We were surprised at Edinburgh, well at least the red blooded males amongst us were - at the quality of the reception committee. In a word ... PHHOOAAGGHH. Our Tattoo "Liaison Officers" were ... oh who cares if they were efficient, they were pleasant to the eye. They were very good and extremely helpful during our whole time there.

Two Ford Transit vans and 20 minutes later we went through the gates at Redford Infantry Barracks and wound our way around to the front door of Redford Cavalry barracks. Whilst pulling up to the front door we had our first glimpse of the "Kings Guard of Norway" who were practicing on the parade ground that spread out in front of the barracks. We looked at the standard of their drill and I must admit to first thoughts of "if they expect our drill to be like that we're stuffed" (I didn't use the word "stuffed") and that this was going to be a deeply unpleasant experience, they were awesome. As it happens the "massed pipes and drums" are a much more relaxed affair; such is the nature of pipe band drill. PHEW!

The welcome was warm and we were welcomed by the major (ret) commanding the barracks and the RSM who was a very friendly and large Yorkshire man. Members of the band who had been to the tattoo previously with CTH (Cape Town .. uhhhhh) had filled us with dread that our digs would be on the second floor and that we would find that climbing three flights of stairs after a performance would probably be our end. We arrived on the 1st floor and stopped ... they all breathed a sigh of relief ... personally I think they are just a bunch of nancy boys as all the horror stories told to us newbies turned out to be nonsense ...

Now most of us had been in the SADF (South African Defence Force) and our expectation of what military accommodation looks like is somewhat scary, we were surprised at what we got. Carpeted, heated and spacious is what we got and we all went into "everyman for himself" mode to get a decent bunk. I headed straight for the corner and secured a cozy spot for myself but found I had to give the bottom bunk to our Pipe Sarge Dave Harris because he's about 2 ft 10" and would never manage a top bunk and if he ever got up there would need help getting down ... or heaven forbid would fall out and injure himself or someone else. Poor wee fellah.

Thirst was the first thing to hit once we had settled in and everyone was in the mood to find the nearest purveyor of fine British ales and personally ... I was dying for a penguin bar! An expedition was arranged to quench our thirst and a few of us headed off to Tesco, which is around the corner from the Barracks. On the way we met up with "Rocky" the Drum Major of 2nd BN The Royal Irish Regiment who had made it easy for us when he and our Drum Sergeant Matt Buckle arranged a drum lend agreement when the 2nd Bn visited our Regiment earlier in the year. Rocky had driven from Belfast to Scotland with the drums we would use for our time in Edinburgh. Rocky you're a great man and a real friend to the SA Irish!

Tesco is a supermarket some of us knew very well having lived in the UK but what amazed me was how those that didn't, instinctively knew where the beer aisle was! I also found it amazing how education can make one so brainy that there is no space left on the hard disc for little routines that say "take a towel, take a towel" ... these university educations I do wonder. Dr Daniel Limpitlaw Phd .... drip dried .. sorry for you!

The mule train then headed back to our new home laden with beer, Penguin Bars (yay) and other bits and pieces. Upon arriving again at the main gate we realized when confronted by guards from "The Light Infantry" that we had no ID to get in. Now the "Light Infantry" being English one would imagine would mean they actually speak well ... English? The Geordie accent is quite something for the likes of us newly arrived Gautengers (and Karpie - Tony Reese) to deal with ... suffice it to say with the use of hand signs and pleading we managed to get in. Later that afternoon to much hilarity we were hauled in front of a camera to have ID`s done.

The first evening was taken up in true Irish style - we went out to a pub. The Spylaw Tavern is in the village of Colinton, which is a ten-minute walk from the gates of the barracks. The suggestion to go "out for a pint" brought the usual involuntary hands up from the usual suspects so with "Porridge" (Patrick Dean) in the lead we strode off and ten minutes later we were in the arms of "Guinness Extra Cold". It seems that South Africans generally cannot grasp the concept of "chilled" beer and can only cope with cold although by the end of our trip we had some pretty dedicated "ale" drinkers. That evening "Cath", an Aussie piper at the Tattoo with the Kiwi "City of Wellington", joined us and together we formed a rather loud Southern Hemisphere "party" that certainly started our Tattoo experience off in the best possible way. Slainte!

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