Edinburgh - haggis, neeps & tatties & a dog named Bobby

In September we decided it was time to pay homage to the Scottish ancestry visa and visit my roots- Edinburgh, Scotland. Edinburgh is a lovely compact city, & it was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of London and catch up with friends.

Above- 'Old Edinburgh' with Edinburgh Castle on the hill in the background (right).

Above- Nadia stands in the doorway to the 15th century- 'Scaffolding Chapel' sorry I mean Roslyn Chapel, made famous in the movie the Da Vinci Code. Inside is hugely impressive with the walls covered in carvings which tell hundreds of stories. Outside is covered in scaffolding part of the restoration programme that has been on going for the last 10 years- still a sight to behold all the same.

Above- Edinburgh Castle

Above- The entrance to Edinburgh Castle

Above- William Wallace stands aside the entrance to Edinburgh castle (Robert the Bruce stands the other side).

Casey and I exit the 'Walkabout' (NZ / SA & Aussie bar) after watching the AB's complete a successful win over the Wallabies to take out the Trinations... again you little beauty!

St Luca ice cream is infamous in Edinburgh, as demonstrated by the que! If you look closely you can see myself in the que with our tour guides Ju & Casey aka 'the sponge' if you look really really closely you can see Julia cringing at Nadia creating a scene taking this photo!

The 'Royal Mile' is the famous road that leads up to Edinburgh Castle, it has wonderfully old buildings, strange people (see below) and hundreds of Scottish paraphernalia stores. I am now the proud owner of not only a Wilson tartan scarf, but also the Wilson clan dram whiskey with Wilson colours on it!

Above- Now there's something you don't see everyday- forget climate change, Scientology is the new modern day evil. If only Tom Cruise knew the damage he was causing!

Above- Easily the best flower clock I have ever seen... it even tells the correct time.

The dog named 'Bobby'. This little dog is idolised in Edinburgh, named 'grayfriars Bobby' the story goes that when his master died the dog sat on his grave site (despite getting kicked out by the caretaker most days) for 13 years until the dog itself passed away- the dog was given a key to the city and his own statue for his demonstration of loyalty.

We were impressed by the Scottish and there overall unified hatred for the English.
My first time eating haggis and I have to say I was impressed, it even passed Nadia's very high standards of eating. When in Scotland the way to eat haggis I am told is with neeps (parsnips) and tatties (mashed potatoes) and of course lots of gravy... delicious!
We head back to Edinburgh in November to watch the mighty AB's take on the Scots at Murrayfield, I hope there is not a repeat of the last incident in Cardiff in the World Cup!