Santa Visits St. Columba's

Craigmillar Castle

We got visitors for the Christmas season, and headed out in our warmest clothes to explore Craigmillar Castle and give our American guests a taste of Scottish history.  Highlights included the awesome inner courtyard and the snow-covered crags of Arthur's Seat in the distance.  Craigmillar Castle was once the brief home of Mary, Queen of Scots and was a very popular destination for hunting and leisure among the Edinburgh nobility of times past.

 

St. Andrew's Day--Our First Haggis

St. Andrew's Day is a Scottish holiday, and our city group decided to have a Burns Supper to commemorate it--haggis, neeps, and tatties, a hearty Scottish meal.  Here we have documented our reactions to our first haggis, as well as my first taste of Scottish whisky (that's how they spell it).  Yes, they are laughing at me.  Here is the text of the poem that Mash read. It is indeed a poem about haggis.

Lighting the Christmas Tree

This is what we got of the Christmas tree lighting ceremony on the Mound, where the famous Norwegian Christmas tree and all of the Princes Street lights get turned on.  We missed most of it just trying to find a good place to stand.