Search Results for: castle mclachlan

The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spain

Comments 1 comment

The mosque interior, showing the famous series of double arches. The column on the left has a Corinthian capital reused from a Roman building. The one of the right has a Moorish capital. I am fortunate to live in a country that has preserved remains from a wide variety of civilizations. From Roman cities to medieval castles, Spain’s got it all. One culture that has left an enduring legacy on Spanish architecture, cuisine, and language is that of the Moors….

Read More Read More

The Priceless Treasures of the Barbarian Prince

Comments 14 comments

A complete set of Dwarfstar games. Probably worth more than my house. I enjoyed Sean McLachlan’s Black Gate post last month, Wargaming with my Twelve-Year-Old. Sean and his son played Outpost Gamma, a 1981 science fiction board game of man-to-man combat on a distant colony world. You don’t see a lot of coverage of early-80s science fiction microgames these days, so I appreciated being able to share the fun. Outpost Gamma was published by Heritage Models in 1981, under their celebrated Dwarfstar…

Read More Read More

Magical Items at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum

Comments 1 comment

  Bull’s heart pierced with iron nails and thorns as a protection against witches. Found in a chimney at Shutes Hill Farm, Somerset, date unknown (c) Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. A new exhibition at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum showcases 180 real-life magical items. Spellbound: Magic, Ritual & Witchcraft explores the history of magic from the early modern era to the present day through objects ranging from Renaissance crystal balls to folk charms against witchcraft. It looks at basic human…

Read More Read More

Treasure from a Phoenician Shipwreck

Comments 0 Comment

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been blogging about the sights of Málaga, Spain, most notably the popular castles of Alcazaba and Gibralfaro. Less well-known to casual visitors is the Ifergan Gallery, a private collection of ancient art collected by local wealthy collector Vicente Jimenez Ifergan. I’d like to meet Ifergan, because if I ever get to be rich, this is something I’d do — collect ancient treasures from a dozen different civilizations and open a museum to show…

Read More Read More

Exploring the Alcazaba of Málaga, Spain

Comments 1 comment

The Alcazaba with the ruins of a Roman theater in the foreground Last week I had the pleasure of spending five days in Málaga, a historic port on Spain’s south coast. Founded by the Phoenicians around the 8th century BC, it continued to be important during Roman times and well into the modern era. While it was never one of the major ports like Barcelona, it always saw brisk trade. The main attractions are two museums dedicated to local-boy-done-good Pablo…

Read More Read More

Video Game Review: Tunnels & Trolls Adventures

Comments 1 comment

I’ve been hankering for some old school pen and paper adventuring lately, but not having a gaming group here in Madrid (or indeed any gaming group for a few decades now), I did what old school gamers always used to do when they found themselves all on their lonesome — I played some solo Tunnels & Trolls adventures. But I did it with a modern twist. I played Tunnels & Trolls Adventures, a free app by MetaArcade. The app takes…

Read More Read More

Strolling through Medieval Segovia, Spain

Comments 1 comment

The Alcázar, built in the 12th century upon the foundations of a Roman fort, is one of Spain’s most impressive castles, and that’s saying a lot. Check out my previous post about the Alcázar of Segovia and its interesting collection of medieval artillery. While I’ve blogged a lot here about the sites of Madrid, it’s been a while since I’ve mentioned some of the excellent day trip possibilities from the Spanish capital. My favorite is the small city of Segovia…

Read More Read More

The Piracy Museum in Lanzarote, Canary Islands

Comments 0 Comment

Last summer I went to visit some of my in-laws and the World’s Coolest Nephew in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, and disappointed our dear editor John O’Neill by missing the Piracy Museum. Well, I just got back from another trip to Lanzarote, and this time I made it there! The Piracy Museum is housed in the 15th century Castillo de Santa Barbara and is a delightfully cheesy tourist trap. You get cardboard cutouts of pirates, a mock up of a…

Read More Read More

The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in November

Comments 1 comment

If there was a popular topic at Black Gate last month, it was Jeffrey Talanian’s role playing game Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. Gabe Dybing interviewed Jeffrey for us on November 11, and Bob Byrne wrote a brief feature on the runaway success of the Kickstarter campaign to fund a second edition of the rules — and both articles leaped into the Top Ten for the month. The number one post at Black Gate in November was our report on the…

Read More Read More

The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in September

Comments 2 comments

The most widely-read article last month — by a wide margin — was Bob Byrne’s look at classic role playing, “Why I Went Old School — or Swords & Wizardry vs. Pathfinder.” In fact, Bob’s piece is the most popular feature we’ve had at Black Gate all year (with the exception of our May announcement that we declined a Hugo nomination). He’s posted three recent updates to it so far, re-capping his group’s exploits in Matt Finch’s Hall of Bones adventure module, so check…

Read More Read More