The Edinburgh Military Tatoo

One of the highlights of our trip was attending the "Edinburgh Military Tatoo". This is a performance by military bands (principally bagpipe) marching and playing on the esplanade in front of Edinburgh Castle. All told, over a thousand persons performed including Scottish dancers, the Middlesex Massachusetts Fife and Drum Corp, and a Russian Military Band.

Norway

We are back from Norway. The highlight was seeing Polar Bears in the wild for the first time. This photo was taken far north of Norway in Svalbard. Specifically it was taken in the Hinlopen Straight, east of Spitzbergen, at about 79 degrees north latitude. (That's farther north than Alaska.)

The bear was about 75 yards away. That's much closer to a Polar Bear than you want to be. However, I was on the deck of a small cruise ship, high enough to be out of danger.