Last night our neighbours Jen and Steve escorted Derek and I to our first Bonfire Night. Every 5th of November Britons celebrate the defeat of the gunpowder plot of 1605 by holding large bonfires, fireworks displays and occasionally burning effigies of Guy Fawkes. We might not have seen any burning guys, but there were some excellent fireworks to oo and aw at.
Around 7 pm the four of us trekked up to the very top of Calton Hill in the centre of town. This smaller hill (compared to Arthur's Seat) is the site of a number of monuments, including the large, unfinished war memorial that was meant to look like the Parthenon. It was very misty and in the dark, as we ascended into the clouds of fog and smoke, it really did look like the setting of a good horror movie (so I'm told).
At the top of the hill crowds of people were looking out over the city lights, watching fireworks exploding all over Edinburgh. It reminded me of New Years back in our Waterloo apartment, standing on the balcony to watch the celebrations. We also saw a number of fire trucks racing through the narrow streets, probably dealing with the aftermath of amateur fireworks displays.
The fireworks display closest to our spot was excellent. Well-timed and full of multiple bursts of colour all going off at one time. It was really beautiful. The funny part was when they would set off a really high firework, the type that explodes into a huge sphere high above you and makes you gasp, it would explode above the clouds so all you could see was a red or green burst of colour somewhere in the clouds. Overall, an excellent evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment