When traveling around, you not only see lots of landscape (far more than you can ever photograph out of moving vehicles) but also a few interesting buildings. I managed to catch two castles on my journey which I didn't really visit, but of which I got some nice pictures nevertheless.
The one that looks like some Maya ruins in the rainforest is Dunollie Castle near Oban which I caught from the sun deck of the Mull ferry.
A proof that Scotland can be very green in parts. The west coast climate seems to be ideal for vines; they're really taking over the ruins.
I saw Loch Awe from the Glasgow / Oban train, and a few days later I got even closer during what I call my Inveraray adventure. I'll tell you more about that in another post; for now let me just say that public transport in Scotland on a Sunday is more or less inexistant. There's a castle on the photo above, if you take a close look.
On the way back I managed to get a lot closer. That picturesque beauty is Kilchurn Castle.
For one I was on the wrong side of Loch Awe, and Kilchurn Castle is only open to public on some days In July and August, but at least I had the chance to take some photos.
The view of the castle with the mountains as background is more or less a classic. It graces more than one travel guidebook (the ones that don't have Eilean Donan Castle, anyway), though in most cases the pictures have been taken in autumn. But it's quite a splendid sight in summer, too.
Beautiful photos. What's the history behind Dunollie Castle? It's amazing to see the trees have just swallowed it.
ReplyDeleteI hear Kilchurn Castle is an extremely peaceful, serene, and beautiful locale, and it's seems that way from your photos. I just had a post on my site last week about Kilchurn. Would love the opportunity to see it in person.
Wow. Look at all that green. Fantastic photos, per usual. :D
ReplyDeleteVery evocative - I've never even heard of those castles.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics. Very atmospheric. I'd love to paint them. Someday...
ReplyDeleteLike Lady D, I'd never even heard of these castles - but they're wonderful! I'll go and read Steven's post about Kilchurn now.
ReplyDeleteSpectacular photos. I especially like the second one of Dunollie. With the light catching it like that it does look like something out of the Maya jungles :-) Isn't the site (not the buildings) supposed to go way back to Dal Riada?
ReplyDeleteThank you, everyone.
ReplyDeleteSteven, I'll have to look up the history of Dunollie. It belonged to a line of castles along the coast and Mull (Duart Castle is part of it, too).
Lady D, Alianore,
I indeed have a guide book featuring Kilchurn castle on the cover, so I knew about that one.
Carla,
I can imagine the site does go back that far. There are quite some Dalriatan remains in the surroundings, from Kilmartin Glen to Lismore.
Beautiful photos. None of the names were familiar but I liked the first one, surrounded by all the trees.
ReplyDeleteAmazing photos. And I love the name "Loch Awe." That's begging to be used in a fantasy novel.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Shelley and Brian.
ReplyDeleteBrian, Scotland has lots of places that would make for a good Fantasy setting. :)