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Published: September 21st 2009
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Thursday 27 August
Breakfast and bags 7:45am Leave 8:45
We left on the bus with our local guide bill, for a drive through Edinburgh. He was a fantastic guide. Very informative. He asked about family names and said that the Duncan’s were “trouble makers from the highlands”. Sounds like us.
We drove up a section of Arthur’s seat for a wonderful view of Edinburgh.On the way, we saw a swan with her 3 babies. We walked through the stadium at the castle where we’d be that night, for the Military tattoo. It was much smaller than I imagined. The castle was fantastic. We saw the crown jewels. The buildings were amazing with all the cannon holes and terrific stones. The view was panoramic. Afterwards I went off walking through the town. It was a lovely and relaxing time. I walked the Royal Mile and ended up at Holyrood Palace. It cost me £10 to get in with an audio guide included. This is a working palace that the Queen uses when here. The story of Mary Queen of Scots was fascinating and the palace and gardens beautiful. It did feel like I was in church though. So quiet as everyone
was busy listening. The only thing you could hear was the creaking of floor boards.
I had a beautiful bowl of leek and scotch potato soup (noticing a trend??) for lunch with a huge slab of bread. I ate it in the garden of the Palace café. Just beautiful with all the roses and flowers. As I came out, the rain started down. I walked back to the hotel and had a few raspberry vodkas and read my book in the lounge.
We went on the coach into the old town for dinner. We stopped at the statue of Bobby the Dog, outside Bobby’s Bar. Bobby was a dog that had sat by his owner’s grave every single day and was buried alongside his master when he died. The drizzle was getting heavier. We joined the crowd heading to the castle. It was packed and the atmosphere was great. We passed through “security” and headed to our seats. Man! We were crammed in. I’ve never experienced anything like it. We had silly little rain ponchos as no umbrellas were allowed. You couldn’t have moved if you wanted too. We sat in the rain while all the dignitaries came out through
the castle to their little dry seats. Everytime someone near you moved, rain ran down your sides and wet your backside. Not very comfortable.
The Tattoo started with a very loud and impressive fly over. It was a great display when the bands all began marching. The pipers were the highlight as was all the fancy drum work. The Swiss were funny and put a different spin on it. I loved the ending when the pipers all marched through the other bands. Impressive. We then had to stand for the anthem which was not an easy task fiven how squashed in we were. Then the lone peper played his song from the top of the castle. I loved all the light displays on the castle. Very clever. It was ridiculous leaving with 7000 other people. We shuffled like penguins for 45 minutes. We made it back to the coach by 11:15pm and were freezing. STRAIGHT to bed!
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