Edinburgh

Our second day in Edinburgh was also the last day of the Olympics, so we again had kept the day mostly free to watch that, with just the one show booked.  We figured that as it was early evening, we had a reasonable chance of making it back in time for the closing ceremony, and with the help of a cab back, we only missed a little bit, so we were able to watch the Olympics draw to a close and the extinguishing of the flame.

With the Olympics no longer here to distract us - it was slightly strange to get up and not turn on the TV for the sport - we threw ourselves into the fringe properly.

When we had decided what to go to, we hadn't researched any reviews of the acts at all, we had just tried to pick out a mix of different types of comedy where we liked the sound of the show. With only a few lines of description to go on, we were well aware that we could have picked a few real duds, but we were hoping that at least some would be good.

Overall, we were mostly happy with our choices. There were a couple of ones that we wished we hadn't bothered with, but most were enjoyable and a few were very good. Not sure that we have really seen much in the way of emerging new comedy superstars, but there at least some that we now wouldn't overlook if they were on the bill nearby.

We figured that the free ones were probably even more of a risk, as they are obviously the newcomers, who have not yet earned themselves a paying show. But in fact, some of the free shows were also very good.

We have been to Edinburgh a couple of times before, so we've done the castle and some of the other sights previously, and with all of the shows we were seeing, we didn't have time for a great deal else. But we did manage to catch up with a few friends while we were there which was nice.

With one of the couples that we met up with, we had arranged to meet at a small bistro for brunch. They had got there first and ordered some coffees that still hadn't arrived when we tried to order, even though the place was empty apart from us. With it being only 11am, we had to choose from the breakfast menu, but that was OK, until we asked for the full cooked, only to be told that they didn't have any eggs, sausages, bacon or most other things. They could apparently do us a smoked salmon bagel or some croissants, but that was it.

And apparently it was far too early for the chef to be ready for the lunch menu instead as he was busy cooking pasta! Needless to say we went elsewhere and took bets on how quickly that particular place would be out of business if it couldn't be bothered to take advantage of about the busiest periods that Edinburgh ever has!
Aside from meeting people, probably the most interesting thing that we did was to try out the much talked about local delicacy of the deep fried Mars bar. Nic had been looking forward to this for a while, although neither of us had been especially optimistic about what it would be like.

In fact, it was pretty good. The batter was a light coating and not overly greasy, and the inside had softened into a warm and tasty gooey chocolate caramel that was actually surprisingly nice!

Since then we have been advised that we should also have tried the deep fried pizza, but that seems like a step too far.

Off to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

While we were working, we had often meant to get around to going to Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival, but never had managed it.  So while we were in South America we decided that as we would be back in the UK at the right time, we would take the opportunity to go this year.

We booked up a rental flat, joined the Fringe Friends, and then spent days looking at the hundreds of shows available and trying to decide which ones to buy tickets for.  We figured that, although Edinburgh is also hosting the rather more highbrow International Festival and the Book Festival at the same time, we would go solely for the fringe, which is largely comedy with some drama and musical acts.

Having picked out our preferred shows, I then spent more hours with a map working out where they all were so that I could group the shows in sensible ways to avoid traipsing all over town everyday.  When I was finally done, we bought the tickets for thirty-four shows over the thirteen days we would be here.

We had decided to get the Caledonian Sleeper train from London to Edinburgh on the Friday night straight after our Olympics session, so having done a quick dash back to Kentish Town to pick up our bags, we were off to Euston to catch the train.

The train wasn't bad.  The two bed compartment was pretty small, with not much room for the suitcases, but had a little wash basin and aside from being a bit warm, it was generally OK.  Although we didn't need to make use of it, the food and drink was reasonably priced for a trapped market.  And we did get a cup of tea and some shortbread biscuits when we were woken up, albeit that it was at 6:45am!

We arrived at Edinburgh Waverley at 7:15 and were piped in with bagpipes.  Personally, not being a fan of the sound of bagpipes, I think that was just their way of making sure everyone was awake and off the train quickly, but perhaps that's just me being cynical.

We couldn't check in to our flat until 10:30, so we looked for somewhere for breakfast.  At that time there was little available around where we were, so we had a cup of tea at one place before finding a little cafe for a cooked breakfast.  And very nice it was too - the Elderberry Cafe in Elder Street if you're looking for somewhere.

The flat is on the way to Leith and is very nice, although not so keen on the three long flights of stairs to get up to it!  We settled in for a bit and, in common with much of the country I'm sure, watched some more Olympics.  We had only booked the one show today, partly in case there was a problem with travel, and partly because we knew we'd still be glued to the TV.

Later, we set off to see our first show.  With all the tickets being unreserved seating, we got there quite early, and soon found that ten to fifteen minutes was all that was needed.  However it was good to be at the front of the queue, as then you can get to pick your seats.  We are tending to go for seats in the second row where there is still a good view and you can hear well, but you are slightly less likely to get picked on.