medieval defensive weapons such as this trebuchet.

The inner ward houses a massive Great Hall

anchored by a very impressive fireplace.

(5'4" Yasmatazz included for scale).

All in all, it is one of the largest and most complete castles in its region.

Where am I?

If you know where Omeletsmom is, let us know in the comments!

Where am I? -- with llim

For Where am I? Wednesday this week, llim brings us a fresh riddle!

To one side, I look out onto this plain.  

It doesn't seem all that impressive, until I turn to the other side...

There are caves carved into this hillside!  And not just any caves.  These caves are filled with ancient and beautiful carvings. 

 There are statues of Buddha and Nandi.

One of the "caves" is actually a huge temple carved out of the rock.  The temple is dedicated to Shiva, the destroyer or transformer. It wasn't built here by bringing in stones; instead it was carved from the hill from the top down.  Impressive, especially since I don't think they used magic!

Some of the carvings in the caves are really surprising.  This one is a Buddhist temple, but the ribbed vaulted ceiling reminded me of a European cathedral.

And this pillar, in a Jain temple cave, looks truly Baroque.

 

This is a really unique site, full of beautiful surprises!  If you think you know where I am, leave a comment below!

Where am I? -- greenheron

Greenheron proposes a mystery for us this week!

Here is a huge freshwater delta – the largest in North America.  Mouth of a 40.5 mile/65km long river,

Let's go upstream.  Natural Beauty.  Recreation.

Busy shipping channel.  Industry.

International boundary.  Here you see two great nations in one photo.

The river begins.

Name that river!

Do you know where Greenheron is? Let us know in the comments!

Where am I? -- Bribot09

This week we have the first in our series of travelogues from Tower Members -- Where am I Wednesdays. Our first traveler is our Portrait Artist, Bribot09.

Greetings from Philly!

This Ravenclaw took a week off from Hogwarts to participate in the 2016 USA Curling Arena National Tournament, hosted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was a great week full of being a tourist and good curling! It was my second time in Philadelphia - the last time I was here I was eight and got lost crossing the street during a Fourth of July parade. This trip included… not getting lost! :D

Yes, I curl. Yes, it’s the sport with the ice, the sweeping, the yelling, and the rocks. Everybody throws and everybody sweeps ...and I’m totally hooked! I learned to curl in 2008 when I was living in Sweden at the Göteborg Curling Club. When I moved back to California I had no idea there was curling there until I saw an advert at the rink where I played hockey. Since 2012 I’ve picked the sport back up and it’s become an obsession equal to crafting. What do I love most? The sounds! The rocks grinding on the ice and the friction of the brooms when sweeping are my favorites, of course the satisfactory thwack of granite on granite is nice too. :)

Powered by ice cream and Rocky Balboa (one of my teammates has us listen to Eye of the Tiger and the Final Countdown while we’re stretching before every game), we went undefeated through the week to take home a repeat gold! More importantly our skip (team Captain) promised us Italian Ice from Rita’s if we won, so that was extra motivation to win. It’s a little embarrassing to be recognized by employees at an ice cream place on the other side of the country, but completely worth the shame. The trip also included a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, that we ran up a la Rocky with “mouth trumpets” before visiting the exhibits.

Being an ice sport, curling provides plenty of inspiration for knitting! Curling has a legacy of epic sweaters and a woman I met was wearing a gorgeous sweater that she let me photograph to inspire a future knitted object. One day I’ll have a curling sweater as soon as I get over my fear of making them! For now I’ll just stick with my mitts.

During one of our long breaks, we visited Independence National Historical Park and Valley Forge National Historical Park, which satisfied my inner Parkie and was a first time visit for my teammates (see the over smiles at right). There I met a ranger I used to work with on Alcatraz - it’s always nice to see some of home when travelling!






Thanks for letting me share my summer holiday with you all - hope to see more Ravenclaws abroad!

(Team Walsh after our gold medal victory!)