In September of 2009 my husband and I took a two week vacation spending three days in London and eleven in Scotland. It was only our second trip out of the United States and the first to Europe. Everyone told us we had to take a guided tour while in Scotland, that there was no way we could do it on our own. I, however, had my heart set on us just being alone, exploring the sights together, and this is exactly what we did. After London, we rented a car in Edinburgh and set off for the Highlands. We had some fun, crazy adventures, getting lost a number of times. Learning to navigate the single track roads in particular caused quite a few moments of skipped heart beats.
While there I took over 3,000 photographs, I mean I just couldn't help myself because around every turn was something so breathtaking I would scream at my husband to pull over. These photographs included a number of castles, there were just so many castles! This week's
Sepia Saturday theme centers around castles so, yeah, I finally get to share some of my amateurish photographs.
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| Castle Stalker, Loch Laich, mid-way between Oban & Glen Coe |
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| Castle Dunvegan, Isle of Skye |
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| Castle Dunvegan, rear view, Isle of Skye |
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| The Famous Castle Eilean Donan. Loch Duich, Western Highlands of Scotland |
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| Edinburgh Castle, back/side view |
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| Edinburgh Castle, view from cemetery in back |
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| Cannon overlooking Edinburgh from Castle |
Bam!! Now fire yourself over to
Sepia Saturday for more great photos and stories!
I am sure you did Scotland the right way, I cannot envisage ever going on a guided tour...if you want to do that you can sit at home and do it on the internet. The strange and wonderful encounters of a visit anywhere on your own compensate a hundred times for the odd thing you 'should' have seen but missed.
ReplyDeleteWe had such a wonderful time, met so many great people and saw such interesting things!
DeleteWith digital cameras, 3000 photos doesn't seem unreasonable. You've done well to pick out 7 good ones!
ReplyDeleteBut want to guess what my wife and I are doing this summer? Touring Scotland. Since she is English we go over regularly, but somehow rarely get beyond Hadrian's Wall. My tourist goal is to visit the top of Scotland, just to say I've been.
I actually took more photos than that, I didn't include the ones in London and the ones I deleted!
DeleteI am jealous, I would love to go back and see some of the things we missed!
I was at University in Scotland so their castles are special to me; never got to Skye unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteSkye is absolutely beautiful and has some charming inns, you should go back sometime.
DeleteThank you for taking us along on your trip Teresa. Great shot (!) from the cannon.
ReplyDeleteThanks, that cannon shot was one of my favorites!
DeleteYes! Scotland is amazing with castles. At times you almost trip over them. I drove around there for a couple of weeks on my own, never got lost, enjoyed every minute of it. I had to go to Eileen Donan because it was a place my Scottish grandmother had written about in her 1956 travel diary when she went back to Scotland for the first time since the 1920s. She wrote about going inside. I only wandered around it bundled up in about 4 layers of clothes. It gets damn cold in Scotland, even if it is summer.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are many castles and many we didn't have time to get to. How lovely to have your grandmother's travel diary! I very much enjoyed Eilean Donan and we were very fortunate our entire trip to Scotland as they were having a warm spell and we only encountered cold weather the first day.
DeleteI think they are great! One of my favorite novels is set in Scotland and it has inspired me to visit. Your photos makes me want to visit there even more!
ReplyDeleteAnd might that novel be Outlander?
DeleteWe are on the same page Theresa! I'm patiently waiting for the next book in the series. Maybe I can read it while in Scotland. ;)
DeleteI have been reading these books since 1992 Heather, she is one of my favorite authors although the last book made me a little angry. In fact I had pre-ordered it and it was waiting for me when I got home from my trip in 2009. Hopefully, the next book, Written in My Own Heart's Blood, which comes out in December, will make me a little happier and reunite my two favorite people!
DeleteYou will love Scotland! It was so exciting seeing some of the places I read about in the books.
How funny, I love them, too! I also did not care for the last one. I have seen guided tours based on taking tourists to the sites in the books. I don't think I would go that far, but I would love to visit them on my own. You have revived my desire to head to Scotland!
DeleteYep, that would have been me trying to capture every corner. Thanks for the tour!
ReplyDeleteIt's a miracle we didn't get in an accident because we "pulled over" so suddenly so many times!
DeleteNot boring at all. Beautiful castles. I especially liked the first one with the moat. Now that's a castle!
ReplyDeleteNancy
It's supposed to be the most photographed castle in the world.
Deletebeautiful images..I think you are a good photographer! What a lovely trip..did you walk around that cemetery a long time..I would have:)
ReplyDeleteI spent time in several cemeteries, they were very old and very beautiful. I love cemeteries and cannot resist!
DeleteAmateur you may be, amateurish your photos are certainly not. I think they are very well composed and postcard-worthy. Thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteThank you Brett.
DeleteYour photographs are wonderful - not amateurish at all!
ReplyDeleteI especially like the first photo with the castle that looks like it grew out of the middle of the lake.
ReplyDelete