Haggis Is Not Good

So we made it to Scotland this past weekend, and I must say it was quite lovely. We were on a time budget and spent our time in Edinburgh, but there was plenty to see and do. We arrived via train Friday evening and grabbed dinner at a Chinese place. I know, that's cheating, but after nearly 5 hours on a train we didn't feel like being adventurous with our cuisine.

The next day we woke up to torrential down pour, and it showed no signs of letting up. After catching the hotel's authentic Scottish breakfast (which looks suspiciously like the authentic English breakfast) we decided we'd have more fun in the rain than in the hotel. So we set off under a tiny umbrella, and luckily the rain began to die down. We did some shopping on the main strip (Princes Street) and then happened upon the Scottish monument. I hadn't heard of it until I was staring at it, but it's basically a 200 foot high tower with 280 some-odd steps. The views at the top were well worth the £3. One word of warning: if you're over 6'5" or are claustrophobic, I would advise against climbing to final set of steps.

After the tower, we wandered down the Royal Mile. This is the street that runs from Edinburgh Castle down to Holyrood Abbey (one the Queen's official residences). The street is actually several smaller streets, lined with cafes, pubs, and tons of tourist shops. At the end of the walk (past Holyrood) is a nice little mile or so hike up to the top of a plateau. Now, I must admit that there were several signs saying the trail was closed, but we, along with about a hundred other people, decided to go anyway. And the view from the top was well worth the risk of hard time in a Scottish jail. As the pictures show, the day turned out quite nice.

On Sunday we plotted our charge on Edinburgh Castle. This castle dominates the entire Edinburgh skyline and it one of the main attractions, so we had been looking forward to it. As noon broke over the calm summer sky, we set out on the westerly route. Resistance was light and we reached the gate in no time. But our advances were turned away not by arrow, nor sword, nor armor, but money. Those greedy bastards were charging £12/person to get inside, to which we said thank you no. Defeated, we headed down the other half of the mile we hadn't seen and decided on a Whiskey tasting tour. Ahem, a Scotch Whiskey tasting tour. We learned that Scotch Whiskey is disgusting and tastes like gasoline. But we got some free glasses, so that was fun.

Before we headed back to the train station, the inevitable had come. No trip to Scotland is complete without sampling the local fare. So we wandered around and found a place that offered a haggis appetizer, which we thought was a good compromise. I'll just get right to it: it's not good. The flavor isn't horrible, but the texture is just wrong. They add lots of fat to help overcome the flavor of heart and lungs and whatever other organs they have laying around, and chewing it is like chewing oatmeal and bubble gum. I'm happy to cross that one off the list and move on with my life.

All in all, it was a great trip. The people were friendly and the city was much cleaner than London. I would definitely like to check out Glasgow and the highlands if I get the chance, but Edinburgh had plenty to offer. You can catch all the photo goodness here.