Indoor facilities in 12th century Iceland

As I write this, the news features concerns about volcanoes erupting in one of our favorite place, Iceland. I know, Iceland seems an odd choice compared to London, or Paris or the Grand Canyon, but the wild remoteness of the country is like few others.

All this reminded me of our trip there two years ago, and a trip to the Þjóðveldisbærinn Stöng, a Viking Farm excavated in a fairly remote area of Iceland. As Robert will attest, Highway 32 was  more of a suggestion than paved road, often marked only by sparse markers to let you know that you were on track. Describing the area as a moonscape, is not far off.

Our destination was a settlement excavated by archaeologists, and open to the public since 1974. Although Iceland is not nearly as cold as the Viking's original lands, these Nordic folk had a fairly good idea that indoor toilets were a pretty good idea.

And, honestly I was NOT looking for this,  but according to the signs from the Archaeological Heritage Society of Iceland, outside the excavation indicated that this area was believed to be the toilet. No more specifics were provided.

Medieval accommodations

Our summer vacation included tours of a few castles in Wales, and, of course, a few necessary trips to the toilets. I didn't actually use any of these in this post. In fact, I didn't even notice them.

Robert was the one who pointed them out, and took some of the photos. He doesn't actually share my enthusiasm but nonetheless supports my curiosity.

These were taken at the ancient castle of Cardiff. I mean ancient even for Europe; the foundations go back to the Roman empire. What you see here is a nook off a room in the living quarters with a cavity that goes straight to the moat, a good 50-feet down. It conveniently looks out on an opening. A room with a view, so to speak.

This is the somewhat newer castle at Conwy, Wales. It was built by the English for defense against the Irish and Welsh. I had already taken this picture, when late in the afternoon, the tour guide pointed out the small narrow openings about halfway up the height of the towers. I have learned to be a bit skeptical of the more colorful tales of tour guides, but in this case it made sense. He noted that these windows, normally covered with a metal grate, accessed the latrines. Conceivably accessible to an attack, they would have been too malodorous to be vulnerable. 

ADA approved?

I don't normally frequent toilets designed for the physically handicapped. Usually they are designed with extra space to accommodate wheelchairs. This toilet from the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene features a handle (or is it a pedal?) to be able to flush without maneuvering around trying to reach around or over the seat for the wall. I never thought of that issue. This might be handy even if you don't have limited mobility.