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Category: Europe: British Isles

Chasing World Heritage: #103 (Brú na Bóinne)

Brú na Bóinne is an archaeological site recognized on the World Heritage list as the largest concentration of megalithic art in Europe. In terms of visual gratification it does not compare at all to the magnificent vistas of places such as the Causeway Coast. And yet, it is the significance…

A brief look at Manchester, England

My recent trip to the British Isles was centered on a football game. FC Rostov was playing Manchester United in the Europa League playoffs. I have never been a United fan, but their stadium – the Old Trafford, known with a shade of hyperbole as “The Theater of Dreams” –…

A place in my memory: Edinburgh

I have reached the end of the stream of photographs from my most recent expeditions, which means that I will be picking up again the loose series of memorable travel shots from my past journeys. There are over a hundred of them in the Lightroom collection that I set aside…

A postcard from London

This is one of my favorite photos of London. Old-timers on this blog may remember it making an appearance twice already, processed in rather different fashion back then. Although it is not objectively a postcard-quality shot, it comes close enough.

A place in my memory: Blackheath

If you did not come to visit us during our years in England, it is unlikely that you ever did or will set foot in Blackheath. At the edge of Greater London, it lies beyond major tourist routes. In my recent London guide, I did not mention it as a…

A place in my memory: Cambridge

I can no longer pinpoint where I got my first mental image of a proper university town from. It was surely a book, but my attempts to recall which one failed to yield a definitive answer. In my youth, Soviet institutions of higher learning almost always resided in major towns…

Re-counting World Heritage sites: #49 (Canterbury)

The town of Canterbury in English Southeast has several monuments collectively recognized by UNESCO for being the historic seat of the head of the Anglican Church. If you have been following my blog for any period of time, you have heard me express my admiration for religious architecture. Canterbury Cathedral…

Counting World Heritage sites: #75 (New Lanark)

My high-school history curriculum included something on the Utopians of 18th-19th centuries, and although I could no longer recall the particulars the name of Robert Owen was definitely familiar to me. So it was not only for opportunistic reasons that I planned a visit to New Lanark on our journey…

Urquhart

The picturesque ruins of Urquhart Castle that date back to 13th century offer a significant amount of history and an even greater amount of wonderful photo opportunities. There is also Loch Ness, dramatically overseen by the castle. (No, we did not see the monster.)         An extended…

Eilean Donan

Eilean Donan

Eilean Donan castle regularly contends for the top billing on the “most beautiful Scottish castles” list, so even though it was a bit out of the way for our whisky itinerary, I made a point to steer in its direction. The castle, dating from the 13th century, has been extensively…

On the Scottish whisky trail

In our four days of touring Scotland, we visited twelve distilleries in the Highlands and Speyside whisky-making regions. The visits ranged in depth, duration and quantity of sampling. Some were delightful, some simply educational, some brief but pleasant, and a couple marginally disappointing. I will eventually process more detailed notes…

Solar eclipse

On Friday, March 20th, as we were driving towards our first planned destination for the day alongside Loch Ness, we came to realization that Europe was experiencing a partial solar eclipse. Of course, we stopped and attempted to take a few pictures. Here is the best result. With heavily overcast…