Sometime in the summer, before we were really seriously planning our touristy itinerary for Edinburgh, Brad just Googled "things to do in Edinburgh" and stumbled across what ended up being my very favorite thing we did in Scotland: The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
Check it out here.
I don't remember the dates of the Tattoo's season, but thankfully, we were there while it was running. It happens at the Edinburgh castle (not in the castle but in the esplanade next to the castle), so we walked (with hundreds of other people) up part of the Royal Mile up to the castle, passing this along the way:
Clearly, Scotland loves us back.
The Tattoo is the performance of military bands. We learned from the SPECTACULAR emcee that the name comes from a Dutch word and is associated with the British armies of days gone by. When troops would be staying in towns (presumably bunking in citizens' houses), an army drummer would march around after the pub's last call, making sure the soldiers knew it was curfew. It's also where we get the word "tattoo" in relation to a rhythmic beat. Etymology makes my heart go pitter patter (beat a tattoo, if you will. Yeah. I said it.). Each season has a different theme for their performances, and this season's was a kaleidoscope. So, we were treated to performances by bands (and traditional dancers!) from countries around the world. I lost count of how many we saw, but I was all in for a solid two hours of it! Countries I remember: Germany, Ghana, Barbados, China, France, New Zealand, England, Scotland.
The night that we were there was also the night that the BBC was filming, so obviously we are now famous.
On our way to our seats, we got these fantastic panoramic views of the city (side note: Brad is convinced that all of the buildings in Edinburgh could use a good power washing. It is rather gray...):
Inside the performance area, we learned that we brought the median age of the audience down considerably, but that's just because all the other 20- and 30-somethings don't know what they're missing.
Brad and the castle
The side of the castle was an active participant in the show, as scenes/colors/pictures that corresponded to each country were shown on the walls. It was much cooler than I'm making it sound...
I did a lousy job of getting pictures (because I was a. too engrossed and b. taking video), but you should know that everything was spectacular. My absolute favorites were all of the Scottish pipers in all of their elaborate highland dress. The effect of the massive number of bagpipes + the highland dancing girls was magnificent.
(these were not the Scottish pipers. Please don't be confused.)
Here's an example of the side of the castle being used. I think this was a scene for the German performance. Also, the German dancing girls literally did their traditional dancing wearing dirndls and carrying beer pints.
At the end (for the multiple finales), all 800 performers filled this area. I was staring open-mouthed and did not have the presence of mind to get a picture. Yes, I am ashamed of myself.
And, one of my very favorite parts was when they had the whole crowd stand and sing Auld Lang Syne together. It was a rather raucous little number, surprising as that sounds.
The Tattoo didn't end until after 11:00 pm, but it was so much fun and so thrilling that I was pretty jazzed for the next hour or so (very much felt the exhaustion the next morning, though) and couldn't stop talking about it for the rest of our trip. I will always ALWAYS love Brad for finding this gem and making it happen!
Oh, it rained on us for a while, and it was STILL my favorite thing! If you're ever in Edinburgh, check and see if the Tattoo is in season and do whatever you need to make it to a performance. YOU CAN THANK ME LATER.
No comments:
Post a Comment