Holyrood Castle (or Holyrood Palace, as Wikipedia prefers), at one end of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh (opposite Edinburgh Castle), is still a functioning castle, used by the British royal family for getaways and such. After you get the tour through the palace, you go out back to see the gardens and Holyrood Abbey, which has fallen into disrepair over the years. That was what I liked, obviously. The subject matter seemed to me to lend itself to black and white (although I did include one color shot just to show the moss growing on some of the exposed columns).
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8 comments:
Awesome! I'm a total sucker for ruins like that.
Me too. My dad also is fascinated by that sort of thing. Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree (in some respects, anyway).
Gorgeous and, IMHO, better than the tour inside. Have you ever been up to the Orkney Islands? The castle up there, ruins, is amazing. There's also a ton of totally way cool archeological sites.
I love shots like this -- great fodder for time travel imaginations on top of all the beauty of the shot.
I haven't been to the Orkney Islands, but it sounds like it would be a great trip for Mrs. G and me (and my dad). Just before we got to Edinburgh, we spent a few days in Carlysle, and explored quite a bit of Hadrian's Wall. We got to talk to a group of archaeologists and students on a dig at one site, and it was fascinating.
I've never been as far south in Scotland as Hadrian's Wall but def want to go one day. If you go to the Orkney's base yourselves in Stromness, the smaller of the two "big" towns on the main island.
Used to have friends up there and went for the Folk Festival a bunch of times. It kills, totally. Between that, the archeology sites and the hiking on Hoy, it's a great place to be.
Beautiful shots. I love the B&W. It really suits.
Edinburgh's a gothic wonderland, but I'm mad for the Highlands. The Isle of Skye (across the Sound of Sleat from the mainland, I'm not making this up) is about as good as it gets for me. Magical place. Fairyland. Even without drugs. Just Guinness, is all it takes.
Although I understand they've built a bridge to it. Everything could be different now.
Somewhere I have photos of that mystical, miraculous place. My head is full of them now.
Thanks for the cue to reminisce, G!
I never made it as far as the Orkneys, Donna. It's tempting me now, though, I'll tell you.
I know my father would love to get back to Scotland (which is where his great-grandfather came from) some time in the near future. And so would I. I'd definitely be interested in exploring the areas you've both suggested.
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