Edinburg, Scotland - Summer 2003

Edinburgh

Queen St. Station, Glasgow

We left Nicky's and took the train into Glasgow's Queen Street station where we changed trains for the trip to Edinburgh. There was a first class carriage on this train which is definitely an iffy situation in Scotland. It was still fairly early when we arrived in Edinburgh and the first thing we did was go and find our hotel which was right across the street from Waverly station. I love these old hotels in Britain. They have so much character. They are definitely not the slick, modern all amenities that the large chains have. So siree, these places have personality and occasionally a little attitude as well. Anyway, after a slight mix-up where we were assigned to a room with only two beds, we ended up with the room we had reserved with three beds right in a row. Just like the three bears.

Naturally the first thing we did was go in search of the Tattoo office and make sure our tickets for that night were under control and that no mix-ups had occurred there. We picked up our tickets and set off to see Edinburgh. Since this was Kathy and Emily's first trip I suggested that we take the double-decker tour bus and get an overview of the city. This might not have been the best idea since our time was so limited but at least they got to see some of the city away from the Royal Mile and a ride up the hill, which was no small thing.

The Edinburgh International Festival was due to start in 3 days and the Tattoo was in full swing so Edinburgh was crowded. I love this city, it has a different personality for every season. This time it was definitely in a party mood and the streets were full of performers, pipers, and tourists from all over the world. The square in front of St. Giles was full of booths selling just about anything a tourist could be tempted to spend their money on. As we started to make our way down the street it suddenly occurred to us that it was past lunch time so we ducked into a tea shop. While we were there we chatted with an American couple at the next table from Oregon who had tried to get tickets to the Tattoo but been unsuccessful. You have to book your tickets a long time in advance to get any seat, much less a good one.

After lunch we browsed around the shops and then slowly made our way up the hill towards the Castle. We were way early so I found a place to sit down while Kathy and Emily headed back down the hill to do a little more shopping. A very nice policewoman came by and told me that in a little while I was going to have to move. We started chatting and naturally I told her my granddaughter was a policewoman in the Strathclyde region and also played rugby for the Edinburgh Academics. The lady didn't know Nicky but she was a rugby fan so she let me sit where I was until Kathy and Emily came back and it was time to go into the stands.

Grand Finale

The Tattoo experience is hard to describe. Spectacular is about as close as I can get to describe it. It's not really accurate to describe the people who presented the programs "performers" but I will just list the folks who entertained us. In no particular order there was The State Band of the Royal Artillery, The Bermuda Regimental Band and Corp of Drums, Gombey Dancers from somewhere in the Far East, the Republic of South Korea's traditional Army Band; Pipes and Drums of the Royal Army of Oman, including a troupe of dancers. From Switzerland the "Top Secret" Drum Corps was just wonderful, and the regular Tattoo Highland Dancers who were joined this year by the Schiehallion Dancers from Canada. Also featured were the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, The Royal Artillery Motorcycle Display Team, The Flying Gunners and the US Army Drill Team which performed routines with bayonet-tipped rifles. The Royal Scots, the oldest infantry regiment in the British Army, celebrates five centuries of history with a pageant during which a number of significant historical events are marked: The Union of the Crown in 1603; Raising of The Royal Scots 1633; and the anniversary of the end of the Korean War in 1953.

After a rather long but pleasant walk back to our hotel I fell straight into bed and slept soundly the entire night, oblivious to the sounds of all night partying that Emily and Kathy were treated to. The next morning after breakfast we set off to the Tourist Information Office and made plans for our Inverness adventure.

Tattooed!

Emily’s Take

Deja Vu - we saw you in London

Got up and went to Edinburgh. Went to the Tattoo store, got the tickets...got on tour bus...got off at top of hill. Went down, had tea and lunch..met a nice family from Oregon. Decided over lunch that instead of taking a long train ride on Kathy's last day here, since she gets train sick..sometimes..then we would go up to Inverness to Loch Ness and she could do that..something she was regretful she wasn’t going to get to do. It was my idea..thank you *bows* I will take all the credit for coming up with it. :)

Swiss Precision Drummers

 Anyway we got into the Tattoo 10 minutes before everyone else because Grams can't walk very well, with her knees like they are. Got up to the Tattoo..and for all of you who don’t know what that is, it ISN’T where you go to get a tattoo. It’s a salute to all of the British and some of the other countries, military troops. It is totally awesome. We had really nice seats, not much leg room though. The Tattoo is very different from anything I have ever seen before. It was a completely beautiful night. Tons of talent. My favorite was the Swiss drummers. They put on an awesome show. Totally in sync. All the shows that I saw were different...Mamma Mia was a musical, Richard III was..well Shakespeare..and the Tattoo was cultural.

We got back to the hotel..Is it too much to ask to go to sleep in this country? Some people were outside just laughing it up and whooping and hollering all night. I kept looking out of the window and as far as I could see, there was no one there..but you could sure hear them. I must’ve gotten up like 5 times..because they wouldn’t shut up... ARGH I say!