Now I know some people really go for it at the Festival/Fringe, packing in so many events that they finish up running out of performances ten minutes before the end to go on to the next big thing. I'm not up for that and since my beloved - though on a major and thus far very successful diet - needs time to eat and relax, I am mindful of how much we can pack into two days and two nights. Comfortably. I do my homework, check out what's rated by the critics, try to find the 'hot' tickets and look for old favourites from previous years.
So we arrive at Waverley station on Saturday lunchtime with an hour and a half to walk to our hotel, pick up our tickets from the ticket office and make our way to the first venue in time for an a cappella concert by the Alternotives. Our base is to be the Royal Scots Club which is centrally located and brings back happy memories of the late great Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill was a member of this fine establishment and on the occasion of number 1's graduation brought us here for lunch to celebrate. We can do this... so a brisk 20 minute walk each way in the sunshine, we manage all those things and arrive in plenty of time for the Alternotives who absolutely blow us away with their brilliant singing. Definitely a great start! https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/alternotive-a-cappella
It's a beautiful day in Edinburgh and so the perfect opportunity to climb aboard the Festival Wheel in Princes Street Gardens. Stunning views right across the city, to Arthur's Seat and out to sea. Then we make our way to George Square where we sample some delicious street food before we go to our next Fringe event 'Six' in the great purple auditorium which is the Udderbelly. Six would be my stand-out pick of the Fringe events we attended and is making its way to London next - definitely worth seeing. https://www.sixthemusical.com
Next stop is our 'bucket list pick', the Edinburgh Tattoo, kindly sponsored by the intrepid granny. This takes place in the courtyard in front of Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Royal Mile. Bustling our way through tourists, street theatre (where else would you see a man in pink underpants on top of a ladder juggling daggers?) and touts, we join the huge queue to the bag-check and into the vast arena. We have amazing seats (courtesy of the intrepid granny) and as well as the wonderful pipes and drums, there's a fab Swiss Top Secret Drum Corps and dancers galore, with beautiful images projected on the castle walls. The finale, with all the cast on stage, is the piper on the castle walls piping into the silence before the fireworks erupt around us, blazing across the night sky. https://www.edintattoo.co.uk
We wake up on Sunday morning to a drizzly dank day outside but breakfast in this proper old club is the perfect belly-buster and will keep us going till... coffee time?! The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is a mere couple of streets away and my beloved is keen to see the amazing portraits so we get our fix of the heroes (and not so much) of Scotland from Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley to Andy and Jamie Murray. https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/scottish-national-portrait-gallery
The weather outside is grim but we make our way across the city centre to our first show of the day which is Michael Morpurgo's Private Peaceful, an incredibly moving one-man play set in the First World War. Here's where I seriously take issue with folks who try to do too much and dash out of one show ten minutes before the end (at a very emotional moment), disturbing the audience in order to get in the queue for whatever they've booked next. Michael Morpurgo's vivid portrayal of the unimaginable terrors of this period of history strikes - as in War Horse - with a deep and thought-provoking resonance. http://www.underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/whats-on/private-peaceful-by-michael-morpurgo?updated=1531872000#calendar-08-2018
To avoid the unrelenting drizzle/sea fret, we dive into a Vietnamese restaurant for a bowl of noodles and spicy meat (beef him, duck me) and then, after a brief respite, we head out to join the big queue of the late afternoon which is for Maureen Lipman. A glance down the line reveals that we are, unusually for the Fringe, at the younger end of the audience range. As in all queues across the weekend, we tend to chat, asking folks what they've been to see, what was good and so on. Our queue-buddies reel off a list of television personalities who are chancing their arm at the Fringe this year, mostly at the older end of the spectrum. Now I like Maureen Lipman - wonderful impressions of Joyce Grenfell, fabulous monologues and razor-sharp wit - but this is not what we get. Disappointingly this is a rambling ragbag of a show with so much padding that there's more 'pad' than 'bag'. Shame. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/aug/06/maureen-lipman-is-up-for-it-review-big-personalities-old-jokes-and-smooth-music
Get dry, warm up and off to queue again, this time for Andrew Maxwell who made number 4 and me laugh so much at last year's Fringe, that I was in pain. I don't tend to find lots of use of the f-word funny but his sharp, well-observed humour (splattered with the aforementioned f...) is just brilliant. If I was going to be picky, yes, I thought last year he was funnier but it was a very exhaustingly laughter-filled hour - and we were definitely not the youngest in the audience. I'm a fan. https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2018/andrew_maxwell/
Our last morning and the sea fret is so bad that you can't see the Castle from Princes Street. And my beloved needs to work so I'm off with the brolly to the Edinburgh Book Festival in Charlotte Square. https://www.edbookfest.co.uk This is an absolute joy for someone who can happily spend hours browsing in book shops. I've made the mistake in Edinburgh before of buying loads of books to bring home as presents (and for personal use) and then discovered that books are heavy travelling companions. But whilst there is a huge marquee full of great books for adults to browse, there is just as big a marquee for children's books. I have been building up a library of books for my grandson (now aged four weeks) comprising the books I loved to read with my own children - Mog and Bunny, Five Minutes Peace, Winnie the Pooh, Whatever Next, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and so on with additions of dinosaur titles and the Gruffalo. Before the grandson arrived, I would gather up my selection of children's titles in local bookshops, head to the counter and whilst zapping my credit card manage to burst into tears explaining why I was buying these books. "It's for my...future grandchild...blub, blub, blub". This must have been very alarming for the shop assistant, I realise. But I've trained myself now and perhaps because he's actually here, I am slightly (but only slightly) less emotional.
My beloved finally emerges from his work to join me in time for the Gin Experience https://www.edinburghgin.com/our-gins and it's brilliant. Callum, our guide, explains the history of gin - Mother's Ruin - and takes us into the tiny distillery to see the stuff being made. Then our group of about 10 all pack into a cellar and taste Seaside Gin, Cannonball Gin (too strong for me) and a host of liqueurs including Elderflower - delicious - and Raspberry - dare I say it, not quite as good as my homemade but possibly less alcoholic! Feeling a bit woozy by this time, we walk briskly back to the hotel to get our bags and then go for a big bowl of pasta at Amarone to soak up the alcohol.
Special times with my beloved in this great city!
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