Edinburgh the Great...

Many locals joke that the annual Edinburgh Fringe and Theatre festivals in August fund the city for the rest of the year.  As we wandered around the city (wearing all the warm clothing we owned due to the incredibly cold and wet weather) , we could almost believe this.  For the whole month, the city is packed with tourists who have come from around the world to take in the festivities.  Although the festival started out as a theatre festival it has actually become most famous for its fringe restoval which hosts hundred of theatre, music, dance and comedy performances.  The book of options is actually 100 pages long!

We took in some historical sites while we were there, taking an audio walking tour of the city and then touring Holyrood House, a working palace where the Queen spends much of her summer.  The Palace was actually quite understated, with lots of rugs and wall hangings, and minimal furniture, at least in the public rooms.  An unexpected surprise was seeing the rooms where Mary, Queen of Scots, spent many of her days.   These rooms were much smaller than we would have imagined and the personal staircase she would have used seemed far too narrow to accommodate the wide dresses of the time period.

Although we took in some history, the performances at the festivals were certainly the highlight.  Having booked a couple of performances ahead of time, most of our choices were made impulsively.  The festival has an incredible app that allows you to search for shows "nearby" and "starting soon" so you could just spontaneously pull it up and choose something when you had some free time.

In the end, we saw a diverse range of   shows (list at the end of the post) and really enjoyed almost all of them.  Geoff even participated in one of them!

We cannot speak highly enough of this festival.  The city is fantastic, the people ridiculously nice and the performances superb.  Our only recommendation if you decide to go one year (which we think you should!) - make sure you pack some warm clothes - it is chilly up there!

Performances:

1.  A-Loan - The story of a group of kids, parents and related characters dealing with the realities of the kids heading off to university.  The theatre held about 25 people, just three times more than the number of cast members, and the show was funny and serious and compelling and likely our favourite performance.

2.  The Travel Guide for Agoraphobics - This free comedy performance was a charming exploration of travel and weird roommates.  Although it lagged a bit at the end, we were incredibly impressed by the comic's ability to perform on his own for almost an hour without one dirty joke!

3.  Ladysmith Black Mombazo - this world-reknowned musical group, who wrote songs with Paul Simon back in the day, performed a pitch-perfect medley of songs that detailed the struggles, triumphs and way of life in South Africa.

4.  James I - Although almost three hours in length, this play flew, weaving great Scottish history with wonderful acting, a gripping storyline and a simple but effective 360-degree set.

5.  The horror! The horror! - This 1920s "comedy show" was perhaps the weakest of all the shows we saw, hampered by a story line that didn't really make sense.  Nonetheless, the acting was impressive and Geoff's performance in the show stellar!