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.
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