Friday, January 25, 2008

More Scottish Culture

Susan and I spent last night at a Burns Supper - honoring the great national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns. It was held at the cozy Tass pub on the Royal Mile. An evening of poetry, stories, and song, interwoven with Scottish courses. It was fantastic. Yes, the "prince of puddings" was served - The Haggis. I won't go into the ingredients, but it was not altogether unpleasant. Fortunately, it was served with nips and tatties, so we could limit the Haggis consumption to the bare minimum required to be able to say "of course we had Haggis". The evening concluded with all of us locking hands and singing auld lang zyne.

More football. I went to the Edinburgh soccer/football Derby this weekend (the term for an intra-city rivalry) between Hibs and Hearts of the premier league. Think of Mets vs. Yankees on steroids. I was sitting right along the goal with a great vantage point for corner kicks. Great fun. I knew the atmosphere would be charged when I saw pubs on route to the field with signs reading "home supporters only". Leaving the match, Hibs and Hearts fans were on opposite side of the main road, shouting and singing at each other, while horse-mounted police kept them separated. I was on a double-decker bus that was very slowly following the horses. It was great fun to watch from up there.

Claire and I walked to the Farmers market that faces the Edinburgh castle this morning - a great collection of local fish, wild game, and organic items. We feasted on hot porridge with fruit and honey, scones, and fresh potato chips, with a great view of the castle.

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