Haggis and Guinness and Mash Oh, My!

It was 5:30 a.m. when I gave up trying to sleep and got up on this Saturday morning because my body still thinks it’s on Edinburgh time and was ready to tuck in to a wee bit o’ haggis and a pint.

 

Since I did not buy that nice round roll of sheep innards  I saw in the duty free store on the way home, and I think Dean might worry about me even more if I tipped back a glass of Guinness or Strombow and became leggless that early in the morning ...  

 

Home sweet home.

... instead I decided to remember our week in Edinburgh.

I remember walking ...and walking ... and walking.

 











We walked to a castle ...

Edinburgh castle

which made us thirsty.

We walked to a palace.

Holyrood Palace

The Abbey at the palace

That made us thirsty too.

We hiked up Arthur's seat. 

Why take the easy way when you can choose the route with a steep dropoff on one side?  Thanks, Dean.

All that hiking made us not only thirsty, but ...

also hungry.

 We took a train to Stirling ...

and walked ...

Stirling Castle

to another castle ...

before we went to a wedding. 

We were hungry and thirsty there too.








 

Al's parents

There were some surprise guests

Lesley's mom

 

After the wedding Leslie and Abby spent the night in Stirling ...

and the next day they walked to the Wallace Monument.

 

They were really thirsty after that.

Dean and I took the train back to Edinburgh and on our walk "home", about 10:30 at night, as I was taking pictures, a gentleman stopped me along the way and said, "you're getting dark photos aren't you?"  "Well, yes, I am," I said.  He asked for my camera, and trusting Wyoming girl I am, I handed it over to him.  Next thing I know he'd jammed it into his sporran, took off running and that's the last I saw of it.  Dean took off running after him but it had been a long day and he was filled with wedding food and drink and his poor body just didn't have the sprint capability.  He made a valiant effort but it was a lost cause.  I was a bit worried what would happen if he DID catch the guy.  Would there be fistacuffs?  Would his suit be ruined?  How would I get us home if his eyes were swollen shut and he couldn't show me the way?  Would I get to see the inside of a Scottish hospital?  

If it wasn't for the view as Mr. Camera's kilt flew up when he spun around and ran down the street I would have been much more upset.






Not really.  He wasn't wearing a kilt.

Okay.  He wasn't wearing a kilt and he didn't steal my camera.

He just put it on the program setting, mumbled things to himself as he clicked about 25 different settings, and then took this photo. 

When he handed my camera back to me, instead of photos like this ...

 I got this. 

And this.

And this.  

Thank you mystery man!

Walking all those miles on cobblestone and bumpy brick streets to see cemeteries ...

and churches ...
























 

 and monuments ...

 

required alot of energy.  We were happy we had a lovely "home" to kick back and rest our tired bodies.

We were tired when we got there and tired when we left.

But we were never too tired to eat.

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Haggis and Guinness and Mash Oh, My!