Edinburgh Castle

This is a backblip.

It has been a very mixed day and the first part is for my journal. Daughter F and family were going in to Edinburgh to catch up with former Uni friends so I was hitching a ride so I could visit with my friend L. Unfortunately L had a seizure yesterday and a scan shows that the dreaded C has now reached her brain. As this is a backblip I can now add that she is comfortable in the Marie Curie hospice while they try and re-adjust her medication and requirements.

I swithered with staying at home but decided that I needed some distraction so still went to Edinburgh and I am glad I did. The entire city was buzzing with life as it is time for the annual Edinburgh Festival which is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh in August. Though the festivals are put on by various organizations unrelated to each other they are regarded by many visitors as part of the same event; and together they form one of the largest annual cultural festivals in the world. There were people and entertainers everywhere and I took so many photos that it was difficult to choose just the one to blip. Finally I chose this one showing the Castle set high with the temporary seating staging for the Edinburgh Military tattoo on the right with all the flags flying. The Tattoo is part of the Festival and is performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and International military bands and display teams. The staging can now accommodate over 8,000 people and now over 217,000 people can enjoy it each year as it is always sold out well in advance. It is estimated that of this total there are 70,000 overseas visitors each year and despite the vagaries of the Scottish Weather I don't think it has ever been cancelled.

The family came into town to join me for a bite to eat and then we went to the docks where we saw the Tall Ship Tenacious at her mooring beside the Royal Yacht Britannia. Tenacious is a ship specifically designed to be sailed by a crew of mixed physical abilities and this sighting of her in Edinburgh, where she was having a spot of maintenance done, was very poignant as I have been on a couple of exciting voyages as buddy to L who has been in a wheelchair for nearly thirty years following a motor accident.

We changed the boys into their pyjamas and arrived home very late, transferring the sleepy heads straight into their comfy beds.

I have put a set of photos on Flickr so it you are interested then please take a look starting here.