In Search of a Wild Haggis

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I have said it before and I'll say it again. We are very lucky in the friend department. Before we left for London, one of my best mates, Chaz, who lives in Edinburgh said we could stay with him while we visited. He then trumped his own offer by arranging for us to spend two weeks in his sister Joan's flat, while she was away in Abu Dhabi. Chaz is a cop in Edinburgh, so not only did we get the local tourist info, we also got the tour of where not to go, which was just as interesting. We lucked out and got to spend two weekends with Chaz as well as a few odd days here and there. We also met Chaz and Joan's good friend Susan, who was a blast to hang out with in their neighbourhood.

We are also apparently too good at chasing summer; so good in fact that we chased it away. Edinburgh was a tad chilly. The photos back this up, mainly because we wear the same jacket and warm clothes for almost every photo.

Last time we were in Scotland, we never did get the chance to see a Haggis in the wild, so this time we were determined. We are told by our trustworthy guide that they mainly live on hills and perpetually walk around the hill in a circle, as their two left legs are shorter then their two right legs. We tried some fresh caught Haggis one morning at breakfast, and it was tasty.

Some of the sights we covered in Edinburgh while trying to spot a Haggis in its natural environment:


• We had a view of the Royal Britannia from our flat and walked by it many times. It looked very nice, we just were not that interested in seeing the Queen's yacht and figured that with two short legs a Haggis would have a hard time climbing the plank.
• Did a great walk with Chaz up Calton Hill (next to Arthur's seat) and around Hollyrood palace. Unfortunately there was a race on that day and all the Haggises were likely scared away by the excitement.
• The Botanical Gardens presented a good chance of catching one, however, we think that our Haggis calling technique was drowned out by all the waterfalls and local birds.
• We though we had caught one on camera along the Water of Leith, however, upon closer inspection it turned out to be a heron.
• While Chaz and I enjoyed a break from Haggis hunting at an Edinburgh rugby match, Kimmy and Susan thought they would try to find a Haggis at the bottom of a couple of wine bottles at our now local pub. No such luck, and walking them home seemed to take twice as long as usual.


Edinburgh was proving to be a Haggis bust, so we decided to try and find a Weegie Haggis. We booked a train to Glasgow for the day. Short on time and now feeling a renewed hope in the new town we jumped on a tour bus to check out the major sights.

No sign of any Haggis at any of the cultural sights, as it turns out clowders of Haggis don't hang around Musuems.

We took a Glasgow lunch break at NO.16 restuarant near Kelvingrove Museum and had the most fantastic meal. We ate amazing apetizers and I had a morrocan spiced chicken while Kim had fish. We learned from the chef that the Glasgow Haggis stocks were low at this time.

Although we could not seem to find a Haggis anywhere we still had a fantastic time in Scotland...we are seriously considering running Haggis charters to Scotland when we are finished travelling.

Thanks again to Chaz (aka Cruz, Carlos, Carlos Spicy Wiener) and Susan for the hospitality. As well as to Joan for the use of her lovely flat. We're missing Edinburgh already.

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Photos

Breakfast at the Granary in Leith
On our first of many breakfasts out with Chaz, so began our search for the elusive "locally caught Haggis".

The Firth of Forth
Too much fun to say!

Walking the breakwater
One lazy day on the Firth of Forth.

Holy Hall Batman
Spent a great day at the National Museum of Scotland

Comments

[Chaz]

Was out at night looking for some bad people when a haggis ran in front of me! Was too quick for a photo, but it was definitely a haggis