British Isles 2010: The Edinburgh Military Tattoo

The Edinburgh Military Tattoo Aug. 20, 2010

Tonight we had the great pleasure of going to the Tattoo!! What a show. Words can hardly
explain the many bands, acts etc. that make up the Tattoo. There were bagpipers, gymnasts,
cyclist, horses and of course bands. The U.S. was represented by our very own Citadel
marching band and bagpipers. They did us proud. Vicky liked the Polish band because they
used so many different instruments. Herb liked the way current history of troops from the
U.K. could be superimposed over the castle walls. Carlos liked the gymnasts. And these were
not ordinary gymnasts, but rather precision ones who did the vault from high off the ground.
And their runs were so close together you thought they were going to hit each other. And
yours truly liked the surreal way they used lighting to change the appearance of the castle
walls. I could not capture that on a photo. And I also liked the Highland Dancers. Some
thoughts about the night: we used Brian who we hired through the Marriott - he was
fantastic, giving us a play by play while driving (and walking) to the castle. He got us to
the entrance and then said he would be there at the end of the performance to take us back
to the Marriott. He was true to his word. The weather started out fine - just light weight
shirts to start. Then the wind picked up and the temps dropped. By 10:30 we were very
cold. Temp might have been sixty but the wind chill must have put the temp in the mid 50's.
We were fortunate, we had no rain. Everything they say about the seating is true, plus
some. That had to be the most uncomfortable 90 minutes of my life, but well worth it. We
were in the East section, row ZF. Nose bleed seats, but what a sight from that high up.
One of the ushers said the higher up, the better. I would highly recommend a trip to The
Tattoo. Word has it these bleachers were used for the last time. One can hope the seating
in future years will be more comfortable.