My sister was staying in one of these hotels in Mumbai during Thanksgiving last year.

I love castles. And I love Legos. So it should come as no surprise to anyone (especially those who’ve been reading me long enough to know I built a seven foot tall Lego castle) that I love Lego castles. I came across this castle today, while perusing Brickshelf.

It can be very hard to make large Castle-themed creations look, y’know, good: that’s because it’s very easy just to have large, boring, expanses of gray bricks stacked together to look like a wall. The Lego artist here, (who goes by “RebelRock” on Classic-Castle.com), keeps his walls clean with the use of recessed walls, arches, round bricks, and windows to keep the castle’s structure unboring. The castle itself is a joy to look at, seemingly so random in its turrets and crellenations (excellent technique!) so as to avoid boredom — the Astronomy Tower (originally, if I recall, built for a Harry Potter-related contest) fits in well and provides a fantasyish tone to the structure without going overboard. I like, also, that he doesn’t overdo it on colors, either: gray for the walls, black for roofs, dark gray for rock, and blue for water.

While I appreciate the castle for the architectual vision which went into it, and RebelRock’s technique, and how god-damn time consuming such projects are, there’s part of me that wants to break out the army, and the trebouchets, and lay siege.

I’m thankful that this Thanksgiving I won’t be chased around the city by a giant mechanical Lego Tactical Response and [K]ombat Enforcer:

Happy Thanksgiving!