Haggis Checked!!

quick post...

ride over included airplane food the worst i've had ever.  period. ever.  have you experienced the drink/cocktal cart arriving at your seat 20 minutes after the pitiful plastic tray of plastic chicken was set before you?  thanks US Air..

but then things got much better.  after arriving fatigued from the flight over (no sleep) we got a pleasant tour of Glasgow, did one of the "Burns" sites, and arrived here in Ayr on the Firth of Clyde last night.   with a welcoming dinner with the tour group. and guess what?  passed apps was... (wait for it.....) Haggis!!  the were golfball sized orbs on a skewer, with oatmeal coating.  Why not?   Good news, it was pretty good.  I asked the server if it was close to "traditional" preparation and he said yes.  for southern Marylanders, the consistency and taste was not far from Scrapple.  a little spicy and pleasant taste, not gamy or anything.  So i am enthused with my first introduction to Haggis.  the meal was very good, and included smoked salmon starter.. very nice.

Today we visited Burns birthplace and very nice Museum telling of his short life and work.  There is a lot of reverence for him here.  Both places included a little program about him and reading of some of his poems and a couple of his songs..  Which locally, are pronounced "poEms".  the dialect here is pretty hard to understand.. turns out old Robert was quite the ladies guy...

tonight is one of the two nights we're not doing group dinners, so here in Ayr, we've selected the Carrick Lodge Restaurant.  one of the highest rated (tripadisor - what are you going to do?) places in town. On the menu is "Traditional Haggis with neeps and Tatties".  we'll see how that goes.

lovely country, nice people, and a great tour so far.  I have pictues but will am on a schedule at the moment.  so, i gotta go

DFD