In spite of the thorough border check of French customs, Megabus once again managed to get us to our London destination twenty minutes early. Plenty of time for a pit stop at CASK Pub & Kitchen for a burger and some beers! And for a visit to the crapper… Not trying to be rude here, but the company name in cast iron makes it very obvious where this colloquial name actually comes from.
After all this preparation and anticipation, I’m finally on my way to Glasgow again! This time I’m travelling with my girlfriend, which will make the trip even more enjoyable.
Our Megabus arrived quite on time, is not too full, the power plug is working—unlike the USB plug—and it’s only a little bit too warm. I’ve had worse. 😉
This Saturday my girlfriend and I visited the Scottish Weekend at the Alden Biesen castle in Bilzen (Belgian Limburg). Although there are more Scottish festivals and games in Belgium, this is one of my favourites. This is mainly because there are some interesting competitions being held, like the Highland Dancing Championship and the Belgian Championship for Pipe Bands.
One of the pipe bands competing (in fourth grade) was the MacLaren Pipe Band Venlo, so that was an excellent opportunity to meet up with a clan member that couldn’t make it to the Clans’ Days.
Apart from the competition, there were lots of other music performances, like a concert from the Jarlath Henderson & Ross Ainslie Band pictured here. I would have loved to see Bags of Rock, but their gig was just too late to be able to get home afterwards, and since I had to work the next day… Next year I might just take a tent and stay the whole weekend, to be able to see everything!
Yesterday, for the first time I had the opportunity to cook with haggis myself. Someone in Brussels bought a couple of those huge 1.36 kg MacSween haggis rolls for a party, but didn’t need all of them. Now she needed the freezer space, so she was giving them away to anyone interested: lucky me! 🙂
The first haggis dish I cooked was haggis, clapshot and whisky sauce. I don’t think the swedes are exactly the same in Belgium, and I didn’t quite follow the recipe, but the result was really nice, and even my girlfriend—who was a haggis virgin—liked it! Just as well, since I still have about 2.3 kg of haggis in my freezer now…
Can’t wait to try some breaded haggis balls next!
Last weekend, Belgian members of the Clan MacLaren were present again at the Clans’ Days to pay homage to kinsmen fallen in the Great War, at the Menin Gate in Ypres and Tyne Cot Cemetery near Passchendaele.