Kickin' About

So once EasyJet finally got underway from Berlin, we reached Edinburgh with no dramas and reached the guest house in the evening. We booked this particular place as it was close to the castle for after the Tattoo, and that is about its only redeeming feature! The stairs were steep and narrow, fun with the cases, but it’s quiet and private and has its own ensuite (as compared to shared facilities).

On Friday morning, we didn’t have a lot planned. And the cold that had been dogging me in the background has decided to move to my chest. So a quiet walk down the main street in Edinburgh was all that was in order. We had a relaxed stroll along the length of Princes St, watched some Fringe Festival performances and then up the steps to Lawnmarket.

Angie wasn’t amused by the step climbing that I was leading us up, but once at the top and through the tunnel alleyways into Lawnmarket, she came to appreciate it. The street was packed with people, and Fringe Festival performances were everywhere! The atmosphere was electric, the performances full of comedic fare, dressed-up characters encouraging attendance to shows, and all the shops open. So after dinner at one of the many eateries open, we were ready for the Tattoo.

Just on sunset, the crowds were let into the Castle grounds. It was very well organised with little delay getting in and the parade ground was set up with refreshments ready. Also members of the different groups participating in the show wandered around amongst the crowds for chats and/or photo opportunites. This year is the 75th Jubilee year for the Tattoo and the theme was “The Heroes Who Made Us”.

At the start of the show, the royals arrived. Tonight, the Duke & Duchess of Edinburgh, Edward & Sophie, were the special guests. Then the bands came, massed pipes and drums, massed brass bands, the Polish Border Guards, the USAF drill team, the Scottish Dancers,  the American Fife & Drums, a special performance by the Swiss Top Secret Drum Corps, and the Ukrainian Navy band got a rousing reception. The show was spectacular and of course, the massed bands at the end always stir the emotions.

Saturday is our last day in Edinburgh, we’re heading up to Fife, on the north side of the Firth of Forth. But first, we head west to see the Falkirk Wheel. We’ve hired a car for the next week to travel the country for maybe the less glamorous part of our travels, but by far the most important, to see family we haven’t seen for so long.

The Falkirk Wheel was a place we visited back in ’08 and it was hosing down that day, but the weather today is wonderful. The Wheel is an innovative machine that opened in 2002 and replaced a multitude of canal lock gates that stepped down 100 feet, the world’s one and only rotating boat lift. It connects the Forth & Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, in a half-turn that takes only five minutes, it replaced a day’s heavy work opening and closing 44 lock gates to complete the same journey!

We had arranged to meet our cousins after lunch so we trotted off to Fife. Chrissie is Angie’s mum’s cousin, and we stayed with her and her husband, Bert, when we were here in ’08. We had a lovely time with them then before we headed off to tour Scotland so it was fantastic to see them again. We all met at Jackie (daughter) and John’s place in Torryburn. We had also stayed with Jackie and John in ’08 when they were then in Durham. Margaret (their other daughter) and Robert were also there with their grandkids.

After this wonderful visit, we still had time to go and visit Angie’s great-uncle Bert, who lives only 10 minutes away. Bert & Jean are looking good and Bert will be 90 very shortly. He has some fascinating stories as an ex-soldier in the Black Watch. Julie, their daughter, was also there. Again, another wonderful visit and catch-up after 17 years.

Before we went to our accommodation for the night in Queensferry, we got a good look at the 3 Firth of Forth bridges. The old historic rail bridge (still in use), the old suspension road bridge (restricted use), and the new cable-stayed road bridge.

After checking into our guest house for the night, we took a trip to see the Kelpies, a pair of monumental steel horse-heads between the Scottish towns of Falkirk and Grangemouth. Each head is 30 metres high and represents the lineage of the heavy horse of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges, and coalships that shaped the geographical layout of the Falkirk area. Getting there just before dusk creates a great effect with the setting sunlight.

We only have a week in the UK so each stop is a flying visit, one day here, one day there. So in the morning, we’re off to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Angie’s cousin, Rae, is there with her family, whom we had not yet met. On the way, we managed to visit the Scottish National Museum of Flight. Situated on an ex-WW2 airfield, East Fortune, it houses one of the 2 British Airways display Concorde as well as a Comet, a Vulcan bomber, and other aircraft.

Before moving to Newcastle a year or so ago, Rae had been working in Abu Dhabi for 11 years and she married Ben whilst there, during Covid lockdowns, so we all attended her wedding, on Zoom. The move to Newcastle enabled them to bring Ben’s 2 children from Nigeria, to be a complete family. We stayed with them the night and it was an absolute delight. The 2 kids, Emmanuel & Amarachi were so much fun, making us miss our granddaughter, Isabel! It was great to catch up on so many years with Rae. Unfortunately, Ben still had work to go to so we didn’t get to spend much time getting to know him.

As is normal for me, I don’t just stick to the main routes so we were off here and there on back roads, the narrow country lanes, river fords, quaint stone-building villages and holiday beach communities. Some roads were so narrow, I once had to reverse 50m to a wide enough part for oncoming cars to squeeze past. And then there were the tractors carrying hay slowing everything to snail’s pace.

The next day we’re on the move again travelling to Cambridge to visit Judy & Tim. In ’08 we stayed with Angie’s great-uncle Tom and Gladys in Lincoln. Whilst we had met their daughter Judy on Zoom during Rae’s wedding, we hadn’t actually met in person. After taking a couple of diversions, we got there about dinner time and Tim is a great cook. We chatted well into the night, catching up on so much family news. The next morning, Tim’s culinary skills came into play again doing a full english breakfast for us. But the time came again for us to move on, this time to south Wales and more of Angie’s cuzzies. We got to Newport around dinner time and the accommodation is a nice unit on the river side.

Wednesday ended up as a sleep and rest day as I’m still trying to get over this chest cold. The weather is no longer sunny but there hasn’t been any rain so it is quite pleasant. After dinner, we met up with Angie’s cousins, Ricky & Johnny, at the bar at the end of our street. So good to catch up with them again and we chatted for ages. The next morning before heading off, we were also able to catch up with cuzzies Terence & Stacey, foster parents extraordinaire. They have their 3 growing kids and a high needs foster infant. So off to Gatwick where we stay for a night before flying to Amsterdam. We were fortunate to get an evening with Elizabeth & Steve at a local pub. Elizabeth is my cousin that I had never met so a real bonus to meet another part of the family.

So after a flying visit through the U.K. to visit all the clan and it’s off to Amsterdam. A couple of days there and then on the Emerald River cruise to Budapest. To the next issue of the blog.