chocolatebuddha » Archives » Edinburgh : River of Fire

And the Hogmanay celebrations for the looming new year kicked off with the Torchlight Procession, which began on the Royal Mile at 6.30pm. An estimated 15,000 people filled the street with waxed stick, in the cold and wind, waiting for the fire. Children, grandparents, teenagers, adults, Spanish, French, German, Scottish, American, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern and of course Malaysians all offered unselfishly to light up each others’ torchlight. And in a generous and rare (in these days) act of sharing, the Royal Mile was a river of fire.

The procession, led by Vikings, marched downhill towards Princes Street, along December’s playground of ferris wheel and candy floss stalls towards Calton Hill in the east side of the city ending with a ceremonial burning of an effigy and the city’s first instalment of fireworks.

Being the queen of three-quarter ways, I seem to possess the knack of pulling out three-quarter ways either due to boredom, fatique or straightforward diva-dom. The Better Half, was left standing at foot of Calton Hill, staring longingly up the narrow lane where all the revelers were inching their way up to throw their torchlights. Trust me, if it wasn’t raining and that cold, I’d be up there for sure!