Sunday, August 24, 2008

Edinburgh Tattoo - 16 August 2008

Having watched the Edinburgh Tattoo from the other side of the globe we felt that we could not be in the UK without seeing it live at least once, so this was the year. JedburghWe had travelled as far as Wakefield on Friday night to break the journey and leaving there this morning we left the A1 and took the A68 towards Edinburgh stopping and enjoying a walk around both Hexham and Jedburgh. The A68 delivered us very nicely to the Sheriffhall Park and Ride so we parked and rode into the throngs that fill the Edinburgh streets at Festival and Fringe time. The Royal Mile leading up to the Castle gates was simply crammed with people wandering or watching the various street entertainers.
Fringe street sceneFringe street scene

Fringe street sceneFringe street scene
After catching up with some Kiwi contacts in Edinburgh it was time to queue for the Tattoo. The weather forecast all week was for rain, then showers, then sprinkles but in spite of the brave and up-beat sentiments on the Tattoo website "[If it rains there] is a feeling of mutual sympathy which forms an even stronger bond [between audience and performers] than usual." we were fortunate to only have to contend with a slightly cool breeze as it stayed quite dry.
Edinburgh TattooLochiel Marching Display team

Highland dancersEdinburgh Tattoo
We thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being among the crowd at the Tattoo and seeing a touch of home with the performance by the Lochiel Marching Display team.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We saw that Japanese duo at a Buskers' festival in Christchurch (NZ). They were easily the funniest act there. I hope you enjoyed them at the Festival.