On the night before Hogmanay, we headed up to Calton Hill to meet with the torchlight procession and catch the son et lumiere, all part of Edinburgh's Hogmanay programme. Exact timings and details were vague, but we lucked out and arrived up the steep path from Royal Terrace just as the procession arrived from Regent Road. The announcer said there were 20,000 people in the procession, and sure enough the classic view from the hill included a sea of torches coming along Princes Street. After a wee bit of hanging about, the viking longship was duly set on fire in a simulacrum of Up Helly Aa, and the massed pipes and drums of somewhereorother banged out some stirring tune. Soon after, the fireworks started, and it became very apparent we'd lucked out again, with Helen choosing a prime spot right in the middle of things. There were fireworks going off all around us, it was an incredible sight and the kids were transfixed. We got home late (not for the first - or last - time this holiday) and the kids fell into bed, exhausted but happy. An excellent evening.
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