SANDStorm

Seeing how far a Scotsman can stretch a kilt around a fat American (photo below).

And a lovely photo of us with our friend Kirstie after the wedding (photo below). We didn’t get any photos of what Scotsmen where under their kilts (same as Americans on this day), but let’s say the ventilation is adequate.

-posted by Thrashin Badger

I’m a big fan of Scotland’s national dish, haggis. Three years ago on our first visit to my favorite UK country, our friends cooked up a big dinner of haggis, neeps, and tatties. I know it doesn’t sound as wonderful to you as, say, a big steak with a baked potato, but really, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. I’ve thought about the beauty of the well-balanced fork full of peppery haggis, mashed turnips and potatoes on many occasions since that night, wishing for my next chance to have it again. I even searched in vain around DC for a grocery which stocked haggis.

Sometimes I think it’s a good policy to just enjoy food without knowing what’s in it or how it’s prepared. For example, it’s hard to truly enjoy a couple of pieces of baklava after you’ve slathered pounds of butter onto the phyllo dough. That’s been my attitude towards haggis, too. Until today.

I just couldn’t help myself when I walked into Tesco Metro supermarket and headed straight towards the meat section. I picked up the haggis and didn’t even flinch. Are you ready? Do you really want to know?

pork lung (33%)

pork fat

pork liver (11%)

pork heart (1%)

something called “rusk”
I haven’t looked up “rusk” yet, but not because I’m afraid – just because I’m lazy. Whatever it is, I’m still going to eat haggis with gusto.

FYI – Vegetarian haggis, although tasty, just doesn’t quite measure up. It’s a little too dry and more easily falls off the fork.

-s

After three days of rain and fog (no complaining here – the Edinburgh atmosphere is only enhanced with foggy alleys and rain-soaked stone buildings), we can finally see a blue sky.

Turbo and I headed out early this morning to run some errands before tomorrow’s wedding. D is borrowing our friend’s kilt for the wedding (stay tuned for photos!), but needed to rent some proper shoes so we went to High Street in search of a kiltmaker’s shop. We happened upon a large crowd outside of an old gothic church watching a marching band play. Today is the one-year anniversary of the London bombings, so we were able to figure out that it was a memorial service.

Once the band finished playing we watched a caravan of black sedans slowly leave the church and pass us on High Street. Seating in the rear passengers seat of the first sedan was the Queen, followed by the second car with Prince Charles. As quickly as they came, they drove away, but not before we snapped a few photos.

I got ready to leave the house for a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon. I wanted to go wander through the narrow streets and ogle at the multi-storied, 17th century stone buildings covered in years of grim, however as I slung my purse around my shoulder the sky turned grey and down came the rain. Sounds of thunder rumbled through the sky accompanied by quick flashes of lightening. Funny. Looks like the DC flood of 2006 may have followed us here.

So, we turned on the Brazil-France match we taped the night before and although I knew that France won the game, I was still on the edge of my seat as Brazil tried in vain in the last ten minutes of the game to even up the score. What a game!!

We got to Edinburgh on Friday afternoon after a long flight from Dulles to Edinburgh, via Amsterdam. It was incredibly difficult to leave DC, not only because we were leaving our apartment, our friends, and our life in DC for the foreseeable future, but because we ended up sitting on the tarmac at Dulles for three and a half hours before being cleared for departure. Apparently storms over the east coast closed down the airport and so we sat, and sat, and sat on the plane while the captain came over the intercom system every half hour or so, lifting up our hopes of leaving and then crushing them again.

But we are here now, staying with a friend of ours we met while in Japan. She’s an incredible friend and host, not to mention a fantastically creative cook. I don’t plan to do much in Edinburgh except to sit around and chat while eating yummy canapes and, apparently, watching the rain fall.

-s