Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Edinburgh: Traditional Experiences

We began our day with the idea of taking it as easy as possible before our hearty party with the Scots tonight. My body hurt quite a bit yesterday, actually, both of us were exhausted that we passed on dancing at the street party last night. So, today we took in quiet traditional Scottish events today like touring the woolen mills, tasting whiskey, pints of beer, and hearty food.

Having never had Scotch Whiskey (smells like cleaning fluid to me), I decided while in Rome, er, Edinburgh, I should at least go for a decent tasting to gain appreciation. The Whiskey Expert at the bar assembled a flight of 4 distinct whiskeys with different flavors. While I was able to discern the sweet whiskeys from the smoked, I had difficulty appreciating the harsh affects of the spirit. Poor Andrew felt compelled to finish the 4. Bleck.

I'll stick with wine and beer although I think I saw a whiskey liquor come out of the closet and the Whiskey Expert talk about how much better it was than Baileys -I love Baileys. Hmm... I'll have to try that later.

It started to spit harder while we walked down the Royal Mile to locate a traditional Scottish Pub -that certainly isn't too difficult but price is always an issue. We happened on one on the corner of St. Marys & The Royal Mile for traditional fare. Andrew wagered that if he liked his bangers and mash here, that we would return Jan 2 and he'd have to try the haggis. Doesn't sound interesting to me since I'm not a huge red meat or "meat surprise" connoisseur.

Update: We just learned more about haggis, thanks to the FoodNetwork. Andrew's decided against it. Read the recipe all the way to the end -hilarious.

2 comments:

Jeanne Rhea said...

I'll never be eating the haggis and thanks for for link! Sounds like there would be enough bad cholesterol in it for a lifetime.

CREATIVEGoddess said...

Uh, I think in terms of ingredients, cholesterol would be the *least* of my concerns.