End of Edinburgh Festival Fireworks

If you happen to regularly read my blog, you would have seen that last year we had a night-time picnic down at the local beach to watch the end of the Edinburgh Festival being marked by the usual spectacular firework display.  Well, this year we went the whole hog and booked to attend a gala dinner at the Royal Overseas League at 100 Princes Street, Edinburgh, which is situated directly opposite the Ross Bandstand and Edinburgh Castle!!

We caught the train into Edinburgh and wandered along Princes Street in glorious sunshine, taking one or two photos on the way

Scott Monument

Scott Monument

Scottish Saltire

Houses near Edinburgh Castle

We made our way to the venue where we settled in for a thirst quenching drink then on to the champagne reception.  After a couple of glasses of very nice 'bubbly stuff' we entered the dining room for our five course dinner.  It was a set menu - here is what was on offer:

Strips of confit duck leg and sliced smoked

duck breast with a bacon and hazelnut dressing

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Cream of asparagus soup topped with

coriander creme fraiche

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Lemon sorbet drizzled with Limon Cello

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Slow cooked fillet of beef with celariac and mustard mash,

tarragon infused chantenay carrots and a port jus

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Milk chocolate box with Morello cherry compote and

toasted chopped nuts

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Dunsyre Blue, Connage Clava Brie and Arran Cheddar

with celery, grapes and real ale chutney

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Freshly brewed coffee and Scottish fudge

I can tell you now that everything was just wonderful - the plates were very clean going back to the kitchen!!  This was fine dining at its very best and was served with lovely wine, which was all  included in the price of our tickets.

Once the sweets were finished it was time to climb up to the rooftop to view the fireworks.  We were very lucky and were right at the front of the balcony with a grandstand view of the majestic Edinburgh Castle.

Then the music and fireworks started.  It was all truly awesome!!  Some of the fireworks seemed to be bursting above us and lighting up the night sky with brilliant colours.  As usual, I spent most of the time viewing everything through the lens of the camera with some photos turning out quite well and others not turning out at all!!  Here are what I consider to be some of the better photos of the night:

These ones look a bit like palm trees!!

Although the castle looks like it's on fire, I can confirm that it wasn't!!

The finale

Although the fireworks and music lasted around 45 minutes, the time flew past so quickly and it was soon time to descend the stairs back into the building where our cheese and biscuits and coffee and fudge were waiting for us.  We had hope that we'd be able to get the last train home again, but Scotrail are not very hearty when it comes to putting on late trains - the last train was 10.30 p.m. instead of 9.30 p.m. which wouldn't have given us enough time to enjoy what was on offer, so we decided to take a taxi home instead.

Once we had finished our cheese and biscuits we headed off into the night and hailed a taxi which took us home.  I have to say though that these black cabs are not at all comfortable!!  I think that was the bumpiest journey I've ever had in a cab in my life!!

We really hadn't known what to expect from our evening but it really did surpass all expectations - so much so, that we're talking about the possibility of doing it all over again next year!!

Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Within the past two weeks a friend had ticket to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo that weren't going to be used, so my friend and I jumped at the chance to buy them from her as both of us had not been to the Tattoo for many years.  Finally, yesterday evening was the night we were to go.  I had been praying for dry weather all week, but went prepared with layers of clothes to keep warm, and two waterproof capes just in case.  I had even made a makeshift waterproof for my camera!!

It's amazing what you can do with a plastic bag and sticky tape (I used to watch Blue Peter when I was young!!)

We caught our train into town and walked up into the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle.  The place was very busy but we were very efficiently pointed in the right direction and we found our seats (section 11 AA seats 16 and 17).  We were away right up at the very top with no-one behind us and we found that we were sheltered from the wind and the rain - there was a fine drizzle falling by now and people were having to wear their raincoats.

It's a great show - even in the rain!!

The show began promptly at 9 p.m. and it was just fantastic - I have never known the time go past so quickly, and we enjoyed every minute of it.  I think I spent my time watching the whole show through the lens of my camera!!

I love pipe band music - I was brought up on it from an early age!!

Brave!!

Ships in the night

Australian outback

Aboriginal artwork

Superhero!

Dennis the Menace and Gnasher

Edinburgh Castle turned into Gotham City!

Superheros

Superman

Edinburgh Castle transformed into Westminster Abbey

Celebrating the Queen's Jubilee and Coronation

Union Jack

Celebrating the Queen's Jubilee and Coronation

Fireworks

Fireworks

Remembering our fallen heroes

Scottish Saltire

My favourite photo of the night

Of course when the show finished we had to make our way to the train station, but we were stuck in the crowds in the stands waiting to move - we were going nowhere fast!!  When we did make it down the stairs and into Castle Hill we quickly realised there was no way we were going to catch our last train home.  We eventually got to the station and confirmed the train had already left, so we made our way up to Princes Street where we flagged down a taxi to take us part of the way home where we were picked up by my poor hubby who'd had to travel quite a bit further than planned to pick us up!!

However, we had an excellent night out watching a truly superb and spectacular show.  And the bonus was that, although it was raining during the show, we didn't get wet!!  It was definitely a night to remember.

Fireworks over Edinburgh

It was the last night of the Edinburgh Festival last night so, along with friends, we popped down to the beach where we had a distant view of the castle to watch the fireworks.  It was really quite spectacular, although it was a long way off.  The night was still and calm and wasn't too cold, so we had a bit of a picnic while we watched and generally had a very good time.  Here are one or two photos of the event, although they are a wee bit blurry even though I used a tripod.  Mind you, given the distance between the event and the camera, I'm quite pleased with the results.