Something gross and something cool

Haggis ban an offal burden? Scotland is considering lobbying the United States to lift a ban on haggis.

Text (original and translation) of "Ode to a Haggis" (aka "Address to a Haggis," aka "To a Haggis"), by Robert Burns.

Recipe for vegetarian haggis (this sounds much tastier than the original, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a vegetarian)

Speaking of vegetarian food, my husband and I are vegetarians, and we visited San Francisco last weekend with another vegetarian couple. On Saturday night, we ate at the The Millennium Restaurant (located in The Hotel California) where everything on the menu is vegetarian (actually, I think it might be all vegan). It was so cool to eat somewhere where everything on the menu is "safe." They also had a selection of fine grape juices bottled by vineyards. We had a delicious bottle of Pinot Noir grape juice.

On Saturday night, we stayed at The Hotel California -- unlike The Eagles song, we were able to leave :-) Our room was bright and cheery -- the ceiling and three of the four walls were sunny yellow and one wall was sky blue. There was a painting on the ceiling of cool swirly designs and birds. The walls were decorated with colorful advertisements from the twenties and thirties, and the floor was a pale wood with a very thick and shiny coating of polish and a dark wood border around the edge of the room. There were a couple of hand-painted quotes on a couple of the walls near the ceiling.

We birded around San Francisco on Saturday and Sunday, and I will tell you what we found later. I have to go rustle up some grub before Carl comes on at 6:00.

Ta ta for now,
Sylvie