UK Tourist & Leisure Attractions - Edinburgh

This is the Scottish bagpipe player at the England - Scotland border on the A68 road between Newcastle and Jedburgh.  Mike tried to get Belinda to find out if it was true about Scotsman and Kilts, however we suspect he was wearing thermals!

Yes, it's a tourist trap, er, gift shop in Jedburgh and Belinda's about to pounce (you can just see her far right in this picture).  However, the attached café next door was more of an attraction for Mike and Bob, it had been a long journey getting there.

Belinda spent ages in this fine gift shop in Jedburgh.  They did everything Scottish here; tartan clothing, pictures, food stuffs, toys; you name it, they sold it and Belinda bought it!  If anyone knows of a cure for 'Giftshopitas', please let us know!

We had several hours in Edinburgh before the Tattoo, so went exploring this exciting city in Scotland, visiting the main shopping centre, a café, a pub and Princes Street Gardens where the main Edinburgh Festival events take place.  See our Scotland tourist links.

Here's an excellent view of Edinburgh Castle from West Princes Street Gardens.  We took loads of photos and down below us were plenty of other fringe festival events.  We were impressed by the colourful gardens and stylish flower displays here.

It was a huge but friendly crowd edging forward on the way in to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo at the castle.  The Tattoo is part of the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival that takes place every August.  We were hoping the light drizzle was going to stop...

...but unfortunatly it got worse!  We finally got seated and waited for the Tattoo to start; the atmosphere was one of excited anticipation at this point and we weren't going to let the Edinburgh rain and cold spoil it!  See our Tattoo video clips.

As the Military Tattoo got under way at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, so did the rain!  This elevated balcony ran round above the seating area and was a platform for all the lighting rigs too.  We noticed many national flags symbols displayed here.

And so we enjoyed many fine displays, like this magnificent marching band; with some involving big guns, delightful dancing and mighty military vehicles in the Edinburgh Castle arena for several hours.  While in Scotland we visited Beamish Open Air Museum the next day >>>

The Irish dancing performance here was enhanced by reflections from the spotlight on the wet ground at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.  We had a wonderful time at the Tattoo and returned to the hotel cold, wet and tired but happy we'd experienced this famous event in Scotland at last.