Spiš Castle, a surprise in the mist

It's the first full day of the Tatra Lakes and Mountains Workshop and we were treated to a 5am start from the hotel to get the sunrise. However, waking up at 4:30 and hearing rain clattering onto the wooden roof of the hotel didn't lead to much hope of getting anything decent.

We took about an hour to drive out to the middle of a field and was assured by Filip, our organiser, that there was a castle in the valley. We hung around for probably an hour in the van watching nothing but thick mist and driving rain and then eventually got out the coffee, probably to prepare for a drive back.

Suddenly light started to appear into the tops of the clouds and eventually we got to see the magnificent sight of Spiš Castle, a UNESCO site, peeking out of the mist circling below it. We had about 5 minutes of perfect view as the sun came from behind us to light up the walls.

It's the number one lesson of landscape photography not to turn over and go back to sleep when you hear the rain falling, little gems like this are what you could miss if you go down that route. Next stop today the long climb up the mountain to the lake.