Day 161: Edinburgh, Scotland! Time to Eat Haggis!

Today we trained to Edinburgh, Scotland.  The first half was on the straight up commuter train.  That means that you have to ride with whoever gets on the train with you.  I may seem like a snob here but if you have ever rode a train in Europe you know that you always buy first class tickets.  We did for the second half but there was no first class for the first half of the trip.

The group we rode with was interesting to say the least. They were loud, swigging wine from the bottle, and quite funny to watch.  Their filthy mouths (and these were twenty-something girls) made some of the parents riding cringe as well. 

The second half was much different.  It was quite ride in a comfortable seat with plenty of room.  On arrival in Edinburgh we walked from the train station to our hotel.  Now that was a hike.  My back pack was easily twenty pound with all the stuff I had packed into it.  It was close to a mile hike.  I was covered in sweat by the time we arrived. 

We got checked rushed back out eager to explore Edinburgh.  We walked to Old Town across the river from where we were.  We strolled around the Royal Mile and back down to the Hop On/Off tour.  Again we got very lucky weather wise.  We sat outside atop the bus and for the tour we had sunshine and clear skies. 

After dinner we did a Ghost Walk tour of the city that took us into the dark underground section of the city.  By the end of the day according to FitBit I had climbed over 9 floors and had burned 136% of my daily calorie goals. 

Daily Recap:

Matt and Kelly: Walked all over Edinburgh.

A bit on Haggis:

Yes, we tried haggis at dinner.  We had to.  You know the saying, “When in Rome,” well why not.  At worst it would taste horrible and we could let everyone know.  Luckily the best is what happened.  Haggis is delicious.  No joke. I know what I thought but I was completely wrong.  It is not sheep’s intestines or sheep’s stomach.  Actually it is the left over parts of the sheep, heart, liver, and so on.  It is the parts that we make bologna out of.

It’s all cooked and finely chopped, mixed with oats and spices and packed into a sheep’s stomach.  You don’t eat the stomach rather it is used to hold the whole mixture while it is cooked by boiling it in water.  It’s served with neeps and tatties which are mashed turnips and mashed potatoes.  Delicious!