What's all the fuss about? we asked. Changing of the guard or something like that. Sure enough, a band of redcoated men marching about in silly hats looked very like a ceremonial guard change. There weren't even bagpipes, just a regular brass band. But who were those people on the steps of St. Giles Cathedral, looking like they were reviewing a parade? We edged around the crowd, snapping a few pictures like the excited spectators, just in case, but kept moving down the street as we were more interested in getting to the currency exchange so we could go buy lunch.
(Note the man in the window who didn't think he had enough Scottish pounds in his pocket).
It was only when we were well down the street that we found out Queen Elizabeth was there on the steps of St. Giles, and it's possible to see her (wearing blue) in my photo if you squint really, really hard. It was so nice of her to be there for our first day in Scotland. After lunch I stood on the same red carpet in the same spot, just to feel a bit more royal.
The rest of the day was spent weaving in and out of eerily similar shops selling strangely similar lambswool and cashmere scarves, working our way up the Royal Mile so we could visit the castle. Everyone else was doing the same thing.
On the way we were entertained by the many street performers using creative ways to convince us to part with a few coins. My favorite was the floating wizard/Ent, but here are some others as well:
Herb has already crashed for the day and I'm running out of things to say, so I'll end with some pics from the castle:
(Headline credit: Herb Stevens)
Great story, Christine. Too bad the queen had no time to chat.
ReplyDeleteHow fun is that!
ReplyDelete