Congratulations Armin! With 40 fantastic photos to choose from, yours received the highest rating among members. You’ve not only brought honor to the Central Europe Chapter, but you have won a year of free dues for yourself. Thanks to everybody who submitted their wonderful “Castles” theme photos for the June contest. They can still be seen and commented on by visiting https://pollunit.com/en/polls/tcc-2022-june.
The theme for our September 2022 contest is “Iceland.” Click for contest details »
![](https://travelerscenturyclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/photocontest_Armin_Schreiner.jpg)
Trakai Island Castle is a real historic place located in Lake Galve close to Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital. Kestutis started building it in the 14th century, it was attacked by the Teutonic
Knights, and even served as a capital before Vilnius. In the 1950s and ’60s, it was widely
restored and now houses a museum.
My visit on a cold and clear day in 2002 was inspired by showing a colleague the beauty of Lithuania, since I was working in the Baltic States at the time. The Fuji slide film photo was recently digitized, and I was surprised how well the reddish afternoon sun reflection was preserved. Photoshop colors were not used.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Sherri Donovan, Oyster Bay, New York
![](https://travelerscenturyclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/photocontest_Sherri_Donovan.jpg)
The Predjama castle in Slovenia is in the Guinness world records as the largest castle in a cave and is perched in the middle of a 123-meter cliff with a secret network of tunnels behind it. The castle has an 800-year-old history and was reconstructed in 1570 into the Renaissance style you see today.
Pamela Girtman Naples, Florida
![](https://travelerscenturyclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/photocontest_Pamela_Girtman.jpg)
I arrived early in the morning with a friend to visit Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France. As the sun rays awakened the Mont, I was rewarded with the perfect timing of the shepherd herding the sheep to pasture nicely into my photo.