Edinburgh Fringe - more photos!

Maple Staplegun and her hula hoops.
Great show! Even the way she set it all up was entertaining.

We just had a field day at the Fringe, well more like 1 full day and 2 half days.  I have no idea how many photos I took and am disappointed that I am unable to figure out how to share my videos.  But if ever you are close enough to visit the Fringe, I can highly recommend it.

So many streets are closed to enable people to wander and enjoy.

We were there from Monday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon and the crowds did not seem unbearable, and believe me, I hate crowds! Yes, there were plenty of people, but it all seemed ok.  Our daughter and some friends went for Saturday afternoon and night and they found the crowds completely unbearable. So lesson learned, go on the weekdays if at all possible!

This was so many people heading up toward Edinburgh Castle.
That looked crowded!  This was taken as we left, so we may
have timed our visit perfectly!

Here are some of the many photos I enjoyed taking to catch the feeling and flavour of the Fringe. Can't wait til next year!

There is a combination of shows and buskers and people giving out leaflets in all kinds of creative ways!

Of course I will have to add one of our son's show. This was not taken when we were there though.  His crowd ranged from only 8 to standing room only and turning people away.  I think if he had done 2 weeks, they would have been full after the first few shows. They were very entertaining!

We saw his show on the first night and went to Foil, Arms and Hog on the second night. They finished earlier so we were able to run to Grassmarket and photograph some of the fireworks.

Last year, we decided to go to the Tattoo and promptly forgot. This year, we intend to actually do that next year.  It does look and sound like so much fun. We did go about 20 years ago when my cousin came to visit.  So it is time to do it again!

So no more words, just photos. Hope you enjoy!

Shift change at the Fairy Station

Love their shadows

Fireworks at the end of the Tattoo

Yes it was magical!  

4th trip - Edinburgh Fringe

Maple Stapelgun

Sorry for delay in following up on the 4th trip in 13 days.  It took me this long to edit and sort all my photos.  We had SO MUCH FUN!!!!  Not only is it just a feast for the eyes to walk along the Royal Mile and observe all the craziness. But the shows are also fun, if you are lucky enough to pick good ones, even bad ones give you something to talk about for a year - until the next Fringe.

There was also the added bonus of seeing our son for a few days.  We had made all arrangements before learning he also had his own show, well, sharing with another friend from London.  They had an hour on the PBH Free Fringe.  Both had 30 minutes and were completely different from each other.  What fun to actually know someone performing and being able to attend his show.  Sounding  like a true mother, our son was great too!

Last year, he got us tickets to Foil, Arms and Hog and we have been fans ever since.  So this year he did it again!  They sell out fast so he got tickets very early and they were in the part of the audience that is very close to the stage, and, guess what?  I got picked at the very beginning to do a little bit to welcome them on stage and then, at the end, Hog ran off the stage, grabbed me and - after a very long run around to the stage wings, I came back on for the Grand Finale.  It all happened so fast, I never had a chance to get nervous.  What fun!  But next year I hope we get tickets a bit further back!

We saw 4 shows in theatre settings and were treated to many more on the street.  Two of the shows required tickets and were well worth the price, that would be Foil, Arms and Hog, as mentioned earlier and Cally Beaton.  I heard her being interviewed on the radio when I was driving back from Netherurd. Loved her! She left her very well paying job at the age of 45 and began doing stand up.  I contacted my son very proudly stating I found someone we could go see, my turn to buy tickets for her show - Invisible and introduce him to a new act. Well, guess what, he said he knows her and has gigged with her.  Ok, London is also a small town in its own way.  But her show was really fun too. Made me want to return to Iceland!  You would have to see her show to understand that.

Man on 10 foot ladder juggling big knives.  I made a video when he
did a 360 degree circle while juggling but can't seem to share it.
All I can say is we were all a very trusting audience! 

The other two shows we attended were PBH Free Fringe shows. Until I found this link, I had no idea why they were so separate. Now I get it, Mr Peter  Buckley Hill started the concept of offering free shows at the Fringe in 1996 so entertainers don't have to pay for their locations.  However, the difference between Cally and FA&G's locations and the two PBH shows we attended were night and day.  Our son and his friend had their show in Bar.Bados. An interesting bar near Grassmarket.  And the building was enormous!  The ground floor had a setting that was meant to look like Barbados and did a fairly good job, then you had to go upstairs to the maybe 8 shows that were on offer.  The one we wanted was on the very top floor!  I felt it would have been a great cardiac endurance test and there should have been oxygen tanks at the end!  But again, it is free! There are always collections at the end of the show so the entertainers do get some monetary feedback and support to get them through the time they perform at the Fringe. In actual fact, the place our son was allocated was fine, roomy with plenty of seats and sometimes they had standing room only!  I am not putting a link to his show since it ended last week, but I really hope he does this again next year.  I really enjoy his take on the world.

The other PBH show we attended was at the Wild Yarrow. This bar looked nicer, but the location of the show was downstairs next to the toilets, with only a curtain keeping the walkway separate. And there was very little seating.  We saw a show called Almost Austrian and it was hosted by an American who moved to Austria from the US and didn't really master the German language so he turned to comedy.  Some bits were funny and I enjoyed seeing how another fellow countryman settles and struggles to fit in to a new country.  The main thing I got out of his show was his struggle to find decent bacon in Scotland though.  Many of you won't understand this but Americans treat their bacon differently and it is almost impossible to find this in the UK.  Most bacon here is what we would consider Canadian bacon, which is fine - unless you are hungry for more familiar bacon, or your recipe calls for it to be crumbled!

Lady Whistle

There are also shows constantly along the Royal Mile, with some temporary stages set up and some artists perform right in the middle of the street.  Two of my favourites were Maple Staplegun, the photo at the top of this blog, and a man on a 10 foot ladder.  These street artists work in incredible situations and there is also a collection for them at the end of their shows.  They should be supported in the same was as the artists indoors.

In addition to all the shows, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people handing out leaflets!  They go to all manner of ways to get attention and try to get passersby to take them.  The idea being you will be intrigued enough to go to a show.  It did work for the Almost Austrian show!

The lack of affordable accommodation is always a big subject when discussing visiting the Fringe.  Last year, we got very short notice that our son would be in Edinburgh (not performing then). So we scrambled and I found very affordable housing at Arran House Hotel. This is actually student accommodation that is rented out as hotel rooms during the summer.  Last year, we only stayed one night so did not feel it was too far out of the way since we just got up and went home the next day.

This year, we discovered that we did not have to walk to Haymarket to catch the tram then walk up the hill to the Royal Mile.  It is actually only a 20 minute walk up one road really, to get to Grassmarket and a much better way to get to the Royal Mile.  But still....20 minutes.  We have agreed to pay a bit more and stay closer to all the activities next year.   Nothing at all wrong with Arran House, I would highly recommend it and they said lots of the performers stay there too. But for us, just a bit too much out of the way.

These photos are just a few of the thousand I took on our first day at the Fringe.  I will add more in a second blog just so there is not too many to take in at one time.

Let me stress, you can simply walk up and down the Royal Mile and have a fantastic time. You can also attend ticketed or free shows and have a fantastic time.  There is no way not to enjoy simply being there.

4 trips around Scotland in 13 days!

Jacobite Steam Train
on the Glenfinnan Viaduct

When the month of August began to shape up with 4 potential and completely different trips to 4 different parts of Scotland, I was a bit concerned!  But I tried to look at it as a 2 week holiday and that helped. What didn't help was trying to pack in advance for each trip. The only saving grace was each trip had a unique personality so none of my clothes had to compete with each other.  In saying that, packing 4 different types of cases 2 - 3 weeks in advance was challenging!

I love these grand houses with so much
spare room for people to sit and relax.

My first trip was a weekend in the Borders with the Scottish Trefoil Guild.  This is a group of women, although men are also encouraged to join, that is associated with Girlguiding and the strapline is"Guiding for Adults".  My first weekend with them was last year, and it was just like being back at training weekends when I was a leader.  These weekends are held at the Scottish Girlguiding headquarters and it is like returning home each time I take the turn off to the long drive that ends at this beautiful building.  Since this event included many more women than myself, I will probably not have that many photos that I would share, but lets see what I can find.... The table in this hallway holds our welcome gifts and schedule of the weekend.  Needless to say, it was a super time and I am already looking forward to next year's!

Beach at Brighouse Bay

Walk on the way back from the beach.

The second trip was meant to be a week away with our grandson just before school went back. This got conflicted with the Edinburgh Fringe and our son coming up from London for that, so it was a week early and compacted to 4 days!  We took our motorhome to Brighouse Bay in Wigtonshire because it sounded like  great holiday park, and it did appear to be that.  So many things to do, like the beach, kayak rentals, mini golf and real golf and a putting green, many playgrounds and an indoor pool.

These gorgeous thistles
were in the flower beds at the
activity centre - never seen any
like this. They felt like artichokes! 

The weather was not on our side though and the only thing we enjoyed was the indoor pool!  And the wifi advertised was virtually non-existent and that made for a very unhappy 10 year old boy.  If the weather had been more cooperative, the wifi would not have been so crucial.  Ultimately, we came home a day early and just enjoyed being there!  Especially me, since I knew the next two trips were more intense!










After being home for one solid day, our taxi arrived at 7:30am Friday morning to take us to our bus trip. First time ever for this sort of bus trip but we wanted to see if we liked travelling and seeing Scotland in this manner.  Spoiler alert - we didn't!   However, the main focus of the trip was unforgettable.

Standing outside between rain showers with
Loch Lomond behind me.

We were the first pick up point and the bus then travelled to Kilmarnock, Irvine, Kilwinning, Saltcoats and Largs.  It took us over 2 hours just to get out of our local area.  The ultimate destination was Fort William, about a 3 hour drive from our house to the hotel there.  But the bus had to stop for 2 hours at Loch Lomond shores.  Since we had no idea we would be on the bus that long, we had not packed lunch so this stop was fortuitous.  And this usually is a nice location to enjoy being on the shores of Loch Lomond, but the rain was too heavy to spend time outside.

Back on the bus, but another stop at the Green Welly Shop - this time for one hour.  Not hungry not wanting to shop, this was not fun.

No matter the weather, Scottish Highlands are beautiful.
This is Loch Linnhe and just across the street from our hotel.

Arrived at our hotel about 5:30pm, roughly 10 hours from when we left our house!  Whew, not a good introduction to the joys of local bus tours.

Like a cruise, we were assigned a table and met our delightful table mates -  Ann and Alan.  We ate breakfast and dinners with them and enjoyed good conversations at these meals.

Heading to the Glenfinnan Viaduct,
taken from my window.

The next day was an amazing and unexpected delight! The weather was perfect the entire day and we had the most enjoyable experience on the Jacobite Steam Train.  The train goes from Fort William to Mallaig and back, if you get that ticket.  We were collected by bus after having almost 2 hours to discover Mallaig.  We stopped at the Glenfinnan Monument on the way back to the hotel and were able to see the Jacobite train go across  the viaduct from a different angle than being on it!

First Class

Our class!

There was magnificent scenery the whole journey.

Mallaig

The next day was our journey back home, with an hour and 45 minute stop at Antartex Village, presumably to shop and eat lunch. Then another stop at the Green Welly Shop, not as long as last time.

It was rather windy when we stopped at Glencoe!

The bus driver did pull over at Glencoe and the views there were magnificent.

It may be some time before we try a bus trip again, since we can both drive!





We got home about 6pm on Sunday after travelling the entire day again!   Just in time to eat, sleep and get up to catch the 7:45am bus to begin our journey to the Edinburgh Fringe the next day.  We had an absolute blast there and I took thousands of pictures, so will stop here and share that experience another day.

The Three Sisters of Glencoe