EDINBURGH AND THE FESTIVAL

Festival  Fireworks!

Back to the old Campbell family home called Tullich, (thanks Judy) in Rosyth. It's now the end of July.  We are two months into the trip and using the time here to reorganise our packing, discard tropical gear and prepare for two weeks in Scotland, followed by 6 weeks travelling around southern Europe.

Also on our the agenda for the next few weeks are catching up with family and friends who live in and around Edinburgh, shopping for essentials for the European leg and of course, the Festival.  If you haven't been in Edinburgh during the Festival month, you have not seen it at its best.

It goes without saying the the weather now turns pretty ordinary, 15-18C most day, with occasional sunny periods and showers.  Yes it’s Festival time in Edinburgh. I have to say I do really enjoy Edinburgh as a city and it’s at a busy, bustling, best during the Festival.

There are actually two Festivals; the 'official' one that is usually pretty good, with mainstream theatre, classical music, dance, spoken word, and the Fringe Festival. This year there were 3,500 different acts in the Fringe giving over 50,000 individual performances over the 3 weeks of the festival.  Programme Guide was over 300 pages thick, really too much choice. There will be over 1.5 million tickets sold. Apparently the only other events that sell more tickets are the World Cup and the Olympics! 

Festival weather!

Until the Festival events start on 2nd August we spend our time in Rosyth and Dunfermline, doing banking, finishing the Dubai and Skye blog, getting haircuts, and da- da!, organising a Pensioners Bus Pass for Jane!  Yes, she now has free bus travel in Scotland for the rest of her life! Pity we were only there for a few more weeks.

Over the next three weeks we received great hospitality from John, Jane’s brother, as well as catching up with Cathy Owen, and Jim and Hester and Alex?  And cousins Tony C and Jim R, and fellow ET patient, John, and his wife Ruth, Stark. 

Yes, that is a beef rib I'm waving around.

The Fringe / Festival provided us with about 15 shows from classical music to stand up comedy, a few improvisations, including a “musical” improvisation, cabaret, and theatre.  And there was a day at a food festival on a sunny day in Inverleith Park. 


Great selections and some great performances.  

Also walking the streets of Edinburgh during the festival we managed to bump into a few youngsters from Brisbane who were performing in the Fringe, and elsewhere in the UK this summer.  It can be a very small world at times.

Look who Jane met in Boots the Chemist! Tom Thumb and Jamie McDowell.

Our most memorable show was probably the operatic theatre piece called ‘The War”.  Set before / during / after the 1st World War. It was performed by a Russian company of 20 performers, and was mostly in Russian, with surtitles.  It was based on a story drawn from Book 6 of the Illiad (the death of Hector in battle) and two 1st World War novels. The performers were excellent, and most not only acted, but also sang or played a musical instrument.  It was truly a soundscape and full-on theatre for two and a half hours without a break! A cathartic experience.

Cafe bench, Leith Road, Edinburgh.  

So that was our R&R before we set off for France and 6 weeks in Europe.  And we have almost caught up with the here and now, where we are hill walking in the French Alps, but that’s in the next Post!