stereotypes.

                             Frozen Haggis. A hefty ball of it too. I like how it says "Versatile".

Haggis and Veggie Haggis. Not unusual for a menu. In fact, it's more or less expected! The other options on the menu are pretty traditional too. The menu was pretty glossy so it was hard to get a good photo. I like how when food is vegetarian it is denoted with a (v). Useful! When scanning menus in North America I'll think "Ohh that sounds delicious," until I encounter the flesh part; here I merely scan for the (v) and then make my decision. Unfortunately, it is way harder to be a vegetarian here, less options.

 Bagpipes. Luckily I don't mind the sound at all, in fact it's kind of pleasant because all the people that play on the streets actually know how to play. I hear bagpipes daily, no joke!

I uploaded this photo to facebook, but basically it just shows a full kilt attire. I see a few a day. In fact, the little boy that lives above us wears a kilt as part of his school uniform. Whether a child attends private or public school they wear a uniform.

                                       ...the illustration on the box was too funny. However, I wonder why the guy doesn't have red hair.


So basically I uploaded these photos to show that Scotland is actually pretty much how we think of it in Canada. The stereotypes are true, which I wouldn't expect because a lot of the stereotypes about Canadians are not true (probably because our country is so vast geographically and culturally).
I should have uploaded a photo of Irn Bru. Irn Bru (no typo, but it is pronounced "Iron Brew") is Scotland's leading soft-drink. Scotland may be the only country in the world where Coca Cola is not the number one soft drink. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irn-Bru

Now all about me. (haha) we hosted a "Canadian Thanksgiving," Meghan invited her peers from the university. This resulted in a Thanksgiving dinner with an Austrian, German, Turk, Greek, Indian, Brazilian, 2 Scots, American, and 5 Canadians. Wow. Being a vegetarian family we had no turkey and instead made a veggie pot-pie, chili, stew, stuffing, and ratatouillie. We had plenty of alcohol and bread with numerous spreads. I made an apple-walnut crumble and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. In a truly non-traditional fashion, the Thanksgiving party ended at midnight when the 2 Scots decided they were going to call taxis and usher everybody off to the club which was open until 3am on a Sunday night.

There are NO pumpkins in Edinburgh! Nothing canned or real. This is the first October of my life where I have not seen a pumpkin. I also wish I could have a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice latte :( I don't even go to Starbucks here because the service is so shit. I instead go to Costa where soy milk is FREE! That is awesome. I didn't choose to be sensitive to dairy and I certainly feel it's unfair that I usually pay a premium to avoid an upset stomach. Not at Costa.

The rest of October involves a photoshoot, visit from Meghan's cousin, potential trip to the North, the Specials concert in Glasgow, and 5km run Linus and I are doing in Holyrood Park.