The snow is mostly gone, here on the prairies, but it will be some weeks before we see greenery and flowers blooming. I can’t wait! It has been a long winter and I sure could use a bit of color. Late spring or early summer images are great for it because all is fresh and green is bright and not dimmed by dust of late summer days.
We are lucky here in Alberta, because some nights are full of light show. We had a couple of gorgeous Aurora showing last fall and I have managed to capture some shots without leaving the city.
I know, I know it is winter and everybody posts winter photography, but I am not ready for it yet. I see it outside my window every day, so I want to see something warm, colorful and pretty. Hope you are in need of this as well.
It has been a while since I’ve posted anything about Elk Island National Park. So, I think, it is time for some lovely sunset from the beginning of summer, when all was green, flowers were blooming and days were warm and long.
Located on the Trail of the Eagle's Nests, Ogrodzieniec Castle rules over the Krakow-Czestochowa Upland in southern Poland. Established first in early 12th century, destroyed and rebuilt numerous times since then it was finally abandoned at the beginning of 19th century due to extensive fire damage and remains a picturesque ruin ever since.
At the northwestern tip of Trotternish Peninsula on the Isle of Skye, we have found another picturesque location for our photo adventures, right by the ruins of Duntulm Castle. Since the tide was low and a portion of the sea floor was revealed I have had a rare opportunity to explore the multitude of sea plants with their wonderful colors and shapes as well as take in the views.
With any new country we visit we try to find some point of reference while planning a trip. Such was the case during our first visit to Scotland, four years ago, when we decided to visit Glenfinan, a place of birth of a fictional character Connor MacLeod, from the movie "Highlander" (the original, not the re-makes.. ;D). This time around, I have managed to visit the famous Eilean Donan Castle,
The Nuremberg Imperial Castle is an impressive building dating from around 1150AD. It was restored to it's original shape, as it was almost completely destroyed during the last war. The main Luginsland Tower is open to visitors, and can be climbed with a promise that one can actually see the Bavarian mountains.
Finally, to our dismay, the last day of our Scottish adventures arrived. Since we were all a bit tired and the weather was getting rather uncertain we decided not to venture too far away from Edinburgh, but visit one of the close by castle ruins. We have decided to go east of Edinburgh this time (since all our previous trips took us west) and visit Castle Tantallon located on the coast of Scotland close to North Berwick. It was built in mid 14th century and survived undamaged for only 300 years or so, but the ruins that are still standing give us an idea of how grand it must have been in it's time. Very tall walls and towers are still standing there surrounded by the sea from one side and vast countryside on the other. While you approach it from the road you can see the wonderful Bass Rock sticking out of the sea providing a great background to the castle on the near by cliff.
The first thing that struck me when we got to the ruins was what time and sea breeze did to the walls. The textures and colours of the eroded material were great and caused me to take a very many pictures of them. Here is a few:
The second this was the size of the structure, still easily recognizable regardless of the damage. I was constantly lost somewhere and only thanks to my older son looking after me I was able to find my way and find the rest of my family ;D
All of those little specs on and around Bass Rock are sea birds that live on the rock. There are thousands of them there!!
By the time we left the structure I was completely blown away by the wind (it was so strong that one had to hold on to the ropes hanged on the staircases otherwise one might fall down swept by it)... On the grounds my attention was caught by the walls surrounding the castle and the wild flowers that were growing out of them, planted by the birds or wind...
Of course, I had to take a closer look ;D
And that was that!! Next day we had to fly home and return to the present. I will always cherish my memories of this trip. It was absolutely wonderful!!! I still have hundreds of pictures left from the flights and both Spain and Scotland and, perhaps, if time allows I will share some more of them with you. But for now the adventure is over... Hope you've enjoyed this holiday with us. Until the next time...
Kasia
You know that I love colour. The more of it, the better!! I have shared some of the colourful Edinburgh pictures in my post The Royal Mile in Colour. Sometimes, however, a picture just asks to be processed in black and white.. There were quite a few of those ones taken around Edinburgh that required just such a treatment so here they are...
It's all in the details and mood, I think. Hope you agree. :)
Kasia
I hope you are not bored yet with our travel story. It was quite a trip full of lovely places and I hope you are still enjoying this little journal of our adventures... When our plane landed in Edinburgh I was a bit scared that our 5 days there will be miserable, because it was cold and raining cats and dogs and the forecast was calling for similar weather for almost the entire week.. Alas, we have been so very lucky during the entire trip and did not get soaked even once, thought it was raining on occasion when we were driving.. Now, driving over there... that's a whole separate adventure in itself, if you are used to the right side of the road... Needless to say, I was being a chicken and did not drive at all, thus Mac had to do all the honours... And for the first couple of days I was terrified that we'd end up loosing the side mirror on the passenger side - there is almost no shoulder on the rural road, just stone walls that are about 20cm away from the very narrow road... And some people like to drive in the middle of such a road disregarding a bit their lane.. Well... We have survived thanks to Mac being a wonderful driver and a very quick learner ;D.. But enough of that! Lets move to our first day.. The haunted Castle Manzies.. Now, there is a bit of a story with that one. We have visited it in the middle of the day, though it was dark rather due to the low hanging clouds and it was the oldest building to which my kids have ever ventured (I'm not counting the Spanish castles because they were not looking very lived in, if you know what I mean) and my husband was teasing them that it was a haunted castle... My youngest got pretty scared and did not leave my side for the entire visit.. Even my older son was a bit uneasy, though not even remotely to the extend my younger was.. After the end of our visit I've chatted with the lady that looks after the property with her husband and she said that my son was the third kid that week to behave in a strange way and that one of the really young ones apparently had had a full conversation with a lady on the stairs who was not visible to any adult... Apparently the caretaker husband, cleaning part of the castle just a few days before has heard a woman's voice singing a lullaby and the place was empty... There you have it - the ghost story.. After all you can't visit Europe and not brash on those ;D
Everything is so green there!! It was quite a change from dry Spain! Not only in terms of the greenery but the sky, was covered in heavy layer of clouds making things look more sinister..
Our short tour inside the castle started on the main floor, built in 16th century, that housed kitchens and generally servant related part of the building..
I was really impressed with the size of the fireplace, where all the castle cooking was done. It was as tall as I am! The top floors were remodelled in 19th century:
There is a bit of history related to the 1745 Stuart rising and the memorabilia are displayed in one of the larger chambers:
While we continued our tour, the sky was remaining grey and heavy..
Our tour ended in the attic where, even Mac was feeling uneasy.. I guess they must have felt the ghosts of the past.. As it happens I have managed to catch my own ghosts.. A bit more modern ones but hey! You can't have everything ;)
See you next time!!
Kasia
About 20 minutes from Almerimar by car there is a charming little castle at Guardias Viejas. We went there one evening to see it in a setting sun. Mac has already shared a few images from that outing in his post Fuji X-PRO1 at the Beach and Another Spanish Sunset. It was a wonderful eveing, though the wind was rather cold and we were quite happy to get back in the car and drive back to our apartment at the end of the shoot ;) Here is a few pictures from that evening. It was truly beautiful there with the gorgeous Mediterranean Sea as a back drop and a gorgeous sky, hazy mountains and amazing sunset colours! I really hope you like it as much a I did... Kasia
We have decided one morning to go for a ride to Almeria and visit Alcazaba castle located on one of the hills in the middle of the city. Our friend Sandra was kind enough to be our guide and led us through the city to the castle grounds. Mac has already shared some of his pictures from that trip in his post Spanish Streets, Castle and Fuji X-PRO1. And here is what I saw that day..
Yes, I know, this is quite a pink place. The colour was so startling mids the more earthy palette of all the rest of the buildings that I had to take a picture of it ;)
The view from the castle located on top of a hill is quite remarkable. The blues of Mediterranean Sea contrast beautifully with the greens of the gardens and the pinkish rock that was used to build the castle. Unfortunately great part of it was destroyed in an earthquake in 1522. Restorations started in 1950s.
Hope you have enjoyed this short tour. If you ever are close by I heartily encourage you to go and visit this lovely place. It's too bad part of it is still in ruin, but I can imagine just how lovely it was during the time of it's glory.
Kasia
Tired after all days driving into local villages, and exploring the wonderful landscape of southern Spain, we decided to spend the day at the beach. We were at the shores of the Mediterranean sea, and I think it would be wrong not to get wet, at least our feet :) The boys had great fun running around and chasing waves. This time getting completely wet.
We also got busy with collecting shells and little pebbles from the beach. It was quite difficult not to pack up tons of these, as all were quite unique and beautiful. After almost a whole day at the beach, we decided to visit a local castle at Guardias Viejas, a short 10 minute drive from Almerimar. It was a great time to try HDR on the Fuji X-Pro1. Here are some shots from that outing. Enjoy!
