Travelling Hopefully - Tattoo

 Yes the Edinburgh Military Tattoo gets an entry all to itself. Not necessarily because I have anything interesting or profound to say about it but let’s face it if you were looking for interesting or profound this blog probably wouldn’t be your first destination. In fact I could delete the word “first” from the previous sentence without impacting its accuracy.

Seeing the Tattoo has always been a dream of mine. I used to watch it on the ABC when l was younger but  because they broadcast it over the Christmas/New Year break that’s when I thought it was on. If I had thought about it for a moment I would have realised that doing the performance in Edinburgh Castle in midwinter would have been impractical. The performers might have survived but the audience wouldn’t.

So eager was I to ensure I got in (despite a pre booked ticket) that I turned up three hours early. The previous performance was still going on. I loitered with intent for the next couple of hours taking shelter under some trees to protect me from the biting wind, the showers of rain and the hot sun all of which turned up to mock me during this time. 

Finally a queue began to form and I joined it. Now surrounded by queue buddies I waited patiently until I thought my muscles would atrophy. Eventually the word was passed down the line and we surged towards the castle. Actually given that the average age appeared to be about seventy surged probably isn’t the right word to use. Eventually the word was passed down the line and we oozed towards the castle.

Dizzy with excitement (or possibly simply as a result of standing up for three hours) I took my seat and waited for the drink stands to be cleared away. As I waited I saw paramedics pushing away an elderly guest in a wheelchair. Apparently the excitement of turning up had been too much for ber.

There isn’t much I can say about the actual show. If you like that sort of thing it was staggeringly good. If you don’t then it was still staggeringly good but you won’t care. There were guest bands from the Ukrainian navy, the Polish Border Guard and the US army. My favourites were the Top Secret Drum Corps from Switzerland and the US Air Force Honor Guard Precision Drill Team who were amazing. There was pretty much every band in the British Army, Highland Dancers and probably not random others.

Once the final pipes had died away and blasts of fireworks had ruined the sleep of every bird in a five mile radius I got up to go and realised it was very very cold. Not by Edinburgh’s standards of course, the water was still liquid and the homeless made it through the night but it was cold for me. With pipe music ringing in my ears and my blood flowing somewhat lumpily through my veins I made my way ack to my hotel. By the time I arrived my circulation was behaving more or less as it should.

On my last day in Edinburgh I bought socks.