Showtime!

It was finally time for the Tattoo...the reason that we were in the United Kingdom in August.


Everything in Edinburgh is built on a hill.  From our flat to the Royal Mile was an uphill journey that always involved the Granny Steps (my nemesis).


Every year for the Tattoo they put up these temporary bleachers that can hold thousands of visitors.  Temporary bleachers hanging out over the side of dormant volcano.  My goodness, we humans put a lot of trust into each other.



Tickets had been purchased months before, the trip was planned around this one night, but as you can see there are some things you can't control....the weather.


It was cold and wet and as you can see by the flags above...it was windy.  Nothing could stop us though--we bundled up as much as we could, wore our rain ponchos and even purchased a wool blanket to keep us warm.


This has to be the most beautiful backdrop for any performance..the Edinburgh Castle. 


 Fireworks indicated the start of the evening.


Then hundreds of bagpipers and drummers marched into the arena.


There can never be too many bagpipes as far as I'm concerned.


This is my one surviving video of the night.  I cleaned off my phone a couple weeks ago and now I can't find the other videos I took that evening.


Notice how they change the lighting on the castle.  It was almost like being at Disney World. 


 In addition to the bagpipers and drummers there were performers from all over the world.


The bagpipers and drums came from Scotland, England, Canada, New Zealand, Gurkha and Tasmania.


 Look at that castle now!


 A German band and dancers.


 Dancers from China. Bands from Trinidad and Tobago and France.


 A band from Nigeria.  Fiddlers from the Shetland Islands.




 My favorite was the marching drill team from New Zealand--the Lochiel Marching Drill Team.  Those ladies were sharp!


After a couple hours the fireworks let us know that the performance was coming to an end (way too soon).  


There was a grand finale where all the performers took the stage.  It was an incredible experience.  I loved every minute of it even if I was frozen by the end of the night.

Definitely a must do if you ever visit Scotland in August!

Comments

polcat24 said…
Yes, it was a pain to have to do Grannys step every time we went to the castle area. And when I saw how the seats hang over the cliff I was a little taken aback, but we didn't even notice when we got to our seats. AND THE SHOW WAS GREAT!!!! I would do it again if I could.
October 6, 2019 at 5:50 PM
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