Heading north from Edinburgh, you quickly come to the crossing for the Firth of Forth, an estuary of the River Forth. The Firth of Forth is a fjord carved out by glacier activity during an Ice Age, and is kind of fun to say five times fast. Confession: I've renamed Colin Firth in my head. His new name is Colin Firth-of-Forth. Ok, I should stop rambling. Just over the Firth we came across the first of several intriguing signs that prompted us to detour from our planned route. As you can see by the irksome railing, it's difficult to get good pictures of the Firth from the bridge. But just past the bridge, there was a road marked "Coastal Scenic Route." So we figured, what the heck? Let's go see the coast!
Problem: The Coastal Scenic Route, while plenty scenic, does not actually run past the coast, at least not in the half hour we drove down it. But, a hidden surprise totally made it worth while...
The Tuilyies standing stones consist of one large stone almost 8' tall, and a cluster of three smaller ones. Local lore holds that the group are located on the site of an ancient battle and mark the burial sites of chiefs who died in the fighting. The name Tuilyies itself is thought to be a corruption of the word "tulzie," meaning a fight or battle. There's no advance warning- no signs proclaiming "pull over here cuz there's going to be awesome standing stones in 30 seconds!" so we drove past, gasped, and turned around. The stones are located on private property, and barbed wire is up to discourage people from wandering on the grounds, so one has to content themselves with photos taken from a ways away, unless you're prepared to hop barbed wire and trespass where you are clearly unwelcome. Your choice.
And hey look- you can almost see the water! There's also some really adorable little villages along the route, so while the lack of coast was somewhat disappointing, the little detour certainly was not.
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