Leaky Charm: Military Tattoo Festival in Edinburgh! and Mimi's visit~

Edinburgh, Scotland

August was the time of year I have been planning to take the family to Scotland. Whyyyyy then you may ask? Because I wanted to see the Fringe Festival, in particular the Military Tattoo performance at the Edinburgh Castle. It was TOTALLY worth the long drive from southern England. Scotland proved to be quite chilly (even in August), but the city of Edinburgh is really fantastic, with great architecture, lots of history and the festival brought so much fabulous diversity with people visiting from all over the world.

Our first view of the Edinburgh Castle.

It looks old and quite foreboding perched on the peak of the mountain-side.

The kids just sat down in the park and started chatting together. It was so great to watch them.

You'll notice that Ike isn't in any of these pictures...he chose to stay in the USA with his cousins and go on the Martin Cove's Trek with the Menan Stake and EFY at BYU. (I posted those pictures prior).

Josh got quite a kick out of the seagull perched on the lady statue's head!

The floral clock in West Princes Street Garden. The clock is not only an immaculately displayed, it also tells the correct time. It was commissioned in 1903 and was the first of its kind in the world.

View of Princes Street Gardens

The architecture was PHENOMENAL!

Mimi was SO much fun to have and one of our favorite activities was going through "Mary King's Close" which is an underground history tour of how Edinburgh was built much lower under the city than it is today. Today's structures are actually ON TOP of the old city. Anyway, a 'close' is a very narrow alley way from one street to the next. Mary King's was an interesting 'close' because it was actually named after a woman which was practically unheard of. The tour showed their dark, dank, tight living conditions.

The famous "Royal Mile" - which is lined with shops from the castle to Holyrood Palace.

A local favorite sandwich shop, "OINK!" Amazing BBQ pork sandwiches.

St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile

My royal daughter standing in front of the royal coach.

George Heriot’s School - the school which JK Rowling used as her inspiration for Hogwarts. The four towers were patterned after this school's houses: Castle, Lauriston, Raeburn and Greyfriars to her four houses at Hogwarts: Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.

We went into Greyfriars Kirkyard Cemetery and found Old Tom Riddell's grave sight (Voldemort),

as well as Professor's McGonagall and Moody!

Greyfriar's Bobby statue on Candlemaker Row (how cute is that street name!), who was a Skye Terrier and beloved dog who, supposedly spent 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died himself. If you rubbed his nose, it brings you luck!

Another spectacular view of the castle

Climbing up the Scott Monument, built in 1840, which is a stunning spired Gothic monument

dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, one of Scotland's greatest novelists.

287 steps to the top offering stunning views of the city.

Scott Monument

We found a street artist named Sam, who drew head shots of the kids. He was so great.

Edinburgh Castle!

Going to the Tattoo Festival! The highlight of the trip!

The Jordanian military band - The King of Jordan came to the production and we all

stood as he entered the arena.

Scotland's band! Bagpipes DO NOT disappoint! It stirs the soul.

They were able to put different backdrops shining onto the castle walls. It was SO cool!

38-strong Imps Motorcycle Display Team! Incredible!

New Zealand's Dancers

USA Military Band!

Scottish Bagpiper

British Royal Military

A commemoration of Queen Elizabeth II 90th birthday

The finale was indescribable- WOWZERS!

Arthur's Seat - the main peak of a group of mountains in Edinburgh.

Holyrood Palace - the opposite end of the Royal Mile - the other end of the Mile is the Castle.

Hadrian's Wall

So I INSISTED that we go see Hadrian's Wall which was a defense wall built by the Romans in 122AD! It was, in it's prime. 9.8 feet wide and 16-20 feet high!

It marches across northern England for 73 miles from sea to sea. It took around 6 years to build. It was not overally successful venture and it really didn't end up serving a major purpose.

It took an extra HOUR to get there and when we found it, everyone was very good at not making too big of a fuss about the long journey to see the old wall, and even acted like it was simply amazing.

Our English Cottage outside of York

It was SO cute inside and very charming.

It was fun to see what it would be like to live inside one of these little cottages. :)

The pictures don't quite do it the justice it deserves. It was so charming. Like being in a fairytale book.

YORK

We decided to stop in York for a day on our way back home. It's quite a drive from our home, so this was a great way to see it. This is the beautiful York Minster Cathedral. The first building on this site for religious purposes was back in 627AD. But after many re-buildings to get it what we see today, was declared complete in 1472.

The inside of the Abby was stunning and so intricate. It's the largest of its kind in Northern Europe and minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England. Anne taught us that it is called a cathedral because it has a 'cathedra' - which is the chair where the Archbishop sits.

We were lucky to find a very informed tour guide and loved the things he told us.

The quire and the cathedra.

The lectern where the Bible sits and is read from.

The streets were so picturesque

Getting lunch together

Everything's better with ice cream!

Mom was so much fun and she loved York.

We loved York!

Poole Beach!

I discovered Poole Beach on the southern coast of England about an hour and 45 minutes away from us. The kids really wanted a beach day as we had never had one in England.
This beach was PERFECT for us and we had the most fun day with Mimi!