Fort Casey

Looking over this grassy expanse toward the Puget Sound, you wouldn't think you were looking at massive military fortifications.

That's just what the enemy was supposed to think, too.
 Fort Casey was part of the plan to protect the western sea coast from invasion. It would have worked if airplanes weren't invented.

Today it's a huge park where people have picnics, fly kites and climb on the aging structures once meant to protect us.
I suppose an invasion by sea isn't so likely anyway.

Tipu was born here

Some think Tipu Sultan is a bit of a national hero.  And this is the gate to the itty-bitty place just outside of Bangalore where he was born.






Though they have street lamps and electricity now, there are other things about the old streets that would probably look familiar to Tipu.
But otherwise, Devanahalli is just a little place off the side of the highway, marked by a small sign.
Most people, to see something of Tipu's legacy, would go to one of his forts or battle grounds and see some of the impressive weaponry he possessed.

Tipu Sultan ruled the kingdom of Mysore and fought to keep the British East India Company at bay.

When he finally died in battle against the British, one of their biggest resistors was eliminated and they had access to all kinds of wealth.  At the time, the people all the way in London and Paris had heard of Tipoo Sahib, but now he's as forgotten as his birthplace.

Lal Qila

The imposing walls of the Red Fort in Delhi stretch over two kilometers.  They were built by Shah Jahan, who, like his grandfather Humayan, preferred Delhi to Agra.

The fort was a huge undertaking.  The builders and architects were told to create a paradise on earth for the emperor and his court next to the Yamuna river.

At the edge of the private royal residence was the Diwan-i-Aam, where the public came to the ruler to tell him their problems. There was a courtyard and garden in front where the people used to gather to see the emperor sit on his magnificent throne. The area was heavily ornamented and hung with thick curtains--meant to impress and awe all those who saw it.

In the private quarters, a continuous channel of water connects a row of pavilions.  The Nahr-i-Behisht, or "Stream of Paradise", collected in pools (like this one in the Rang Mahal) and fountains throughout the royal gardens and provided a kind of air-conditioning for the summer months.

One of the last things to be constructed by the Mughal rulers within the fort is the pavilion in the Hayat baksh garden.  Here Bahadur Shah II built his own small palace within a lake. 
The descendents of Shah Jahan found it difficult to maintain the splendor of the fort.  And not just building at the same level of grandeur, but  living.
When the British took over the fort in 1857, the royal descendents were found living in run down streets and alleyways that looked the same as those outside the fort.  The whole area was cleared away for army barracks.

Now, the red sandstone columns of the Diwan-i-Am glow in the afternoon sun, but in their original state, painted gold, they must have awed the public audience that gathered here to see the emperor.

The golden door is the entrance to Chhatta chowk, which was modeled after the Persian covered markets.  Shah Jahan thought the covered market was a good idea as a relief from the hot sun.
It's still a market place for the usual touristy items of India.

Mughal and British rule have both come to an end in India.  The towering red walls of the Red Fort symbolize the independence of India and the merging of history with the present.

Fort San Domingo

The fort, as one of the oldest existing buildings in Danshui, has been called many things.

It was "Fort San Domingo" to the Spanish who built the first fort here in 1629.

"Hongmao Castle" to the Dutch in 1642 when they kicked the Spanish out and it was called after the red haired folk who lived there (Fort of the Red Heads).

"The Consulate" to the British, who leased it in 1867 and turned it into their compound. 


And "historic site of the first grade" to the Taiwanese who repossessed it in 1980 and turned it into a tourist attraction.

It's a fort, so it needs cannons, but I wonder if these ones were ever used from here, or just put there to look impervious.

This one says, "The cannon is cast by the order of the emperor in Chiaching 18th year of the Qing Dynasty, weighing 800 catties."

I wondered what a catty is...probably not a fat cat...
Nope.  I looked it up.
A catty is a traditional Chinese unit of mass equivalent to about 600 grams.  So the cannon would only weigh about 96 cats, if I've done my math right.
...if we were weighing in cats, that is...

Anyhow.
The British made all sorts of renovations.  The guide pamphlet listed some of them as the "elegant features".

One was these green, glazed bottle railings.  They are pretty, it's true.

Another was the brick carving.  Come to think of it, I've never seen brick carved before.  Cool.

So go to the fort.  Look around.  Learn some stuff.
But forget about measuring in units of cat, people don't really do that.

Restorers in Agra

These guys and their bamboo scaffold labor above the heads of thousands of tourists a day.

After they finish with their work for the day, the monkeys come to play on their scaffolding.

I always find restoration work fascinating.

All kinds of restoration: buildings, art, and the restoration of relationships, too.
Restoration keeps things beautiful.

Hari Parbat

A clear sky will show Hari Parbat in the background of Dal Lake.

The current fort is only about two hundred years old, but the hill has long been thought by Kashmiris to be both sacred and strategic.

The legend goes that the hill was once a lake where a huge demon lived. The goddess Parvati became a bird and dropped a pebble its head, which grew until it crushed the demon. And so it became the hill it is today.

A hill full of all kinds of religious and military structures: gurudwaras, temples and mosques. The fort until very recently has been occupied by military and closed to the public.
Maybe now I can someday see what kind of view there is from up there...