August 25th, Day 29 - Edinburgh Tattoo

We had a big night ahead of us, but Constance and I headed out bright and early in the morning anyway starting at the National Museum of Scotland...

Upon entering the museum we went directly to the nearest elevator which took us to the 5th floor where we went outside to walk up two flights of these spiral stairs...

...and here is Constance giving me a dirty look for making her walk up those stairs...

...but once we made it to the top we had a spectacular 360 view of Edinburgh....here's the castle...

...and Constance enjoying the view of the castle...

I think this tall building is the Tolbooth Church - now known as the Hub - information central for all theatre festival...

The museum itself was one of my favorites we've visited so far. Among the many exhibits, there was one in particular that I managed to get lost in for a good long time. It was about Britian during World Wars I and II and contained the stories of real life people.

The museum also had a special exhibit of the Lewis Chessmen... 

Ninety-three gaming pieces were found on a beach in Scotland in 1831 - they are carved out of walrus ivory and whales' teeth. There is much mystery surrounding the origin of the pieces and how they came to be buried on a beach in Scotland. Whatever their history they certainly are intriguing to look at and wonder about!

We eventually made our way out of the museum and up the hill and down the other side to Princes Street - the big fancy shopping street in Edinburgh...strickly for browsing though we did go into the Marks and Spencer for some picnic food. It was a gorgeous day and we found a bench in Princes Street Gardens to rest our bottoms and enjoy our lunch.

After that it was back to hotel for a rest before our big night out - the Tattoo! We wandered around looking for a place for dinner before the Tattoo and landed in a little cafe sitting next to woman eating alone. A few men in uniform walked in all three of us turned to look and she said, "You're never too old to look!" which, naturally, sparked a conversation. It turned out she was from the American south, but married a man who was "in oil" which moved her family to Aberdeen for many yearas - though she was currently living in Paris. How glamorous! Her kids were all grown and she never said where her husband was, but she was in Edinburgh for the theatre festival. She "flew over for a long weekend..." Ah, what a life....

But I digress...we were headed for the Tattoo...

...the view from our seats - perfect!

...the crowd!

Some spectators really got into the spirit...

Constance and I were just happy to be there...

Opening the event was the Massed Pipes & Drums, featuring an enormous band – 12 pipe bands in all – made up of the very best pipe bands from across the globe!

It a bit fuzzy, but this is a picture of the Imps Motorcycle Display Team - a group of 38 youngsters aged 5 (FIVE!) to 16...

The Citadel Pipes from the Military College of South Carolina...

Echoes of Jordan

77 armed forces musicians from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, accompanied by a 24-strong Drill Team, a Mounted Honour Guard – astride 8 military horses – and its six member Circassian Guard of Honour!

Kinloch Anderson Highland Dancers together with a young group from New Zealand

 Representative Band of the Border Guard of the Republic of Poland...I think that is what this picture is of...grrrr...my photos came out so blurry! They were wearing green capes and round hats with an eagle feather.

The New Zealand Army Band

I know - another blurry one, but this is some of the British Army's "finest gymnasts." The Army's Physical Training Corps was celebrating its 150th anniversary.

The grand finale brought everyone back onstage...

Such an impressive production!

Constance and I had a great time at the Tattoo, but she refused to go along with my idea of the two of us getting an actual tattoo to commemorate the experience...