Day 41 - Edinburgh & the Tattoo

If there were awards for courageous driving and for cultural / historical excellence then Kevin Henley and Edinburgh both deserve special mention.

KH deserves his award for driving under extreme pressure trying to negotiate Edinburgh traffic where traffic lane signs change without warning and traffic lights can cause you to wonder (red lights and green arrows) whether you are meant to stop or go - KH did both at once !

Edinburgh gets its award not only for its tangible history but also for its brilliant hosting of the Edinburgh tattoo as we were soon to see.

Having survived our morning peak hour traffic dalliance we set about packing our bikes doing a great job of making our hotel room resemble a hurricane disaster zone

We said goodbye my relo's by driving over the Forth Bridge (see you next time Chris) and then ventured into the city by way of the fabulous golden
mile precinct for the much anticipated Edinburgh Tattoo.

The "mile" is a beautiful place,Victorian buildings on a sloping cobblestoned road complete with narrow passageways dating back 3-400 years.

This was festival time as the crowds thronged we sat back
eating "alfresco" and in style (cheese macaroni ..)while being aware of KHs delicate prostrate condition which seemed to require us to stop every 30 mins!

As for that small event the tattoo - what a setting, semi permanent stands, the darkened backdrop of Edinburgh castle and a crowd of 10,000 absolutely entranced by the pomp, ceremony and military precision of the performers.

A beautiful setting - Edinburgh castle  

A crowd favourite was the Dutch military cycling band - yes you read correctly, an orchestra that plays and cycles in precise order - both at the same time!

As for the massed pipes what can i say - this was stunning raising the hair on the back of your neck as pipers played stirring Scottish renditions that evoked so much hostory from this fiercely proud people - this was the stuff that would have had you running sword in one hand and the other modestly holding your kilt as you raced to follow Mel Gibson into battle.

The massed pipes ! 

All too soon it was over and all we could think was how lucky we were to have timed our visit to be able to attend this event - to everyone else this is a must for the bucket list it doesn't get any better!

For Kev and self it was a fitting end to 6 weeks on the road in the UK and the promise of more adventure on the continent!