Showing posts with label Culross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Culross. Show all posts

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

A little piece of the mediterranean.....but where?

Where do you think this is? Amalfi Coast? Santorini? Malaga? Provence?


Ok, surely Provence.....makes me think of the Luberon

But look at that massive rosemary....now that makes me think it must be the Aegean.  And I think you only get a sky like that in Greece

Figs - Greece for sure
Hmmm, now artichokes definitely make me lean more toward Italy or France


Grapevines
Hang on.....that looks more like Denmark...or Holland....

Quite clearly Northern Europe
Ok, I'm sure you are tired of the guessing game by now.  All is revealed:

http://www.scotlands-enchanting-kingdom.com/st-andrews-scotland.html





Located just across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh, on a chunk of land that looks like the profile of a scottie dog, in the Kingdom of Fife, Culross is a quaint village to visit.  The main attraction is the charming "Culross Palace", a National Trust for Scotland property, not so much a Palace as a gem of 16th century luxury.  The day we visited last July was picture-postcard perfect, and the steeply terraced garden of the Palace was baking in the sun, sheltered from cold sea breezes, and radiating heat from the ancient stone walls all through the garden.  As you can see from the photos, on a warm day, it feels very much like it would belong on the Mediterranean coast.  The garden is jam packed with huge rosemary, lavender and sage bushes, artichokes, bay laurels, figs, roses, centranthus, poppies, santolina and boxwoods.  The paths are cleverly lined with small clam shells instead of pea gravel, and the chickens were not at all camera shy! Hmmm.....I can smell the herby fragrance! Lovely!  Enjoy!