Edinburgh Festival 2009

[FJR-UK]

My wife's (wealthy) cousin offered us the use of their flat in Edinburgh during the Edinburgh Festival. How could we refuse? We lived in Edinburgh (1983-86) and were looking forward to a return visit.

We got a noontime start and intended to stop on the way up. Where depended on when I got the tap on the back of my helmet. I figured Knaresborough and mapped out a few places to stay. As it turned out, Jo wasn't ready to stop. We carried on up the A1. I figured we'd have more options if we followed the A68 than heading to Morpeth and the A697. As it turned out, we chose Hexham.

I made a couple of loops around town looking for a likely place to stay. "There's a nice place!" she said as we passed the 3-star Great Western. I stopped in front of a pub that offered rooms. "How about this place?" I asked hopefully. "I'm not staying there", came the icy reply. We stayed in the Great Western, a stone's throw from Hexham Abbey. It was a very nice room, as you would expect for £90. We had a stroll around town. It was pretty dead on the Thursday evening, except for a crowd of smokers outside the local Wetherspoons and the OAPs on the bowling green, who were pretty darn good, I must say.

We had dinner in the hotel. It was pretty good and the staff were very friendly, which you don't necessarily expect for £90. Well, our place in Edinburgh for the next 10 days was free, it was pointed out to me more than once. Hey, I just do the driving...

Friday morning the abbey was open, so we had a wander around.


The market square opposite Hexham Abbey.


The Grapes. I was wishing we'd found this place the night before.


Hexham Abbey


Hexham Abbey


Hexham Abbey. The organ was replaced by the Victorians. They couldn't get one made quickly enough to suit the congregation and ended up buying this one from a manufacturer in Philadelphia who had had an order cancelled.


Hexham Abbey. This is also Victorian.

Hexham was a nice, little, ancient town (674 ad). Worth a stop to see the abbey and, if you get there, check out The Grapes for me.

Friday morning we headed up the A68. This was a beautiful ride. We got wet the day before, but the weather held for us all the way to Edinburgh. The A68 was hilly, curvy and had beautiful open views. It also had a lot of highway maintenance crews zooming about. Convoys of large dump trucks which were traveling empty were a challenge to pass.

We came around a corner and Jedburgh Abbey certainly made an impression. We cruised through town, but it was too early to stop for lunch, so got back on the A68 and were soon negotiating Edinburgh's south circular.

I love Google maps. As detailed as you like for mapping purposes, then street view for landmarks. I drove straight to our destination without a hitch. A written map and a compass on my tankbag mean no sat nav for this kid yet.

We spent Friday with our benefactors and steeled ourselves for 10 days of fun.

(tbc)

[FJR-UK]

Saturday morning was glorious! Warm and sunny. We walked into town from our flat in Morningside, a rather salubrious neighbourhood a 15-20 minute walk to the southeast of Princess Street. Armed with a Festival catalogue, we headed for the Grassmarket.


The Grassmarket.

I don't think I had ever seen the Grassmarket under a blue sky before! We wandered up past the street market to West Bow and Victoria Street:



before heading back to the Beehive. The Beehive used to serve a lovely pint of draught Old Peculiar 25 years ago. No more. I settled for half a Staropramen and we sat out in the sun before our one o'clock comedy show. Five minutes before showtime, we found a seat upstairs. The small room was packed. We waited. A couple people left. We waited some more. Finally, one of the chaps who had left came back. He said, "I have just read the poster. Today is the only day the show is not on." Hmmm. Not a very good start, but it was good for a laugh. Well, maybe a wry grin.

We headed for the Royal Mile in search of some lunch.


The Royal Mile, looking toward the castle, and the gorgeous blonde I travel with.

I made a list of restaurants to try on this trip and we found one of them: Monteith's. This was one of our dining highlights.


The only clue you are at Monteith's is the 'M', upper left. It's down an alley, but well worth finding.

(tbc)

[Castaway]

By 'Edinburgh Festival' are you referring to the fringe festival of experimental theatre? If so, I envy you (I envy you in any case - I'd love to see Edinburgh.), I've wanted to go for years. I've been to the Fringe in San Francisco, Vancouver, and New York, and have performed in the SF one myself. :O

More story?

[FJR-UK]

By 'Edinburgh Festival' are you referring to the fringe festival of experimental theatre?

Yes. The Festival events are usually too expensive or sold out, so we concentrate on the Fringe. We went to four paid events and many "free" events. They always ask for a contribution, and we always do contribute (more or less depending on enjoyment level).

More story?

Comin' right up.

[FJR-UK]

Still on the Royal Mile and feeling wonderful after a very nice lunch, we sat to watch this guy:



The guy in the lab coat played guitar and sang comedy songs to the accompaniment of his sax-playing vacuum cleaner. The two ladies in the photo were tickled pink. The street buskers are one of the treats of the festival. You never know what to expect. Some are easy to pass by. But we saw a street magician who kept us entertained with his running patter and jokes. His tricks were pretty standard fare, until his very last. How that cantaloup got under his hat on the table I'll never know, but he sure made one of my fivers disappear!

We paid to see Edwin Collins. I suffered a minor stroke a couple years ago, but he suffered a major stroke that he is still coming back from. I wanted to see how he managed on stage and, frankly, he was very brave to make his comeback so soon. His band was terrific and his fans all turned out to cheer him on.

We paid to see Laura Solon. She was terrific. Her program had a lot of laughs, but was also quite dramatic. She did a play and performed all the characters and accents. Her characters were all pretty awful people and it was all sort of depressing, but as a performer, Solon is excellent.

We paid to see Reginald D. Hunter. This an American chap from Georgia. He has been on television quiz shows over here for the past couple of years and has a very dry sense of humour. His standup routine was mostly about difference between English/Americans and Blacks/whites. No new ground there, but he has a slightly different take on everything, and very very funny. The full house loved him.

And we paid to see Julian Clary. He is in danger of becoming this generation's Dame Edna Everage. Camp and cute with it. He rolled onto the stage in a ringmaster's outfit and all the jokes were in a similar vein. We were entertained, but immediately forgot about him as soon as we left, unlike the other acts we paid to see, which required a bit of discussion afterward.

(tbc)

(edit-10/10: I saw the chap with the sax-playing vacuum cleaner busking in London Underground's Bank station on Friday. Looked like he hadn't shaved since I took his photo in Edinburgh.)

[FJR-UK]

We took a bus from Morningside to Leith one morning. When we left Edinburgh, Leith was a rundown harbour area with some pretty depressing public housing blocks. It was just being gentrified. Well, you'd hardly recognise it now.

We took the bus to the end of the line, Ocean Terminal. There is a huge, but fairly mundane, shopping mall. The main feature is the Royal Yacht Britannia is permanently moored there. They wanted £8.50 to go aboard, so we had a look at it from the mall. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. We walked down to Commercial Street, the main drag though Leith.

We were turned away from my first choice restaurant, The Kitchin (a play on the chef's name, Michael Kitchin). It was just as well, one, because it looked like a £100/head kind of place and, two, because the place we found had a sun deck:


The gorgeous blonde I travel with enjoyed her meal at "A Room in Leith".

The waiter warned us to keep an eye on the local seagull, who was definitely keeping an eye on us. It paid a visit to every table after the diners left. The waiter said he was waiting for the day the seagull decided to attack him. I don't think he was kidding. Anyway, it was another beautiful day in Edinburgh.


Waiting for the bus back into Edinburgh from Leith.


We were lucky with the weather. It was sunny more than half the time we were in town. This lawn (Princess Street Gardens) is so green, because it rained heavily the day before this photo and the day after.

(tbc)

[FJR-UK]

This shot short of gives you an idea of how much stuff there is to see at the Festival. It's a lot of work. We walked everywhere. We ate everything. We found the best martini in town (Oloroso, George Steet). But one day I said I need a bike ride.

We headed out west, looking for Bonnington House in Kirknewton. There was some sort of sculptural art exhibit out there. Well we never found the place, but we did stumble upon Ratho:



The Bridge Inn was on a canal. We walked a couple miles along the canal and then back to the pub for a disappointing meal. But the ride was nice and we got back to town just as the rain started.

(tbc)

[FJR-UK]

Did I mention martinis? Oloroso was recommended for having a rooftop terrace with views over the city. The views were as advertised, but the wind was so high, it forced us inside. The staff were surprisingly friendly for a posh cocktail bar and we got too comfortable. Three martinis in the middle of the day is just silly. We went home and had a nap.


Looking up George Street toward St. Andrews Square in the New Town from Oloroso's terrace.

The botanical garden and the area around Arthur's Seat and Duddingston Loch make you feel like you're somewhere other than right in the centre of Edinburgh.


The centre of Edinburgh.


The centre of Edinburgh, 28 August 10pm.


The centre of Edinburgh, near Arthur's Seat.


The centre of Edinburgh. The castle is top left. The crag is Arthur's Seat.


The centre of Edinburgh and the gorgeous blonde I travel with, shivering in front of Duddingston Loch.


Duddingston Loch in the centre of Edinburgh.

10 days was enough fun. We started home early and never really thought about stopping for the night. I think both of us needed our own bed and we made the trip to London in one leg.

I chose to come back via the A697 through Coldstream. I think it is a better biking road, and not so plagued with speed cameras as the A68. However, it is more forested and the views are not as open as the A68. So, A68 for scenic value, A697 for fun.

(the end)

[Orson]

beautiful  

Thanks for the photo tour  

[FJR-UK]

Thanks and you're welcome.

[Ralf]

Nice, now where are the pictures of Exeter?

[FJR-UK]

Nice, now where are the pictures of Exeter?

Good question. I had a brain fart while filing my 200+ photos of Exeter and nearby National Trust gardens. I filed them in the trash. Somehow. I'm still trying to work that one out.

I'll just have to make the trip again next year...