Edinburgh, Scotland

We only saw Kim a few weeks ago in North Dakota, but we were excited to be seeing her again in Scotland. She had been there before, but we hadn't. Our coach had no sooner dropped us off at our Hotel and hadn't even unpacked our bags when Kim walked in the room - she hadn't expected us so soon, and we hadn't expected her so soon either. We hugged and laughed and then got down to unpacking for the evening - we were to attend our first Haggis tasting! 'Not bad' was the verdict - quite tasty in fact. We enjoyed an evening of Scottish entertainment with bagpipes, accordions, drums, dancers and fiddle playing. An enjoyable evening for sure.

Our visit coincided with the largest Art Festival in the World - held every year right here in Edinburgh. We couldn't believe the crowds. Everywhere you looked in the city there were shops selling 'cashmere' - so nice, soft and warm. The scarves were in every hue - Scottish hues of course!! I was very tempted, but I already have 2 cashmere scarves, and living in Ballina doesn't really qualify me for a 3rd! 

The real reason for the timing of our visit was to attend the Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle. The Tattoo began at 9pm, but that morning we did a tour of the Castle. So much history…Here is a view looking down at the city from the castle.

Before we attended the Tattoo, Murray did a tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia. He thoroughly enjoyed it. During his outing, Kim attended a whisky tasting and I meandered around the city.

So typical of the British summer, we had a few sprinkles of rain during the Tattoo. But it wasn't enough to dampen anyone's spirits. 9,000 people attend the tattoo for the 3 weeks it is held every year. Every performance is sold out. The displays were fabulous and the way they light up the castle to reflect the military presentation on the parade ground at the time was spectacular. The lone piper played a haunting tune up on the castle as a fitting finale to the night. Another thing ticked off my bucket list - thanks Murray and Kim for making it more memorable.