Military Tattoo

Yesterday, Ian and I had the opportunity of going to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo show. This takes place at the Edinburgh Castle. They set up a grandstand for people to sit in. We got in this huge line to get into the stadium. Standing in the line, it seemed that it would be virtually impossible for all these people to get into the stadium. Well, they did it! There was literally NO wiggle room in the stadium. We were sitting shoulder to shoulder, knee to back. It was crazy. BUT, this packing really helped when it started pouring rain on us. All the people acted as a protective barrier against the rain!

The show itself was great. Many different bands from around the world performed. Even a band from Missouri performed, though I must say, they were probably the low point of the evening (which does sort of reflect bad on the homeland). The high points were a marching group of girls from New Zealand, some people that skied (yes, skied) through the stadium holding huge flames and a group of guys performing with bayonets...they were awesome. One odd thing was toward the end of the night, all the bands came out and performed the national anthem. The national anthem is the song that goes like this...My country tis of thee; sweet land of liberty...well, thanks to google, I found out that song (known as "America") is written to the tune of the British national anthem, God Save the Queen. Kind of funny. In my opinion, this is the funniest way ever to get back at Britain...go America!

By the end of the show, the skies had opened up and it became a downpour. And, since it took about a half an hour to exit the stadium, we were sufficiently soaked by the time we got out. And of course, as luck would have it, no taxis were available. But, we made it safely home via the night bus. Even though we were in a bad storm, I would go see the show again...next time though, I would bring something to cover my lap!