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 Barcelona: La Rambla and the Market

 La Rambla is probably Barcelona's most famous single street.  It runs from Placa de Catalunya to the harbor, ending at the Christopher Columbus monument. 

The street is divided into sections, each named for the items vended there.  Unfortunately, the traditional vendors seemed to be on holiday and we mostly saw souvenir booths.  

Las Ramblas is also known for rampant pickpocketing (although we didn't see anything here, again, the low season) and for street performers- which I was, of course, very excited about- much to my dismay, they, too, were scarce!

This demon guy was committed to his calling.

There were also a couple of version of this guy- the other was a woman in the exact same get-up only silver.

I was a little excited... but the donuts were only okay.  I'll have to stick to my Krispy Kreme in Leeds.

The food market located just off La Rambla is a feast for both the eyes and the stomach.  There were several of these fruit smoothie stations.

Hungry yet?

Back to the street...

This building is traditionally known as Casa dels Paraigües, or House of Umbrellas.  It was built as an umbrella factory. Currently, the building has the name Casa Bruno Cuadros.

In the center of La Rambla is a mural by Joan Miró- I'd never heard of his work before, but Barcelona is very proud of their native artists!

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!