Portobello Beach and Fireworks

Since I'd promised Bruce I would go to Portobello, today I finally got my act together, got on a bus, and made my way out to Portobello beach.

It was actually rather nice, although I guess any beach that is on the North Sea must be quite chilly, as there was absolutely nobody in the water. Also, there were these weird wooden jetties every 100 yards or so on the beach, which made absolutely no sense to me. I rather wonder what they were there for, other than to annoy people (like me) who had to climb over them to continue their walk along the beach?)

I covered the entire length of the beach, up and down, and then decided I was tired (I'd been out there for two hours, just walking the beach and watching people skip stones), so I went back home.

I'd originally thought about going for another run along the Waters of Leith, but it was getting late and I couldn't quite summon the energy. So instead I made dinner, and then went out walking in the evening to Inverleigh Park, where I thought I might watch the fireworks.

As soon as I got to the park, I realised that idea was a no-go, as apparently you were just supposed to watch the fireworks on a screen. So instead I walked down to Princes Street, where you could just stand in the street to watch them. I had a pretty good view, with only one tree that got slightly in the way, so on the whole I think it was the best place for a good viewing experience.

And then came the show! Now, I have always loved fireworks, so it should come as no surprise that I was in awe, but this show was something extraordinary, as I was getting shivers going up and down my spine, literally. I could hardly recall the last time I was so excited and hyped and just jaw-droppingly agape at the spectacle before me.

They used Edinburgh Castle itself as the location to set off the fireworks, which also made it the backdrop for all of the lights and explosions. It was bizarre, because at some points it almost looked like the castle was on fire, which made me think of what it must have been like back in the day, when the place appeared to be under siege. Hauntingly, eerily beautiful.

The best bit however, was since the castle itself is up on a cliff above the city below, they used the cliff face to construct a "fireworks waterfall". I'm not at all sure how they did it, but it was this absolute cascade of light, bouncing off or rocks as it flowed down the mountain...stunningly gorgeous.

Every fireworks show likes to end with a bang, but this was something else, as the explosions kept shooting out and exploding right above our heads, until it felt to me like they had filled the sky with new stars.

At last, after over an hour of fireworks all set to music, the show came to an end, and along with practically every person in Edinburgh, I walked home. Once there, I was far to amped to just go to sleep, so I called my parents. Talked to them past midnight, but was still to strung out and high to go to sleep, so after failing to find any sleeping medications in the house, I just watched a couple of episodes of Entourage online, before sometime around 3:30 AM I figured I would just lie down until sleep came to find me... But what a spectacular night!