3 ms·

> turns out a lot of medieval cities/towns are really pleasant places to walk, and just be. minus the poop I'm assuming

rhaps0dy 8y ago
CalRobert means walking _nowadays_ (i.e. without poop) in cities that were built in the middle ages.
CalRobert 8y ago
and plague, and increased risk of murder, etc. But the towns _now_ are wonderful. Beautiful architecture and fantastic for walking, or sitting and enjoying a meal, coffee, wine, or beer while taking it in. Growing up I wished we had real towns like the ones in kids movies set in medieval Europe. I couldn't fathom that they do indeed exist - after all, why would you stop building them?? I still don't really understand why we stopped, to be honest. It's easy to say "cars" but I think there's more to it than that. The first time I visited the Alsace I was blown away that places like this are real. https://previews.123rf.com/images/freeartist/freeartist1609/freeartist160900005/64897672-most-beautiful-villages-of-france-riquewihr-in-alsace.jpg https://previews.123rf.com/images/freeartist/freeartist1609/...
- mywittyname 8y ago
  Costs. Replicating that beautiful masonry and hand-milling the timber would be outrageously expensive today. Plus, I doubt the raw materials are nearly as abundant, especially the old growth trees. Then there's modern building codes. I agree that these are stunning cities, but more modern European buildings can also have similar charm, I think.
  - CalRobert 8y ago
    Fair enough - I used to work under a board that was about 20" by 20" by 30 feet. It was crazy to me that it's now rare to ever see a tree that tall and straight on this entire island any more, but once it was just a normal piece of building material in an old grain mill. There were also markings on the wall about max weights in hundredweight (cwt) - I think the building was from the mid-19th century.

CalRobert means walking _nowadays_ (i.e. without poop) in cities that were built in the middle ages.

and plague, and increased risk of murder, etc. But the towns _now_ are wonderful. Beautiful architecture and fantastic for walking, or sitting and enjoying a meal, coffee, wine, or beer while taking it in. Growing up I wished we had real towns like the ones in kids movies set in medieval Europe. I couldn't fathom that they do indeed exist - after all, why would you stop building them?? I still don't really understand why we stopped, to be honest. It's easy to say "cars" but I think there's more to it than that. The first time I visited the Alsace I was blown away that places like this are real. https://previews.123rf.com/images/freeartist/freeartist1609/freeartist160900005/64897672-most-beautiful-villages-of-france-riquewihr-in-alsace.jpg https://previews.123rf.com/images/freeartist/freeartist1609/...

mywittyname 8y ago
Costs. Replicating that beautiful masonry and hand-milling the timber would be outrageously expensive today. Plus, I doubt the raw materials are nearly as abundant, especially the old growth trees. Then there's modern building codes. I agree that these are stunning cities, but more modern European buildings can also have similar charm, I think.
- CalRobert 8y ago
  Fair enough - I used to work under a board that was about 20" by 20" by 30 feet. It was crazy to me that it's now rare to ever see a tree that tall and straight on this entire island any more, but once it was just a normal piece of building material in an old grain mill. There were also markings on the wall about max weights in hundredweight (cwt) - I think the building was from the mid-19th century.