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| The Royal Mile, Edinburgh (Photo by Kim Traynor. Licensed under CC by SA 3.0) |
From the Faroe Islands, we will return to Edinburgh for a few days. August is festival month in Edinburgh and Pat and I will be taking in as much as we can in the 2 short days that we will be in Edinburgh. Pat and both love the theatre and so our time in the city will focus on going to see performances of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, seeing works of art on display as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival and for one night, attending the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo which I am certifiably obsessed over thanks to the countless YouTube videos that I have seen of the annual event.
I am all about the Tattoo! The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and international military bands and artistic performance teams on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle in the capital of Scotland. The event is held each August as part of the Edinburgh Festival.
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| Photo from the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo website. |
I already know I will get goosebumps when I see the spectacle of the dozens of pipers and drummers (aka the Massed Pipes and Drums) walking across the drawbridge, passing through flame torches to enter the esplanade. Watch the video and you'll see what I mean.
I'm also really looking forward to seeing a performance by the Top Secret Drum Corps, a drumline corp that hails from Basel, Switzerland. They are not a military band but they are so good at what they do that they are invited back every year to perform. Watch a snippet of their appearance at last year's Tattoo and you'll have an idea of why I'm so excited to be seeing them perform live.
Tickets for the Tattoo went on sale the first week of December and even though I bought our tickets like 3 days after they were made available to the public, the really good seats had already been snapped up by the resellers. I refuse to pay the marked up prices so our seats are not quite prime but they are in a very good spot so I am happy! I just hope it does not rain because the Tattoo has gone on even in a downpour! Yikes!
We'll most certainly stroll up and down the Royal Mile but if and only if there are no lines entering into any of the tourist attractions, will I venture into one. I have seen plenty of castles, palaces and museums in my lifetime that if I leave Edinburgh without stepping foot into one, I am more than fine! Pat and I will be getting together in a few days to look over the program catalog for the Festival Fringe - we'll start identifying some of the performances and events we might want to see.
After Edinburgh, we begin our Scottish Island hopping adventure starting with the Shetland and Orkney Islands!
