Castle in the Sky

Today was another Okinawan adventure. We visited the ruins of Katsuren Castle and a few small islands.  The castle ruins were amazing, all the building materials were stones fitted into each other, like a giant tetris puzzle. Gabriella loved climbing the stairs and jumping on the ruins themselves. The picture to the right is of her leaping from one stone to another. Greg and I felt it was an amazing picture of her in flight.  As a side note, when Greg suggested that we go to this site today he did so a little warily. I readily agreed to go, then he casually reminded me that most castles are on hills and have a lot of steps. This is a fact, so far every castle we've visited, with the exception of ones at Magic Kingdoms have been on a hill. Of course there is a strategic reason for it, the inhabitants of the castle will be able to see all sides in case of attack.  However, as a visitor of these beautiful places, I get tired after walking up the hill and then I am faced with a very large number of stairs. Because of course any castle wouldn't be one story. This particular castle had three tiers, accessible by some very old stone steps. There was a small museum near the parking lot that showed some of the pottery recovered from the ruins and a model of what the castle looked like in it's heyday.  As if a castle wasn't enough we also visited a few of the outlying islands that surround Okinawa and are accessible by bridges. The islands were beautiful, they were reminiscent of Catalina Island and the beach town in Jaws. All the beaches were simply pristine and basically deserted. I'm sure in the summer everything is packed, but today it felt like our own little island.   It was a lovely day and Gabriella and Greg both fell asleep in the car on the way home.