My Travel and History Blog, Focussing mostly on Roman and Mediaeval Times
With all that rain and too warm wind these days, some sunny pics should brighten the spirits. And I found the sun where rumour has it you can seldom find it: in Scotland, back in June. The first photos show the view from my room in the B&B in Oban.
It was one of those small family run B&Bs in an old Victorian house, with the tiniest sink I ever had (I assume the bathroom was added to the room at a later time). The atmosphere was very nice, and the view from my room spectacular. Got some yummy breakfast, too. The neighbouring house had a pub - nothing better than a cool ale after a day out. Read more »
One morning I took the bus from Oban to Kilmartin Glen and asked the driver to drop me off somewhere in walking distance of Dunadd Hill Fort. That's the nice thing about busses in the UK, the local ones will drop you off and pick you up where you want.
Kilmartin Glen is a place rich in ancient remains, mostly cairns and standing stones, though I didn't have time to see more than a few of those. What I had on my list first of all was the ancient hill fort of Dunadd. It is part of a hill strewn with boulders that sits in the middle of the Mòine Mhòr, the Great Moor, near the village of Lochgilphead, offering a good view to all sides and thus making for a perfect defensive position. It's no easier to get to the summit today than it was in former times. I didn't bring my trusty walking stick which proved to be a bit of a problem. Fortunately, there was a nice couple better equipped for hiking that lent me a spare one. They also gave me a ride to Kilmartin later albeit it was out of their way - there's still a lot of hospitality and kindness to strangers in Scotland. Read more »
I could see the towers of the castle above the trees for years without being able to visit it. In the 80ies, my parents lived in a small town south of Göttingen, and both road and railway between the towns ran close to the German border. Castle Hanstein was on the East German side and thus out of reach.
Of course, we had visited it as soon as the passage was open, and it was pretty impressive already then. Efforts to prevent further decay and some renovations had been going on, partly financed by West Germany. Today, more parts are accesible, and the great hall has been repaired and is used for concerts sometimes. So when after several days of autumn mists the sun played nice yesterday, I decided to give it another look, accompanied by my faithful camera.
