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Wednesday 28 September 2016

Scotland Part 2 and it's still raining

It was a short trip but a happy one.  We took an Air bnb in Edinburgh to be close to the visa office, good food and friends.  We even had a friend from the US came to visit with us.  And it rained and rained and rained.

We spotted the elusive Deep Fried Mars Bar, I don't personally know anyone whose eaten this but it's certainly available for the brave or foolish who want to give it a try:


Scottish optimism was very evident in the tables set on the streets outside restaurants, cafes and bars.  Some of the popularity of this comes from a complete ban on smoking inside and some from an inbuilt aspect of the Scottish character that believes, no matter how crap the weather, that it'll brighten up soon.  It seldom does:


There were big doses of nostalgia. It's been ten years since we left Scotland with only two brief visits back.  Greyfriars Bobby is one of the icons of Edinburgh, a dog so loyal to his owner that, after the master's death, he set up a vigil on his grave in Greyfriars Churchyard.  You can see his own dog memorial stone inside the churchyard and his nose gets worn away by visitors rubbing it for, well, whatever reason they rub it.  He's on nose number two now:


We came back loaded with haggis, mustard, oatcakes and few other delicious bits and pieces.  The oatcakes and English mustard are long gone and the haggis is getting doled out very sparingly in the form of an IndoScottish fusion which pays tribute to both countries enjoyment of a deep fried snack. Haggis Pakora: