The opening of the 56th annual Edinburgh Military Tattoo.  Over 1000 performers exit out of the front gate of the castle onto the esplanade where the tattoo is held to open the show.

The primary drum major salutes the Admiral that is the reviewing officer for the tattoo on the evening we attended. 

Performers under the lights in a good rainstorm.  You can see the crowd covered in ponchos.  Rain or shine the tattoo goes on, heck your in Scotland, what are you gonna do?

The highland dancers perform in the center of the esplanade while the bagpipes play behind them.

Here you can see some of the very beautiful uniforms that the performers wear.  These are their military dress uniforms, complete with kilts of course.

Here the Trinidad and Tobago steel orchestra perform on lots of steel drums.  It definitely made you feel like you were on a Caribbean island, even in a rainstorm.

The Guard of His Majesty the Kind of Norway Band and Drill team enter the field from the gate of the castle.  We believe they were probably the best performance of the night for a unit without bagpipes.

The drill team performed magnificently, it was like watching 'A Few Good Men' in the rain, and they had bayonets on their American rifles.

As the drill team left the field they marched right past our side of the bleachers.

In a hazy blue light the Royal Marine band marched onto the esplanade lead by their lieutenant colonel drum major.

The tattoo had a theme of celebrating 'The Royal Navy' and the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.  Can you see the red 200 or Admiral Lord Nelson displayed on the wall of the castle?

The highland dancers return dressed as sailors to dance to a song that had a tempo that picked up the pace quite a bit by the end.

The announcement of Nelson's victory at Trafalgar is placed on the castle as the fireworks are displayed above Edinburgh.  It was unfortunate that Nelson was killed by a French sniper during the battle, one of Britain's great heroes.

The white ensign (the flag of the Royal Navy) is displayed under the bright lights.  You can also get a view of the rain and mist in this photo.

Pipes and drums enter the field as the rain had let up during the two hour performance.

The flag of Scotland with the cross of St. Andrew is displayed bringing a beautiful blue peace to the performance.

The final salute to the reviewing officer allows all of the performers to complete their evening.

As the performers marched off we got some good shots of the pipers in their tartan and regalia.

As always the drums are a key part of the show with the pipes.  Here they leave the esplanade to close a wonderful show.  We would recommend it to anyone who enjoys bagpipes, the military or just wants to visit Scotland.

Later in the trip we visited Edinburgh.  Here we pose in front of the castle.

Yes we did visit the castle again during the day, with less rain than the tattoo but still overcast skys.  Here is the city of Edinburgh behind us with the Firth of Forth (the water) in the distance.

Inside the castle grounds there are some key buildings and things to see.  Some of which you can't photograph, like the crown jewels of Scotland.  We could however take a photo inside the oldest building in Edinburgh, St. Margaret's Chapel.  It was built in the early 12th century and can still be used for weddings and child christenings for military members.  It only holds 25 people so plan for a small wedding reception afterwards.

On our other day of the weekend in Scotland we toured around Glasgow where we were staying.  Here is the Glasgow Cathedral, it was built in the 13th century.

Anyone who has visited these cathedrals in Europe knows that the inside is beautiful, the Glasgow Cathedral is no different.

We also visited a completely different part of Glasgow that didn't include very, very old stuff.  Here is a view out of the observatory of The Lighthouse which is Scotland's Centre for Architecture, Design and the City.

Notice the young man just taking in his city.  Not a bad view for a young Scotsman.  This centre had many great exhibits and primarily focused on Charles Rennie MacKintosh, one of Glasgow's greatest architects.

Before you get to Scotland when driving north from England like we did you will hit Hadrian's Wall.  This wall was built on orders from Roman Emperor Hadrian begining in 120 AD to defend the northern limits of the Roman Empire at the time. It goes for 73 miles across northern England.

At the location that Ian dragged Susan to visit you could actually walk on part of the wall for a few hundred meters.

Here is a beautiful photo of the wall as it travels through a pretty forest.  To the left of this photo is a 100 foot drop off.  

Our final photo of the wall.  This one from a distance.  You can see the wall on top of the ridge in the distance.

Finally we had to throw in a couple of photos of more old castles (because Ian likes them).  Here is the castle at Richmond.  It is a great example of a Norman castle, it was built around the year 1071.

Here is the Carlisle Castle, another Norman castle.  Carlisle is the capital city of the county of Cumbria.  Due to it's location on the English side of the border with Scotland it has long been a defensive site.  It is at the western end of Hadrian's Wall.