Some old castles in Poland

[StephenM]

Hi all,

Here are some more images from my trip to Poland back in 1998, taken using a Pentax MZ5 and Fijichrome Velvia transparency film. Not surprisingly, Poland has lots of castles - these photos are 2 of my favourites from this trip.

The first few are of Malbork, which was begun in the late 1200s and became the seat of the Teutonic knights in Europe. This is a true military castle like the ones that small boys imagine! It's now on the UNESCO Would Heritige list and is being restored beautifully.

The last 2 images are of Pieskowa Scala near Krakow, which was one of the "Eagles Nest" castles set up by King Kazimierz the Great in the mid 1300s. This one was open to the public for a few hours each day, but we were fortunate enough to actually stay there for a few nights, through a conection with a friend of a friend who is a historian at Warsaw University. First time I've ever slept on straw mattresses!

Anyway, thanks for looking!

Cheers,
Stephen

[iceman]

great images. I can just imagine the history in them.

Thanks for sharing.

[RB]

This world is full of wonderful places, thanks for sharing your shots Stephen.

It's so exciting to look back after so many years isn't it !

[Quark]

Stunning images Stephen,

Also seems to be a few ghosts in one of them.

Cheers
Trevor

[StephenM]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Yes Andrew, it is fun going back through old images! It's funny thinking back to the pre-digital days, when sometimes you didn't get to see the shots until weeks after they were taken. I can't remember the details, but these were all tripod-mounted shots with the aperture closed down to maximise DOF, so often up to 15 or 20 seconds long - hence the "ghosts" in the castle courtyard Trevor!

Cheers,
Stephen