We had four days before we were scheduled to pick up our son and his financé at the Edinburgh airport.  They were flying in from Dubai, where they lived at the time, to get married on July 22.  Other family members and guests would be arriving over the couple of days preceding the wedding so we planned to be in Edinburgh on the 16th.  That only left us a couple of  days  to  explore.We headed east of Stirling up the north side of the Firth of Forth with the famous golf town of St. Andrew’s as our destination.  First we stopped at Culross, considered one of the best preserved 17th century towns in Britain.  This once thriving port town on the River Firth was a hive of activity due to the coal mining, salt panning, and now obsolete trade of iron girdle making.

We spent two hours wandering the streets and gardens. There were beautiful pots of flowers all over the place, in front of doors, on stairways, by the roadside.  It was all very picturesque.

Many of the streets were the original cobblestone. This  lovely  garden  was  just  down  the  hill  from  Culross  Abbey.Much of the abbey is a ruin, but there are still regular worship services held in the West Kirk.There were some very unique names for the houses and cottages.

The palace was closed the day we were there, so we didn’t have a chance to go inside.   A large garden is planted each year on the palace grounds and you can purchase herbs, fruit, and vegetables in season.It is certainly a striking colour.