Scotland wknd, part III: Pitlochry & Blair Castle

As I said before, we made it into Pitlochry Friday evening around 800, just in time to have dinner before the restaurants closed up.  Pitlochry is the city that sleeps.  The nearest eats were a place called the Auld Smiddy Inn.  Being that it was my first night in Scotland, I felt obliged to try some of the local fare: Haggis, neeps, & tatties, served up with a wee dram.  This was my first experience with the much-maligned haggis, & I'm here to tell you, it's totally delicious.  Now having acquainted myself with the various recipes, I'm prepared to take it on faith that many haggises are not, in fact, delicious, but I can unreservedly recommend the one I ate at the Auld Smiddy.

For those of you who don't know, haggis is a preparation of sheep's offal (liver, lungs, & heart), onions, oatmeal, spices, & salt, all lovingly packed into an animal stomach (or sometimes a casing) & simmered for a couple of hours.  Its reputation as a tasty dish is not what I would call favorable.  I suspect this is owing at least in part to its mish-mash texture & the whole offal-stomach thing.  Philosophically speaking, though, haggis not much different from sausage &, therefore, deserves your love.  Neeps, on the other hand, are repugnant.  Neep is short for turnip (tur-neep?), & I have yet to taste one that inspired me to want a second.  I'm not even convinced they're worthwhile as a filler.  Tatties means taters, i.e. potatoes (boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew!), & lastly, 'wee dram' is a euphemism for a shot of whiskey, & whiskey in Scotland ain't bad.

Saturday consisted entirely of FMMC wedding to-dos.  As I mentioned before, the ceremony took place at the historic Blair Castle, which was spectacular in pretty much every way.  Most of the photos I tried to take didn't come out on account of the light being less than optimal, but I did manage one or two:

Disney, eat your heart out.

The castle's interior was equally cool.  Its halls & corridors were bedecked in dark wood paneling & arms of all kinds.  The reception area had been outfitted like a 19th century hunter's lodge with wide timber beams lining the vaulted ceiling & rows upon rows of antlers & tunics hung on the walls:

Pass the mead.

The ceremony went off without a hitch, & everyone looked beautiful.  Here's a shot of the bride & groom during a rare moment away from the crowds.  At the moment they're honeymooning through Italy:

Congrats, FMMC!

Okay, time for dinner, so I'll leave off there.  The last part of our trip (Loch Ness!) I'll write up as soon as I get a chance.