The idyllic surroundings of the Lake of Menteith would seem for most to be a million miles away from the destruction of the Ukraine war.
But for two of the newest residents of nearby Port of Menteith, they admit one day returning to their homeland is the dream that keeps them going.
Mother and daughter Olena and Daria, who are 56 and 36, first arrived on Scottish shores on July 3 to be hosted in the home of Nigel Cole and his family in the rural Stirlingshire village - after a gruelling journey from their home city of Bakhmut in the Donbass region.
The pair are now settling into life in the countryside and have been working at the Karma Lake of Menteith hotel as housekeepers since August 15.
But even sitting on the shores of the tranquil lake, thoughts quickly revert back to the city they have left behind the events that forced them to flee.
Daria told the Observer: “We had a good life before the war - a peaceful and calm life - and our city, while not the biggest, is very picturesque and very suitable for living.
“It became clear on February 24 [the day of the Russian invasion] what the situation was; we were woken up at 5am by terrible sounds and we almost jumped in our beds.
“During the first few days, it was just complete panic in the city and every day afterwards with the news and the situation in Kharkiv, which is less than 300 kilometres away.
“It was all a very big hurry to leave and I just picked up one bag and left, it is an awful feeling to describe having to pick up a bag and run away from the city I had always lived in.
“The situation in Makhmut now is just a complete nightmare, we still have friends and neighbours there but our own family have moved to a safer place.
“There is only around ten per cent of the city’s population left there now and you can’t even imagine what is going on - there was one night where there was 170 strikes, it is just unbelievable.
“Our flat is now badly damaged, there are no windows left and the roof is broken.”
After the sudden evacuation from their home city, the pair - alongside beloved cats Alpusha and Charismulya - were left with an uncertain future, navigating a journey through Poland and then criss-crossing Europe before a host family in the UK was finally found.
The pair made it on to UK shores at the ferry port of Harwich in Essex, where Nigel was there to greet them and transport them on the seven-hour journey to their new countryside home away from home.
“It is just beautiful, we are in love with nature and also with our host family because they are just perfect people - it is a fairytale that we have ended up here”, Daria continued.
“They even gave us a present for our cats, they gave us a cat house on the day they were set to arrive and we spent the day painting it.
“We are lucky to have such a family and they are now our family here in Scotland.
“We were far away from housekeeping in Ukraine, we ran our family business selling women’s clothing and we have never faced this kind of work before but we are settling in.”
However, talk soon returns to their homeland and Daria’s hopes that one day she will return back to her home city and restart the life she never imagined leaving.
She adds: “I do miss home very much and it is my biggest desire to get back there one day.
“I do have some days where I’m ready to just pick up that bag and go because I miss my home and my previous life so much.”
In the effort to find Olena and Daria some work during their time in Scotland, Nigel and their host family reached out to local employers and the local hotel - bought over by the Karma Group at the start of the year - offered a helping hand.
General manager Chris Diplock said: “It’s such a great pleasure to help some of these people who have been through hell and back.
“They are very grateful to be here I think and from the word go, they have been excellent. They are very popular among the staff and guests and they’ve immediately managed to slip into the role easily.
“The good thing is that they’re able to support themselves while they’re here with our help and God willing, they will be able to head back as soon as possible.”
