Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland
photo from jdphotography
PERFECT!
Loch Ness
Photograph by Emory Kristof
More than a thousand people claim to have seen the bulbous back of an unidentified creature briefly break the glassy surface of Loch Ness, then disappear. This legendary body of water is the country’s second largest loch, slightly smaller in surface area, though deeper, than Loch Lomond to its south.
Eilean Donan Castle
Photograph by Getty Images
Widely considered Scotland’s most photographed site, Eilean Donan Castle perches on an island at the meeting of three lochs in western Scotland. The island’s first castle was an early 13th-century fortification against raiding Vikings, and it’s been sacked and rebuilt several times. The most recent facelift was completed in 1932.
The fact is that the average man’s love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice and truth. He is not actually happy when free; he is uncomfortable, a bit alarmed, and intolerably lonely. Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, like knowledge, courage and honor. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty - and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies.
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| — | H. L. Mencken, Baltimore Evening Sun (via blogut) |
Modern Samurai
Photograph by Michael Yamashita
Today becoming a samurai costs just a hundred dollars for rented gear and the courage to appear in public.
Samurai Fortress
Photograph by Michael Yamashita
A bridge to the past leads to a mist-veiled castle in Matsumoto, one of the best preserved fortresses from the samurai’s reign, which stretched from the late 12th to the mid-19th centuries. Rising to power as ruthless soldiers, samurai leaders fancied themselves as sophisticates, hosting plays, poetry readings, and tea ceremonies in their lofty strongholds.
