my, what BIG fort walls you have

A short train ride up the coast dropped us off at the port city of Galle.
As with all things Sri Lanka, the city is old... some archaeologists believe that it may be the famed city of Tarshish, where King Solomon sourced his vast treasure of precious gem stones.
"Modern" Galle, came into its own in the 15th century when a Portuguese fleet, en route to the Far East, was blown off course and found shelter in the bay.
Legend has it, they heard a cock crowing in the distance and named the place Galle after the Portuguese word Gallo meaning cock or rooster.
Typical freakin' white Westerners... apply their own random name vs. actually ASKING the multitude of brown people in skirts who ACTUALLY live there... "Hey brother, this place, right here, where you and your peeps have lived for the past 1000 years or so...what it's name?"
Nope, too easy, just go ahead and call it a cock...
Through a series of European back door shenanigans, the city moved to Dutch control and then finally to the British.

We ran into this local, picnicking near the fort wall... she really gave us something to chew on.

The Dutch ran the show for a few hundred years, building the most impressive fort city in all of Asia.
The weathered Dutch coat of arms embedded over the main gate entrance.

The old Dutch Reformed church, which has held mass since 1640 and continues to today (well Sunday, but you get my meaning).

The Star Bastion is a key point of defense for an ocean side attack, and a fabulous place to watch the sun set over the calm warm beauty of the Indian Ocean.
I can only imagine a team of Dutch engineers poring over plans thinking... "We need to defend AND be fabulous".

Last year, we explored an old Spanish fort in Cartagena, Columbia, and this fort is the spitting image... well you know what they say about forts... "four walls, some ramparts and a couple of turrets does a fort make"

Turning the things of war, into amusement is Heather's specialty as she daintily skipped across the ramparts... feel like there is another Haiku in there that I need to explore further...

A lighthouse built a 100 years ago, still protecting ships from being smashed to pieces in the tricky approach to the bay.

Just outside the fort walls, there is an active and lively fish market, where we saw the beginnings of a yummy fish head soup.