Ok, sorry about the shouting. Excited, you know. Let me back up. This is what's known as Holyrood Week -- the time of year her majesty travels north to Edinburgh to get all her official Scottish duties out of the way before she can kick back at Balmoral for a while. While she was here, she visited the National Portrait Gallery, held a tea party, and made Prince William a Knight of the Thistle. The Thistle ceremony, held at St. Giles' Cathedral on the Royal Mile, was yesterday. I didn't really care much about the ceremony -- certainly not enough to join the enormous crowds of people gathered outside the cathedral for a glimpse of the royals, but I did very much care about the parade of bagpipers who were going to march down the Mile, gather in front of the Parliament building, and put on a show with Scottish dancers and the band Whiskey Kiss. I love me some bagpipe music, and I used to actually do Highland Dance in college, so it holds a special place in my heart. Special enough for me to hoof it down to the Mile, where I fought through those massive crowds and, fortuitously, managed to arrive at the Parliament building precisely at one o'clock, when the concert was due to start.
It was definitely worth the walk. The massed pipe bands played familiar, soaring melodies that brought a tear to the eye, and Whiskey Kiss totally rocked out with their eclectic blend of folk music and electronic beats. If you don't think bagpipes can rock, here's proof otherwise (warning, you may want to turn your computer's volume down a bit. For some reason, this recorded very, very loudly):
The lungs on that guy, huh?
The dancers came out several times, performing along with Whiskey Kiss. Here they are doing a reel (apologies for the shaky cam--I was using my phone to record this):
After one last tune from the pipe bands and a bow from the dancers, the show was over, and we all trooped back up the Mile. I took a minute to duck into a cafe for a latte, and when I came out I couldn't help but notice that everyone was suddenly scurrying out of the street and lining up on either side, prepping cameras, while the police manning the barriers at nearby Waverley Bridge stood around expectantly, apparently ready to spring into action to block traffic. Something exciting was clearly going on, and by sheer dumb luck, I was in an area of the Mile where the huge crowds were not, so I had an unobstructed view of the street. The traffic wardens threw up the barrier and...
In car #1
All right, I know it's basically impossible to see thanks to the glare, but that's Prince Philip in the foreground, with the queen beside him. The second car carried the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the third one had Princess Anne all by her lonesome (guess Cdr. Lawrence was busy yesterday). I have to admit, it was a bit of a rush to see them all, but then, I'm a royalty nerd.
I ran a few errands and finally headed home. While walking down my street towards my flat, I noticed a motorcycle policeman ride by, followed by another one, and both stopped in the nearby intersection and held up traffic. This is unusual, so I figured someone interesting was coming. I stopped and turned just in time to see a Land Rover with William and Kate inside zoom past, followed by their security detail. A little extra royal bonus at the end of the day!
