Edinburgh Eats II

Ok, I'm super tired now on a Wednesday night and have to be in office early tomorrow. With about 6 hours left of my precious beauty sleep, let me just briefly show you the best bits of Edinburgh that I was raving about previously...

After the quaint market, we head towards town center (Princes Street), with many beautiful architectures around such as this ...

And I'm determined not to be like one of them, doing typical boring touristy stuff sitting on one of these red sightseeing buses *shudders*

and instead headed straight for the beautiful park where the Edinburgh castle is! Definitely have to be there to see it for your own eyes really: fresh air, good sun, shady trees, green grass and most importantly no crowds, it was pure bliss just lying down on the grass facing the bright blue sky and watching the day go by ....

I really liked this picture taken by P in particular, super focused on the park surrounding and the greeneries, pretty soothing and calming, my new wallpaper now, lol. Apparently its good for the eyes too, especially at work when staring at computer screens the whole day, its best to take a break and look at something green and faraway ... yup that was totally random :P

And I knew I had to show you guys this Mister Potato statue, as I call it, not sure what it is, or what it was for, probably some memorial, but it's queer shape definitely caught my eye

and of course I have to take some Scottish-y pictures for you, here with a man in his favorite kilt performing on the street ... Super keen guy I must say :)

Next, time to grab some FOOD (finally)! There was a shopping mall nearby and I was super excited to check out the local McDonald's, hoping to see the globalised giant have some interesting local specialties just like McRib in Germany or Green Bean Pie in China.

I was hoping there was a McHaggis or something which would make my day for sure ... to my dismay, there wasn't anything 'local' and all I saw was this typical menu, what a let down!

Nevertheless, we walked around and spotted this really nice looking place called 'The Garden Cafe', which offers alfresco dining, perfect for the sunny weather. You know you can't say know when you get such a nice atmosphere like this....

P ordered Haggis, Neeps and Tatties with Brandy Sauce ... Come on, how can you not order that when you see that funny name?! I couldn't stop laughing at the word Neeps, its probably a Scottish word for mashed swede. Tatties on the other hand is just mashed potatoes, just an old English way to say potatoes I suppose. More importantly, something very Scottish and probably the traditional dish is Haggis - to put it simply its minced animal intestines with spices, something like Christmas stuffings, but the method of cooking is unique, in the sense that it is boiled in animal (usually sheep's) stomach for a few hours.

Sounds gross? But it actually tastes pretty good. Only thing is that I can take it in small doses as the strong flavor of offal is not really my cup of tea. But P absolutely loved it, especially with the brandy sauce ....

Me ? I ordered a Seafood Pizza with Watercress as there were no other interesting Scottish things I'd like to try and the menu is pretty general (pasta, pizza, sandwiches, steak). Pizza was great with the chewy and cheesy texture, a large portion too, unfortunately diminishing marginal returns sets in as I get less satisfaction out of each extra bite, as the pizza loses its chewiness as it gets cold ...
Yes I'm ashamed of myself not having found a fried mars bars place yet and ate a French breakfast and Italian lunch in Scotland, WoooT is THAT?! But I love Edinburgh all in all for its quaint, peaceful and beautiful town, getting all the balances right with a bit of city and a load of countryside :)