The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2010

The Forth Bridge Cruise is definitely worth the adventure.  We travelled by bus from Edinburgh to South Queensferry and then enjoyed a cruise on the Firth of Forth with its famous bridges and wonderful views of the Fife coastline, Dalgety Bay, Inchcolm Island, Oil Drilling and we even saw some seals sunning.
Enjoy the views.

This year was the Diamond Jubilee of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a World Famous Event - one of the greatest open-air pageants in the world.  We were so fortunate to be able to attend since we were in Edinburgh whilst it was being staged.  How amazing!  Never ever thought I'd be there in person.  

HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, is Patron of the Tattoo and she wrote: "The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo began as a series of drill displays in Princes Street Gardens at the foot of the Castle Rock.  So successful were these shows and so large the crowds they drew that in 1949 they were transferred from the Gardens to the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle."

We had such great seats too, right in the front and only a few rows back, though they were small and very cramped. Approx. 8,000 people were packed into the temporary tiered seating arrangement - people from all over the world.  See those centre steps?  On the left of the photo about 4 rows up and I was on the aisle, so I had more leg room than most.  This photo was taken in the day time during a bus tour.

By Day and by Night - transformation!

What you see above during a Day Tour, at night becomes the entrance for each of the representative participants of the Tattoo.  Let the show begin........

Military Bands are always grand and so perfectly executed with sheer precision.

My favourite for the evening were the performances from the New Zealand Army Band  who had the audience clapping and toe tapping with their lively rhythm numbers and no NZ "act" is complete without the Haka!  Note the backdrop screened onto the Castle Walls.

We were also entertained by bikes and gymnastic performances.

A salute to present day soldiers serving their country in different parts of the world, but particularly in Afghanistan.

Then the FINALE with Fireworks but not before the lights of the castle were lowered and the Lone Piper, high up on the walls of the castle, played "Sleep Dearie Sleep".  This was an experience that nobody fortunate enough to be present is ever likely to forget.

Students have arrived for the first of our Machine Embroidery Retreats, so I'll keep you posted with their antics and projects this week.

Following on from my last blog, unbelievably, Melinda's excruciating back pain and inability to walk or literally move, has been traced to a fractured bone in her hip. Goodness knows when or how this happened but with her previous two back operations things went into chaos!  She now has had immediate surgery having a pin and plate inserted.  On the road to recovery.  Thanks to the persistence of the teams at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, in their words, she had them baffled for a few days as they tried to find what the cause was.