6 Quick Snippets of Edinburgh and the Fringe

Over the past few months I've had a wonderful email exchange with Lexi from Life in Transition- she's witty, great fun, and posts both on the goings-on in her life and the not-so-goings on about being a late-twenties PhD in a crap economy- which she still makes enviable!! Not to mention she's got two horses (Fanta and Polly) and the most adorable little kitten, Scoop!!

I know Lexi's great, but stay with me for a minute-

I decided that I couldn't possibly move out of GB without meeting up with her- and she happens to live just outside of St. Andrews, Scotland, so I emailed her and we planned to meet up in Edinburgh- where the Fringe Festival is going on (along with Edinburgh's 400 other festivals; that city gets INSANE).

I booked a room at Pollocks Hall, University of Edinburgh (genius idea: the Uni lets its dorm rooms out during Festival for a modest rate and it includes breakfast in the dining hall!), and managed to get a semi-reasonable train ticket by checking the website at strange hours. Apparently businessmen who'll pay anything don't buy tickets at 2 AM... 

I digress.

I left Leeds Rail Station at 11:10 and arrived in Edinburgh at 14:10 on Wednesday (last week, duh).

I walked around by myself the first day, as Lexi wasn't able to get away until Thursday- but I don't mind a day in the city alone, despite my camera bag and backpack weighing on me!

I happened to be seated next to the one British person who chats on the train- so I didn't get a chance to eat the lunch I'd packed. When I left the station I found a pleasant sitting area just outside and had a little picnic looking up at this building. 

This building looks so much like the castles around Aberdeenshire! 

The Scott Monument from across the railway.

Street performers were everywhere- and you know I love some street performers!

Oh, yeah... that happened! Lexi's got some great posts about attending Olympic events (here and here).

In the right background you can see Edinburgh Castle- Paul and I visited it last year when we were in town for the Military Tattoo.

I then wandered around the Royal Mile, watching and photographing the Fringe participants as they did their live-adverts for their shows. 

I ended up pulling out Sophie, my medium-format camera, and shooting three rolls of film with her- so I guess you'll have to wait until I get those back to see more. Let's just say she drew quite a bit of attention- I got stopped and asked about her twelve times and even had one German tourist take a picture of her... yep.

I managed to fit in two Fringe shows Wednesday night, including one that was a very entertaining Flight of the Conchords knock-off- Bush & McCluskey. I was laughing so much at their set "The Loves I Haven't Known" I didn't want it to end!

This isn't Pollocks Hall, but it is the building next to it. Not a bad looking campus!

Thursday Lexi and I met up and spent the day wandering Edinburgh, having great conversation, seeing two more Fringe shows (the entertaining "The Ride of the Bluebottles" and "Love All", the play Paul and I saw in Clonmel, Ireland last year and by far the funniest play I've EVER seen!), and even went to see "Brave"- Pixar's newest film that's set in Scotland and has a princess with insane-curly red hair! (FINALLY!) Sadly, we were too busy having fun to take a single photo- I didn't even take my camera out all day!

I caught the 9PM train back to Leeds, and got home at about 1:30AM. The trip was a whirlwind, but totally worth it- I had a GREAT time!

0 National Museum of Scotland and Edinburgh Zoo

 As usual for us, we went to several museums.  Along with the Scottish National Gallery and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art we stopped by the National Museum of Scotland.   This proved to be well worth our time although we weren't able to spend the time there it deserves!

 As soon as you walk in you see a multi-story display of various items from wall- I really liked this wrought iron piece.

 This is a giant deer skeleton.  It dwarfs Paul.

 I strongly encourage you to click on these two images- the Wildlife Panorama.  It's a fantastic comprehensive exhibit filled with animals from the entire natural history of the Earth.  Fish and birds are overhead and small animals are alongside the walls in displays.  It's an incredible room to be overwhelmed by.

 This is a charming, if rather inaccurate, little clock.  It works with a ball running along the trails and shifting the balance.  I want one.

A lighthouse light.  I don't remember it's creator or where it was located, but this light is important due to it's artistic design that enables the light to work more efficiently.  

On our way out of town we decided to stop and see Edinburgh Zoo.  I love zoos (well, conservation-minded zoos; I find concrete-and-steel zoos abhorrent and cruel) and was excited to visit EZ. 

 Sea lions taking advantage of some rare rays of sun!

 Tree Porcupines- first of all, they're HUGE, secondly, they are laaaaaaazy!

 The literal image of "preening."

 A sun bear.  Other than the insane claws, he seems super cuddly, doesn't he?  I think he looks like Max!

 These adventurous little guys are known as common squirrel monkeys.  They were being studied for their eating habits.

 The Zoo is on a hill over the city, which provides great views for the animals (?) but made for a strenuous hike for visitors!

 There was a large herd of zebras, which I loved! A platform walkway allows visitors to walk into the middle (above) of the field the zebras live in, giving a lot better views than just standing on the side at a barrier.

 Pig-face!  I think this is a Kune-Kune pig, but I'm not entirely sure...

 Panthro!

The penguins seems to be EZ's big claim to fame.  They do a daily "penguin walk" and had movie posters for Mr. Popper's Penguins everywhere.

It was a fun zoo! I'm very excited to do more zoo-tourism!

0 Edinburgh

 We skipped Edinburgh on our Grand Tour of Scotland since we knew we'd head there for a festival at some point- Edinburgh is rich with festivals, and the Military Tattoo was high on our list of things to do while living here.  When the Tattoo tickets came up for sale in December I bought ours and before we knew it August was upon us! 

We decided to drive up, since train tickets to Edinburgh during the festival season are really, really expensive.  I love windmills and wind farms- this one actually spans both sides of the motorway, and I loved it!

 My first stop in Edinburgh (and Paul's, by default of being with me) was to see Greyfriar's Bobby.    In the Greyfriar's cemetery is this fascinating marker.

And Bobby's grave marker.  Known as one of history's most faithful dogs, his story isn't quite as tear-inducing as Hachiko, but it still gets my heart!  In case you're disinclined to click the link, here's a synopsis:  A local policeman name Auld Jock had a Skye Terrier named Bobby.  When Auld Jock died, Bobby sat vigil over his grave for the next fourteen years.  Locals tried to bring him home, but he always made his way back to the graveyard (Greyfriar's).  Before long people, specifically the local pub owner, just made sure he had food and that he was cared for on cold nights. 

The pub just outside of Greyfriar's Cemetery.  

Just off the Royal Mile.

We had a great time in Edinburgh, although I will say I prefer Inverness and Stirling.  Edinburgh is overflowing with history and culture, and being there during the festivals was great- the Tattoo, the Fringe Festival, the Art Festival, and the Book Festival were all going on.  We went to the Tattoo and were able to catch one Fringe show- a ghost stories/tour which was quite interesting.  The Fringe spills over into the streets with street performers and flocks of performers passing out flyers for their shows.

Part of the throngs of tourists and Fringe people.

A Charlie Chaplin street performer. 

A statue street performer.  He was even out during the driving rain!

 Edinburgh Castle is quite famous, and has, of course, an extensive history.  It houses the Honors of Scotland and is the home of the One O'Clock Gun.  Photography is not allowed in the interiors, unfortunately, but their website is comprehensive, so I'd recommend a look.  The castle's got a great view of the whole town and port, of course!

 I am lacking in my pictures of the castle, but the Tattoo takes place in front of it- so there's a few more there!

0 The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

One of our must-sees while living here was The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.   The Tattoo is an incredible display of regimental bands, mostly pipes and drums, from all over the world.  It takes place in front of the Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Royal Mile, as part of the Edinburgh Festivals every August.  The tickets go on sale in December and sell out quickly, but luckily I remembered and we got some great seats.

The Tattoo started at 9 PM, so our backdrop included not only the castle but the sunset.

I wasn't sure what the construction equipment was for...

until we got a hybrid Stomp/Bon Jovi type show.

The Pipes!

This included all the performing bands.

The various uniforms and tartans were definitely part of the display.

The Royal Netherlands Army Bicycle Band was impressive.

They even had a comedic break-down bit.

The Brazilian Marine Corps Band came.

They did a Carnivale piece, but the music seemed quite formal, and despite their obvious talent I was disappointed in the lack of cultural flavor.  Plus the dancers seemed... local.

We then had a bit of British nautical history, and since the sun set, projections against the castle were incorporated.

Some active duty British Marines demonstrated being crew on a ship.

Two active duty Marine groups competed in assembling and disassembling the large guns. 

The German Mountain Army Band brought their traditions to share! 

Yep, he's playing the spoons!  And they're in lederhosen, despite the cold.

Sadly, while they were skilled, they never did the Ricola ad.

They danced and sawed the log.

Then they chopped the log.  Some guys came and swept this up before the next band came out.

Yeah, he had some whip-things.  Like rhythmic gymnastics for mountain men?

Of course, there were Highland dancers.  They did a skit of fish and fishermen.

Note the ships on the castle, and the ocean on the ground.

The "fish" are these dancers, others played the fishermen- see the Gorton's fishermen outfits in the back?

The projections got more detailed as it got darker.

A drumming performance.

All the bands playing together for the finale.

The dancers joined the finale.

The cutest mascot- who was NOT enjoying himself!

The red poppies are a symbol of the National Remembrance Day, much like the U.S. Veteran's Day.  They're seen year-round, however, on cars and in windows.

Several drummers wore big cat skins.

Once again, the Scottish pipers. 

The last of the pipes and drums to leave the arena.

A bit of a close-up of the uniforms as the pipers depart.