Apparently, Edinburgh has just about the biggest New Year's celebration in the world. Who knew? I certainly didn't. But two hundred couchsurfing requests later, I figured out Edinburgh is a pretty popular tourist destination this time of year. I'd heard of Hogmanay before, but only because every restaurant in town has a big sign saying, "Book now for Hogmanay." Thank goodness for Wikipedia.
The city has been set up for partying for weeks now, but things officially kicked off last night. There was a grand torchlight procession (thanks, Fiona, for the tip on that!) that began up on the Royal Mile and stretched across the city all the way to the top of Calton Hill. It was a "River of Fire," led by several men in ancient warrior costumes, a pipe and drums band, and about thirty-thousand people walking through town -- 6,500 of whom carried flaming torches. Like, real, flaming torches, straight out of that scene from Beauty and the Beast when the villagers get ready to kill the beast:
Anyway, I took some incredibly amateur videos on my iPhone last night. Here they are, all edited together. I couldn't help set part of it to "Auld Lang Syne," played on the musical saw. It's from my Christmas Album, which is a free download, of course. Here's some of the New Year's Eve Eve fun from last night. It was a fun fireworks display, though I must say that, having grown up with Thunder Over Louisville, I have been spoiled for all other fireworks. Still, at least Edinburgh has a castle. Louisville can't compete on that front. I can't wait to see what Edinburgh has planned for tonight!
The city has been set up for partying for weeks now, but things officially kicked off last night. There was a grand torchlight procession (thanks, Fiona, for the tip on that!) that began up on the Royal Mile and stretched across the city all the way to the top of Calton Hill. It was a "River of Fire," led by several men in ancient warrior costumes, a pipe and drums band, and about thirty-thousand people walking through town -- 6,500 of whom carried flaming torches. Like, real, flaming torches, straight out of that scene from Beauty and the Beast when the villagers get ready to kill the beast:
Anyway, I took some incredibly amateur videos on my iPhone last night. Here they are, all edited together. I couldn't help set part of it to "Auld Lang Syne," played on the musical saw. It's from my Christmas Album, which is a free download, of course. Here's some of the New Year's Eve Eve fun from last night. It was a fun fireworks display, though I must say that, having grown up with Thunder Over Louisville, I have been spoiled for all other fireworks. Still, at least Edinburgh has a castle. Louisville can't compete on that front. I can't wait to see what Edinburgh has planned for tonight!
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Also ... I got so caught up editing that video that I burnt a batch of cookies! Oh, the sacrifices I make for the blog... :)
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