Summer Memories of the Beautiful Lake Louise

I know I've already shared some pictures from our visit at Lake Louise in July of last year (Lake Louise - how I saw it..), but I cannot resist posting more of them. Especially today, when the world outside is so dark and gloomy I can't help but look at these pictures and feast my eyes on summer colors... It is one of the most beautiful places in Banff National Park here in Alberta and every time I go there I am enchanted by the sight of it.  I was lucky to have taken my macro lens with me as well and managed to snap a few shots of the beautiful wild flowers growing around the lake. I hope you enjoy all this color as much as I do... Kasia

Sunrise at the Meadow

We woke up this morning before the sun was up and decided to go out for a short photo trip.  We were too late to drive far away from the city so we've decided to go to a nearby field and see what will happen... The landscape was not very appealing and there was no clouds to make the sky look interesting so I decided to concentrate on something else.  Here is a few shots fresh from the press.  Enjoy! :D

Aren't sunrises beautiful?! ;D

Kasia

Tantallon Castle - the last of our Scottish adventures..

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

The Rockies This Summer

We were very lucky this summer to be able to travel through the Rockies twice - so far :D.  The first time we have visited only Jasper National Park in Alberta visiting some of the places we have not seen yet.  The weather, again, was on our side and in spite of the very strong wind the temperature as well as the sky cooperated and allowed us to stop by and take lots of pictures...  It was a very wet beginning of the summer and the lakes and rivers were full of water (as you can see on pictures of both Jasper and Talbot Lakes below). We have made a little detour before we entered the park to visit another site in the mountains, but the roads were closed due to flooding...  There was still quite a lot of snow high in the mountains and we have been granted wonderful views of glaciers and snow covered peaks (Mount Edith Cavell with her glaciers, below).  Here is a few shots from the first trip:

It was a wonderful trip, filled with great views and animal sitings that are always a pleasure...

Our second trip took place just a week ago and it took us a very long way through the mountains to British Columbia and back home to Alberta. We were a bit short on time and could not stop too often to take pictures but we have still managed to take a few stops here and there admiring the views and the abundant flora.  It's amazing how of the wild flowers full the mountain meadows were this time of year!! It was simply gorgeous and since I did take my macro lens with me I took advantage of it and here are some of the results:

On the way there we could not resist a short stop at the beautiful Moose Lake, B.C. It was a gorgeous day, the clouds providing a lovely background to the mountains surrounding this lake and the wild flowers bloomed with abandonment making the views even more appealing...

As before we have decided to take a different way home and could not resist stopping at Lake Louise (since we were travelling through Banff National Park this time).  After we left there, the views became even more beautiful... We rarely have a chance to travel through the mountains with setting sun and moon accompanying us. This time we were granted both of these and it was such a gorgeous set of views that, regardless of a long travel ahead, we have decided to stop a few more time to capture the wonderful scenes.  I hope you like them as much as we did :D

Kasia