It was my birthday on the 29th November and I was lucky enough to spend the weekend away with Katie in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was my first visit to Scotland, and the first time Katie had returned since a child. Only having two days, we spent our time in Edinburgh, having heard lots of great things about the city. Our plan was to do the essential Scottish things and have a relaxing weekend.
It started with the whisky. We were in Scotland, so we had to try some Scotch Whisky. Our first night (misty image above) in Edinburgh was spent in a local pub. After failing to find somewhere that served traditional Scottish fare, we settled on a nearby pub that served whisky. After our meal we ordered two whiskys with some ice and water served in a teapot on the side (no, it wasn’t like World Bar). Did I mention that neither of us are whisky drinkers? It’s the devils drink, and we found out why the next morning when we weren’t able to wake in time for our free breakfast at the guesthouse!
We made it to Edinburgh Castle the next day. It was freezing. I was wearing 5 layers of clothing, a scarf and gloves, yet the icy wind just cut right through as if I was wearing a mere t-shirt. Do people not realise there are warmer places in the world to live!? It hadn’t even hit winter yet and it was 3º in the middle of the day and below freezing at night.
It happened to be St Andrews day on the Monday so all weekend the tourist sites of Edinburgh were offering free entry. The Castle was great to see, but before entering we needed to rid ourselves of this ugly whisky hangover with some Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. This must be why the Scots came up with Haggis in the first place. As we, slowly, made our way up the Royal Mile, eyes squinting and bodies shivering (did I mention it was cold?), we entered a pub that served Haggis in several different ways.
I have to admit, I expected Haggis to not only look, well, like meat stuffed into a sheep stomach, but also taste a little off. To my surprise, it did still look relatively ugly, but tasted quite nice. There didn’t seem to be any sheep stomach involved, except perhaps for the cooking process, and it filled in the whisky hangover nicely.
After purchasing some Edinburgh Rock, a sweet candy that is basically like sucking on flavoured chalk, we walked through the city as the weather eased in the afternoon. What a beautiful city it is. I have to admit, the cold wet weather actually suits Edinburgh.
