Day: August 26, 2023

Take a Tour of the Royal Britannia !

/ brisbanefrannie / 3 Comments

Fans of the Royal family or not there is always a fascination with their castles, palaces and this ship.

Decommissioned in 1997 as a working ship for the Queen, it’s clocks were stopped at 3 minutes past 3 when she stepped off the ship for the last time.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. As usual everything was well organised. No crowds to battle. Tickets are sold in entry times to stagger the people coming on board.

It took us first to the Captains bridge. All the important equipment for driving this ship! Beautiful shiny instruments now looking outdated.

We explored the crew’s areas. The mess for the officers, the seaman’s quarters.

Of course the Royal bedrooms were understated elegance. The Queen and Prince Phillip had adjacent rooms with single beds. Mmmm.

The Queen’s bedroom
Prince Phillip’s bedroom.

The only Royal bedroom with a double was the honeymoon suite. Charles apparently requested a double when he and Diana married. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for them.

The sundeck room was fun with its bar and games and great views.

Formal dining room

We followed the numbered trail around the ship with our little audio handheld set pressed to our ears.

The officers’ dining room looked quite formal except for the wombat sitting in the fan ! Thrown there at one drinks session and never taken down.

As we moved around the ship there were lots of family photos. I think the Royal family loved being on board.

We saw the laundry, the hospital and the formal dining room room where many Presidents and Heads of State have been entertained

The sitting room.

By this time Steve would have enjoyed a beer. So he sat at the Officers bar. Unfortunately these were fake beers.

The ship is docked at Leith – the port about 20 minutes by tram from the centre of Edinburgh. Such a great tram system. One tram does a route from Leith through the city and then out to the airport.

And a big applause for the buses. We have worked them out and you can get a tap-tap-cap fare where after 2 rides the fares are capped for the day at £4.80 in total. So we’ve been jumping on and off the buses. Great bonus with a sore knee.

Being in Leith had me singing the Proclaimers’ song ‘Sunshine on Leith’ – it’s beautiful and is one of my choir songs. This clip shows scenes in and around Leith filmed in a cafe there.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Iesps9w4HFw&si=9uAUjKuyYmtiZ_xt

From Musical to the best of Irish Comedy to the Tattoo.

/ brisbanefrannie / 3 Comments

There is so much on in this Festival city. Everywhere you walk someone puts a brochure in your hand.

One of the Irish comedians. It was F#^#%ing funny.

We went to The Best of Irish Comedy. In a basement with a bar, of course, and a very funny MC who reminded the people in the front row perhaps they should have chosen seats further back. Lots of ribbing for them.

There were three comedians. The first a young woman who was great – very funny.

The second, a young man, a bit of a storyteller in a very funny way.

The last act was a man with a stammer I thought he was pretending. But no, he had quite a stammer. Which became the theme of an ongoing joke. He was funny but I found it a bit excruciating. I kept wanting to give the words to him.

Deciding what to see is the problem. When we got the program a few months ago we were choosing blind! That is, we didn’t know anything about any of the Fringe shows.

We knew the Oslo Philharmonic, the Simon Bolivar Orchestra. But with the Fringe it’s pot luck. We booked a few winners and a few we should have left alone. Not that they were bad. They just weren’t us. It’s probably better to come and check out things here. There a much more to take in than looking in a programme!

Today we saw Big Fish. an American short musical. It had appeal, but for us in a crowded theatre we felt out of it for young people loud, music thumping and actors singing loudly. And the most uncomfortable seats!

We fitted a drink in on the roof terrace of Harvey Nicholls. Beautiful views. Nice gin.

Then off to the a Royal Mile. Across to the Old City.

Yes, the Tattoo. We were looking forward to this so much. There were so many people. But we managed to find a little Mexican (!) place for a quick bite. Then a slow walk up the Mile …..

It was very well organised. Thousands of people. They have little mobile bars set up in the Castle forecourt. So people were milling around. We made our way up to our seats. Nice & high so we could take everything in.

Then the show started. Bands of all kinds from Norway, Switzerland, USA, Scots College Sydney, Irish fling dancers, drummers and dancers from Trinidad, more Pipe bands, precision marching. And all the time projected colours and images into the castle walls.

Each year there is a theme. This year “Stories”. Unfortunately there was no commentary like you get on the tv version of the Tattoo. It would have been good to have someone tell you who was on. I was right as Steve knows about bands and which countries they were from. Our friends found the theme Stories hard to follow.

I tend to just go with the flow. And loved it. The whole experience. We chatted to the people around us. There was quite a party atmosphere. We had New Zealanders, Sydneysiders, English, Japanese.

The show finishes with all the performers on the forecourt. Marching , singing, dancing. And fireworks.

We made our way down from the Castle. It was so busy but orderly and friendly. And home by midnight! Poor Bill and M-F had a 40 minute drive to their little village outside of Edinburgh.