248.6 - Edin-brah
Mainly there for the Fringe, and boy did it have its ups and downs.
(It's a hill joke)
This was one of the places I didn't do a walking tour at because I wanted to focus on food, Fringe and fun. And I got all three!
Food
Continuing on with the 'every meal needs to be different and try new things in this new city' I tried a bunch of places - many of which were recommended by friends, so thank you!
- Oink! for a hog (roast pork) roll, haggis stuffing, Irn Bru (the soda drink of choice in Scotland) and chips. Very Scottish, very delicious.
- Civerino's for big pizza slice - yum yum late night snack
- Ting Thai Teviot Place for a quick pad thai between Fringe shows - on par with Melbourne tbh
- MUMS Great Comfort Food for bangers and mash - this was again half an hour before a show, so I was happy to be able to scoff something down. Such friendly staff, seriously good comfort food :D Wish I had had time for the Shepherd's Pie which looked so good on other people's tables, but c'est la vie!
- Mimi's Little Bakehouse for clotted cream and jam scone, as well as a triple choc brownie
- Fruitmarket cafe for a bacon roll - just a quick brekky but simple things can be delicious too
- Mary's Milk Bar for some delicious ice cream. It was kinda like Edinburgh's version of a Pidapipo or Messina, except they only do 8 flavours. A lot of care put in but tbh not super special (we're spoiled in Melbourne!).
Fringe
The main reason I went up to Edinburgh this trip was because of the Fringe festival. It's like a mirror to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival on the other side of the world, but it's wider - it hosts theatre, and plays, and other types of shows.
Because of that, there are SO MANY shows (approximately 3000 shows) that are happening like...all the time. The entire Edinburgh gets plastered with marketing material, advertising, comedians flyering; it's genuinely overwhelming. Even the Fringe website when I was trying to look for shows was insane. (Vince's note: I was also mistaken for an up-and-coming comedian who had a show at least three times - is it 'cos I'm funny lookin'?)
Regardless, I was able to pack in 7 shows in 2 days, because I'm probably not goin' back for a while and I'm a logistical genius (see: Sintra), so here are some thoughts of all the Fringe shows I went to:
- Tartan Tabletop: a d&d show that had lots of promise because it was based on thinly veiled references to existing properties (on my night it was Fallout), but it just wasn't a fun format. It was too forced, there wasn't a lot of time, and the guests didn't seem to mesh well with the rushed nature of the characters and story. 5/10
- Ahir Shah: winner of last years Edinburgh Fest - I can see why. Strong observational comedy interspersed with some touching and poignant monologues about generational sacrifice from his grandparents. However, it didn't fully land with me - I think it could have flowed better in terms of transitioning from really funny observational humour to the extremely sensitive and touching parts of the story. 7.5/10
- Ivo Graham: really great performance, well choreographed climax to LCD Sound System, well made PowerPoint slides (lol) and really good sending up of himself and self deprecating humour. Enjoyed it a lot. 8/10
- Igor Lipinski's Piano Illusions: it was music, then magic, then music, then magic - to be honest I actually just liked the music portion in terms of his improv and musicality (he played some existing pieces but with his own spin on it), but it was a fascinating to see how he interspersed the magic parts of it - really got the audience into it and he was wonderful performer. 7.5/10
- 3 Chickens Confront Existence: they have a philosophical conversation while waiting to see if they'll be selected to die. I'm sure there were a lot of layers on the text but for most of it I was a bit bored - the convos probably could have been half the time and would have been more concise. Chicken costumes excellent. 6/10
- Shamilton: improvised musical comedy based on historical figures (whether real or fictional) - the audience selected Mr. Bean and it was freakin specTACULAR. They referenced James Acasters gf being stolen away by Rowan Atkinson, many Off Menu podcast digs, songs sung to existing Hamilton melodies and songs, improvised through a bunch of actually really well thought-up songs, and it was just so so fun. Perhaps it was just focused directly on my interests, but it's a 9/10! Highlight of the festival for me.
- Blood on the Clocktower: long story short, it's a social deduction game show that had a guest I was super wanting to see (Sam Reich - CEO of Dropout [formerly CollegeHumour]) so I had been going back to the box office of this sold sold out show to see if any last minute tix were available. This patience and dedication culminated in me getting the last ticket an HOUR before the show, and it was great. The game was fun, albeit not as deduction-y as I thought, but really good chemistry between the players. 8.5/10 because I also got a picture with Sam!!
Fun
On this trip, it was the first time in a hostel because the hotel prices during Fringe were crazy. I was situated outside of the Edinburgh Castle at a place called 'Castle Rock Hostel' which was better than expected - though the snorers and the gurgling pipes made it hard to sleep. I guess I'm being a bit hypocritical since I'm a snorer as well, but whatever.
There were lots of places to go in Edinburgh - I struggled up Arthur's Seat to see lovely views of Edinburgh, I went to the National Museum (which is free to enter!) and saw a bunch of cool things (including the original Dolly the sheep clone!) and then the 'Museum of Childhood' featuring the creepiest dolls ever.
Solo travel is elite for the purposes of not needing to have a schedule, ability to be spontaneous, and doing what you want to do without needing to worry about others. However, what it also means (especially the way I planned it) is that everything was done a little last minute, and, for example, I wasn't able to get tickets to the Edinburgh Castle which would have been fun. I couldn't really hire a car just for myself (so inefficient!) to go out to other towns nearby, and there were lots of meals where I wish I could have tried more on the menu but being by myself, I was restricted to just picking one or two things.
However, it did lead to a wonderful experience: one of the things that was happening at the same time as the Fringe was the Military Tattoo of Scotland - essentially, a set of musical performances by the armed forces. It's a pretty big deal - tickets go for like 400 pounds+ (I checked) and they were completely sold out anyway. Because I was situated right outside of Edinburgh Castle (which is where they were performing) on one night when I was coming home from the Fringe, I heard the fireworks, I heard the bagpipes, and realised that the event was finishing up. I ran up the stairs to my hostel and caught the end part of the performance where they march out of the castle, and down the road parading and performing and having a great ol' time! Bagpipes and brass have never been more beautiful.
Chat soon :)