We got home late yesterday afternoon from our vacation/holiday to Scotland. It is a beautiful country and the people we met were all very nice. I wish I had gone there earlier so I could make sure of a return trip before going back to the states....maybe I still can?!
We stayed at a B&B in Edinburgh. I cannot believe how many Americans we ran into there. It is a really interesting city. Lots of wonderful patterns in the stonework and very long slightly spooky alleyways going up the hill.
I had planned on taking a writers pub crawl but by the end of the first afternoon I was just to tired. We caught a cab to go back to our B&B and instead got a taxi writer's tour that ended at what the Royal Oak which he claimed to be one of the last authentic folk music pubs in the city. Of course he could have made the whole tour up (who knows if that is really the coffee shop the J.K. wrote Harry P) but I'll never know and I don't know if it even matters! It was fun.
This is me in front of Edinburgh castle. It is a long climb up the Royal Mile to reach the castle. My eyes were still wonky and I'm sure half the folks we passed thought I was a very early drinker...I was wobbling all over the place! (The centuries old cobblestones didn't help either!) This photo is also a great example of how my DH thinks...things must be symetrical even if it means the bottom half of the photo is all parking lot and we miss most of the castle. The body must be in the center! Oh, well.There were lots of well, interesting things on the pub menus and before you ask...no, we did not try haggis. My Dh is a fussy eater and I was
trying new drugs to keep going. I don't know what a Neep and Tattie is...knowing what haggis is makes me very suspicious of the rest! We did do our part sampling real ales and malts though.I didn't take as many photos this trip because of my eyes but I did get some of the wonderful building decorations. This carving of the woman is one of my favorites.
Well got to run to a local auction. A friend want me to check out some chairs. They may need reupholstering and she isn't sure how difficult it would be. Like I need an excuse to go to an auction...well, I do right now since my Dh is worried about our weight limit going home (he doesn't know I have someone ready to take away his nasty recliner!)
10 comments:
Looks like a wonderful trip! I'm pretty sure Tatties would be potatoes - though I do stand to be corrected. I can't help you with the neeps!
Or, you're making me jealous. Haggis isn't awful. I ate my whole portion, but it's not something I would order again. I think Neeps and Tatties is turnips and potatoes. but a Cullen Skink? that's new. sorry to hear your eyes weren't up to par to enjoy such a gorgeous city. parking lot - great photo. At least it makes for a fun story.
I've never been to Edinburgh, or Scotland for that matter. Funny when you think that I lived in England! I only tried Haggis once a long time ago and didn't really take to it. Yes, Neeps and Tatties is Turnips and Potatoes.
I've just emailed you, but it bounced back.
I love Edinburgh. . . my mother & I travelled there, oh I guess, 15 years ago. I told my husband that if we ever get a chance to go abroad that I would definitely like to go back.
Thank you for the pictures. . .they brought back wonderful memories.
sounds like you had a lovely time.
You lucky people!
I love Edinburgh and hopefully I will get to know it even better as SofM wants to go there to University.
Being half Scottish I was introduced to haggis as a child and I love it but my kids are not so keen, I also love porridge.
Neeps and tatties are the traditional accompaniment to haggis. It is mashed potatoes and mashed swede/turnip and very tasty too. Haggis is delicious, very tasty and quite peppery - Siobhan you missed a real treat. I was faced with it at an extremely posh work dinner in Glasgow entertaining customers on my very first day in a new prestigious job - as you can imagine hardly the place to make a fuss about something put in front of me - so I gritted my teeth grabbed hold of my courage and tentatively tried it - then wolfed the rest down in a very gentile fashion as it was so delicious. As for cullen skink I believe that is a thick creamy fish soup made with smoked white fish - something slightly akin to chowder
I have a recipe for "Bashed Neeps" in one of my cooking books, sounds a bit more exotic than Mashed Turnips! Keryn and I are one quarter Scot, so we'd love to visit one day. Our grandfather loved haggis, but I'm not fond of any offal, scottish or no.
Interesting pictures, even the one that's 50% pavement lol.
I am so glad you had a marvelous time, despite being a "early drinker" haha! I need to study that menu a little more and look those selections up. What a neat picture!
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