What a spectacle! 7.15pm we set off up the Royal Mile to queue with everyone else that was going. Fantastic organisation, festival volunteers on hand everywhere making the process of entering the Castle forecourt and finding seating so easy. We were seated shortly after 8.15pm and it was great people watching as the seats rapidly filled and the evening darkened.

Firstly, the Edinburgh Tattoo (as a lot of you who have already attend, do know)  is not about a lot of pipe bands “doing their thing” and playing the pipes whilst marching in different formations, “Performers from over 48 countries have taken part in the Tattoo, and around 30 per cent of the 220,000 audience each year are from overseas“. It’s a 1.5hr+ show, involving, this year, more than 800 performers - image trying to choreograph them!!! along with strobe lights, laser lights and the fireworks, not a display, just used for emphasis.  We had our favourites, the most impressive for us, and something very different, were the US Air Firce Honor Guard Drill Team, they were mesmerising, google this link to see:  https://m. youtube.com/watch?v=yH5PeoO8hwc#fauxfullscreen

The top secret Drum Corps from Switzland.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PK8S-b598KE#fauxfullscreen . The Royal Calvary of the Sultanate of Oman: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U21wA68TIm8   Mexican &  Hungarian, the list goes on.  The finale: God Save the Queen, Auld Lang Syne, and the evening hymn ‘Amazing Grace’, then the last post played by the buglers from Ypres (we were there with Inge & Marcel - Every evening at 8pm precisely, the "Last Post" has been sounded since 1928 under the imposing arches of the Menin Gate.), and eventually the lone Piper standing high on the castle, both of us commented how emotional it was.

Nothing was disappointing, it was an exceptional event. We'd do it all over again BUT - next time we’d definitely take a knee rug, our knees were frozen!!!

Took our time about wandering on down the mile to our digs, it was after 11pm by the time we unlocked our door.