On Tuesday 24th, I had booked tickets to fly down to Sydney with Anne. It was to show her the basic sights and to get foods that are not yet sold in Brisbane. It was to be for three days only as I cannot handle much walking these days.
On Monday, however, Anne had a scan which showed she had a broken foot. So I had to cancel the trip.
That turned out to be something of a good thing as I had a very disturbed night that night. It would have been even more disturbed had I not been at home in my own room.
I woke up at about 2am and didn't get back to sleep until about 5am. In between I watched lots of videos on my computer. One of them I thought particularly worthy of comment. It was a video of the Black Watch parading through the streets of Edinburgh.
The Black Watch
I have an ancestral connection to the Black Watch. What is the Black Watch? It is a battalion within the Royal Highland Regiment -- known for its aggression and heroism. One of my great grandfathers was in the Black Watch and that was always told to me in hushed tones as a great distinction. And I agree with that. As recently as the Afghanistan involvement they descended on the Islamic madmen with great ferocity. Scottish troops generally are formidable. About a third of the British army is Scottish.
Below is a video in which the Black watch parade the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Note the continued dead thump of the bass drum. It is very intimidatory, No army in the world has uniforms that are as gorgeous as full Highland dress. So you might think that they are only decorative soldiers. That unremitting dead thump of the bass drum warns you off that foolish view. Nothing fancy there.
I don't wear the kilt often these days but you may understand why I do
Load https://www.youtube.com/embed/P2gDkcpYnMc into your browser and you will get a full-screen version of the march
The battalion is escorting the Scottish crown from Edinburgh castle to the Scottish Parliament, where the Queen will wear it for the Parliamentary opening. The crown is held on a velvet cushion in the back of the big maroon Rolls Royce car in the middle of the march. Anybody who tried to grab it would be in an unbelievable amount of trouble. A battalion of angry Scotsmen wouldn't leave much of you
UPDATE: Anne has a pair of close-fitting shoes which enable her to do short walks so she remains of good cheer
I thought I might briefly mention the foods I was looking forward to revisiting. First of all Yugoslav food: Cevapcici and Raznici with the proper Kaimak accompaniment; Liptauer cheese spread, very common in central Europe but unknown in Brisbane; Basturma Greek smoked beef, originally camel meat but now usually beef.
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