But no, I didn't get me a kilt

Yesterday will go down in the annals of time as The Day I Lost My Haggis Virginity. Look and mark well the indistinct brown pattie on the right. It was delicious and I would gladly have eaten a considerably bigger pattie.

Okay, so it was vegetarian haggis. Not my fault that they make the real thing with things that run.

I have found Edinburgh beautiful. I have also thought it amazing you can go and climb a Scottish mountain (okay, a small one - but still) and still remain in the capital city. I loved the climb. Do please note the road in front of me froze in recognition and welcome.



Also the loch sensed my Ice-Maidenly approach.



I really mean this - would you just please look at the colours. They go right through me. It's just too heartbreakingly fucking beautiful. And yes, this would be the technical term for it.





Today's my last day in Scotland, so I went souvenir shopping. Guilty as charged, Your Honour, I went for the stuff everyone gets from Scotland - but in my defence, at least I made sure the stuff was actually Made in Scotland, rather than buying (cheaper) things which euphemistically say things such as "Inspired by" or "Made to the Traditional Design" (in India - which is what they don't say. Or worse, China).



Farewell, bonnie Scotland. I most dearly hope it doesn't take another eighteen and a half years till I return. As the poet says,

England! thy beauties are tame and domestic,
To one who has rov'd on the mountains afar
Oh! for the crags that are wild and majestic
The deep frowning glories of dark Loch na Garr.

(And he was Scottish, you know. Although I haven't made it to Loch na Garr. But still, there's always next time.)

Two video postcards speak a thousand words

On my way up Arthur's Seat today I stopped and took a panoramic view for you. Do please note I climbed up the steeper, craggier side.



Once at the top, I again braved the elements and the howling wind, for the purposes of video evidence. Beware - the howling wind sounds horrible in my camera's microphone, do turn your sounds down.

You may need to congratulate me, for I may be in love

Right so. I don't really necessarily always go for cities in a big way, and I've never had very much to say when people do the "what is your favourite city in Europe/the world" thing. The fact I'm really rather poorly travelled may have something to do with it - all the Parises, Romes, Madrids, Lisbons, cetra remain in a state blissfully unvisited-by-me - but I may start to offer Edinburgh as my answer to these hypothetical conversation-questions. Apart from the general stunningness of the look of the city, and the very good feeling I get from it, there's just this extraordinary quality of light in this city which quite wipes my mind clean. This is considered a good thing.

I'm just saying.

(My host is most lovely, funny, warm and welcoming, too.)