I decided that I had to try haggis when I was in Scotland last year, it was my third visit and I'd yet to try it. I wanted to be able to answer all my friends at home in the U.S. who asked me if I'd had it. So on my last night there we went to eat at a very charming pub on the Royal Mile called the Royal McGregor and they had a dish with haggis and chicken combined, which I thought was perfect - if I didn't like the haggis I still had the chicken part to eat. I was pleasantly surprised - the haggis tasted just like ordinary breakfast sausage. I ate the whole dish, no problemo!

You mentioned not having access to a computer on your trip - just so you know there is an internet cafe in Waverly train station in Edinburgh if you want to check your email or surf, and I know there are other internet cafes around town as well.

And as for souvenir shopping - I would not bring home as gifts tins of shortbread - don't get me wrong, I love shortbread, but the same Walker shortbread tins sold in Scottish souvenir shops are available in most American grocery stores - I've even seen them in a Japanese store near where I work, don't ask me why! Same goes for whiskey, the same brands are mostly available here. I would however like to find out if there's a brand of Scottish whisky that's not available in the U.S, that I could bring home from Scotland as a gift gor a relative when I go back.

There's also quite a big internet cafe in Rose Street.

Haggis and chicken together in the same dish?

Haggis have been spotted all over Scotland in the last few months and even in London and New York. Of course, hunting season ended on Jan. 25, Burns Night and won't open until Nov. 30, St. Andrew's Day.

Haggis actually works surprisingly well with chicken - use it as a stuffing to fill a breast, for example.

Daisy, there are a number of different brands - usually single malts - which aren't exported for various reasons, though you'd probably have to visit either a specialist shop or the distillery itself (even better) to find them. Something like Edradour, a small distillery near Pitlochry, probably isn't exported too far.

You can buy Edradour in N. America, around US$100 per bottle. As if.