August 15 - Edinburgh, UK TO Calgary

18 degrees, sunny send off

Not too much to report for today. We have to return the wifi gizmo to a post office, so after that and packing we were off to the airport. A 90 minute flight from Edinburgh, a short layover in Heathrow, a 8.5 hour flight to Calgary and we are are home. As usual, thrilling to be on vacation, but wonderful to be home.

August 14 - Edinburgh, UK

up the hills and down the hills

17 degrees, lots of rain when we woke up, cloudy all day, poured on our way home around 1:00

This is our last full day in Edinburgh and on vacation for that matter. We try to wait out the morning rain and it works. We shop for a few last minute things, wander about (there is always something to see by chance), have lunch and head back to the room. We have to be on the go early this evening. Of course there was more of up the hills and down the hills, up the stairs and down the stairs. The main areas/streets are still packed like they were last week…I wonder what Edinburgh is like when the Festival isn’t on??

The first thing for us to do this evening is a Scotch and cheese tasting – fun! It was in a Scotch shop, in a tiny area with about 25 of us around a table. This lasted for about an hour.

Next was a guitar recital in an old church. 3 guys playing guitar, alone and together. This was very different from what we’ve been doing for Fringe shows.

We got a bite and a drink after the guitar show and before our third time seeing Craig Ferguson and last show of the Fringe. Every night we’ve seen him has been different as he

has different guests. This show is packed.

The food we got before the show included haggis! Not a full-on haggis, neeps and tatties – but ‘haggis bites’. I was very impressed. Too bad I left it this long or I’d definitely have given the full-on a try.

On the way back to bed, we got a little snack from one of the food stalls in the bar’s courtyard attached

to out hotel. This is hughly convenient each night – not so sure how healthy it is to eat potato wedges smothered in cheese and bacon right before bed…delicious

courtyard outside our hotel

though.

how could we pass this up??

August 13 - Edinburgh, UK

in a glasshouse

17 degrees, a bit windy, partly cloudy, no rain in sight – until tomorrow that is

Our first task of the day was to hit the half price booth for some tickets for tonight. We’re not married to any shows here, so when there’s one that looks half

decent we go with that. Tickets for tonight’s show were $10. Maybe we’re here earlier than

yesterday, or maybe it’s because it’s Sunday, but things aren’t nearly as busy as yesterday – not much of a line up at all.

Next we were off to the hop on, hop off bus, just around the corner. This took us around and out of Edinburgh. Taking hop on, hop off buses is always a nice chance as it exposes us to parts of the city we wouldn’t necessarily see walking, although this one we probably could walk. There’s also a commentary along the way.

We got off at the Royal Botanical Gardens and spent some time there. As with some other UK museums/attractions there was no admission, we did pay to see the Glass houses (green houses) which I guess were considered a special exhibit. The glass houses were super interesting. These contained different areas from around the world.

Lunch was at a pub, then a nap, then back out for the rest of the evening.

The first show was “Douze” – the one we got tickets for this morning. It was ‘interesting’ – quite interactive, and that’s not exactly ‘up our street’! It was a good change I guess, but hmmm, would I do it again? Don’t think so. Here's how interactive it was...the main guy TOOK A DRINK OF MY WINE!!!!! Seriously, man...hands off my wine.

After that show we checked the Fringe app and found a show starting soon, close-ish to us, so we were off. This show was in a tiny – I mean tiny, hot, stuffy, kind of stinky room…cool! Initially there were only 4 of us to see the show, in the end there were 8. This was a story telling show...2 people talking and telling jokes in various characters. This was pretty interactive also, as there were only a few of us and everyone introduced themselves at the beginning. We were the odd ones out as we weren’t from the UK. Throughout the hour long show the performers were referring to us by name – actually not weird. This was a pay-what-you-will show.

I’ve been dying to get back to the Cow Shed for some more music, so that’s what we did.

This band was more of a ‘night time band’ – by now it was about 11. We had a beer and moved on to our final show of the evening.

The last show tonight for us was a stand-up comedian. Tickets were supposed to be 5 pounds each, but by the time we got there they had moved it to a pay-what-you-will – we paid 5 total in the end. This place was the dumpiest we’ve been in I’d say. Drink prices reflected the dumpiness…6.65 for 2 (including a Strongbow, which typically

memorial to those who died in the Boer War

seems to be on the pricy side) we have paid upwards of 10 for 2 not including Strongbow – I’ll take the lack of poshness for the cheap beer – seems like it might be a student bar. Speaking of Strongbow…I’d rather drink a local cider, but that’s not always available. Sometimes it is and then I do, but not always.

'What the hell were those last 2 shows?"

August 12 - Edinburgh, UK

show #1

16 degrees, fair amount of wind, plenty off rain in the morning, before we went out then lots later in the afternoon as we were heading home – enough to put a hat on for

A similar day to the last ones…however, we found a couple of shows on for half price, sour first stop was the half price booth up the hill and down the hill. Success on our first picks, so we were set – 4 tickets for 2 shows = 18 pounds…not bad.

Our pre-show pint was at a tiny, hole in the wall place which was perfect for before this p

tiny pub

articular show about independent locals being closed and taken over. To describe this place would be to compare it to the Scottish pubs we went to on a previous trip to Scotland in small places. These pubs are pretty dingy, small, have not much to them, seem very old school, 4 or 5 things on tap (cider thankfully, and probably of course) and a couple of

obvious locals. It was probably no bigger than my living room with about 20 seats and served no food.

“The Local” was very good. For a small venue (50 seats) there were 10 performers – 3

musicians and 7 actors. It was a musical and was touching.

We had decided to do a show before lunch, because sometimes lunch before can rushed. However…we didn’t foresee (although in retrospect aren’t surprised) that the Saturday during the Festival would be CRAZY PACKED…seriously packed…like Trevi Fountain packed. Everyone and everywhere is still very civilized, there is just NO WHERE to eat. We wandered and we wandered and finally sat outside for some Italian – good choice..the food, not necessarily t

he outside bit. Folks everywhere seem to eat outside no matter what. People here are eating in parkas (not necessary in my opinion) – the same but different from Rome where people (myself included) were in a complete and entire lather – and all of this to eat outside.

Just as we started to head back the rain came – quite a lot of rain this time.

In the evening we were off to “Elsa”, a one-woman, story-telling, guitar-playing, singing show. This was also a good pick…it was about an hour in a small room fit for about 70

people.

Once “Elsa” was done we thought we could hit another show if we moved fast…the Fringe app has a function to pick a show close and basically right now. Else ended about 1030 and we got to “Bindiana Jones and the Temple of Huge” for 10:45. Good thing I am with a directional wizard as we had no time to screw around getting lost – I’m not terrible with directions, but I’m not gifted, like someone I know. The theatre was close, but I wouldn’t have found it in time…of course we had to go up stairs and then down stairs again…sheesh!

“Bendiana Jones and the Temple of Huge” was in the hottest theatre on earth – and that is saying something for Edinburgh…I know people keep say that the theatres will be hot, but until this one, I haven’t found that. It was a 2 man show, some scripted, some improvised some musical…funny.

One the way home we got take out donair and ate it in bed – nice. Not a bad way to end the day...I guess my bowels will tell me in the morning (or in the middle of the night!)

August 11 - Edinburgh, UK

from the museum's second level watching...

19 degrees, some wind, a bit of rain – rain is misty…nothing to even bother with a hat over

We’re getting into a rhythm here…up late, afternoon show, lunch, back for a rest, out for the evening.

Today was the first day since we arrived in Edinburgh that it rained. Considering that everyday there is a forecast for rain and we only got some today, I think we’re doing pretty well. Even when it did rain, it was a misty rain.

Our afternoon show today was called “Alternotive A

science exhibit

Cappella”, as the title describes it was an a cappella group. Although it was somewhat entertaining, it was probably our least favourite of the shows we’ve seen. It was just OK, a bit disappointing. No big deal, like many of the shows it was less than an hour (50 minutes, so not much lost.)

Lunch was pizza and a salad at a regular restaurant, as opposed to a pub. It was nice to have a waiter and have our order taken and the table. Just a chance from the pub style of ordering at the bar. That’s great for a quick bite, but we had loads of time.

It was time to replenish our snacks, so we bought a few red peppers, a couple of bananas and found some ‘roast ham’ chips. Not exactly wacky, but I haven’t ever seen them before. I think after the oyster-omelet chips we found in Taiwan

no oyster-omelet chips

nothing will compare!

In the evening we went to “Museum After Hours: Friday Fringe Takeover”. This was a Fringe event at the National Museum of Scotland. It was just OK…we saw 4 sample shows – 2 were great, one so much that we might see the full version, and 2 that we will definitely NOT see. We also looked at much of the museum’s collections – a wide variety, of subjects much about Scotland -  science, natural history, human history, geology etc. This is a huge place, which the photo kind of shows.

August 10 - Edinburgh, UK

band watching

18 degrees, partly sunny – weather continues to be great, evening (11 degrees) was colder than the previous evenings

Today was very similar to the yesterday, in that we got to bed late the night before, so got a late start…left the room around 11, found tickets to a show, got some lunch and a pint, saw the show, back to the room for a nap and out for the evening.

One thing that was different was that as

soon as we left our hotel we heard music. We knew there was a band someplace and 10 steps later we saw what seemed like a high school band playing in a small ‘shed’, like a small open warehouse area of course with the requisite bar. There wasn’t really seating, a couple of rocking chairs, a few hay bales and that was it. And speaking of the bar I’m certain we haven’t been to any venue, small or large that hasn’t had a bar. And another thing about booze…everyone here drinks. OK, I’m sure not everyone does, but it seems like everyone does. It is about 11:30ish when we are seeing this band and everyone has a drink. Even the 2 older women have pints. After finding out that there was a bit of time left in the show, we got a drink and settled in to watch the end of the show. This group was really quite good, sadly it only lasted about 20 minutes.  Obviously they weren’t the best band in the world, but for a random encounter at 11:30 on a Wednesday morning they were awesome.

Next we were off to find the theatre for the afternoon’s show, get tickets and basically be sure we know where to go. Today’s afternoon show was a musical called “Title of Show” – about 2 writers trying to get their musical to Broadway. It was 10 pounds, 90 minutes and was pretty good. The venue held about 85 people.

There is a half price ticket booth here for some shows that I guess haven’t sold enough tickets and to encourage attendance. We know there was a show we wanted to see going for half so we head there to get tickets. Edinburgh is one hilly town, we went up an

incredibly steep hill and then back down again – a Scottish joke? Got the tickets no problem. There was a couple of hours before the show so we though we’d find the next theatre and get something to eat. Off we went…a different route, but guess what?? up a hill and down again. The problem was that once we got to the area where the show was, there weren’t many places to eat that we were interested in. This area was where the university was so that was interesting to see and it was also quite residential. There wasn’t the usual pub. There was a mosque, halal meat shops and the occasional coffee shop…hmmmmm, where to eat. We wandered and wandered. We weren’t starving, but didn’t really have much to do and the show wasn’t for over an hour. We finally found a pub, had a pint a small bite to eat and were satisfied before the show.

Had we wanted to we could have eaten at the massive beer garden type places around where our show was. This whole Fringe Festival situation is very, very difficult to describe. It’s sometimes not unlike places I’ve been before but on a much bigger scale. For example, the beer garden I mention is kind of a labyrinth of a ton of walk up areas for drinks of any kind, food truck kind of places serving any kind. These food/drink areas are around the building housing at least 15 different venues – it’s wild. And this is just one of a ton of spots with multiple venues – I can’t explain!

“The Toxic Avenger” was our evening entertainment – a musical. The story wasn’t super engaging, but the singing/preforming was fantastic. It also wasn’t full (half price tickets) so we weren’t sitting on each others’ laps. This was the biggest theatre we’ve been in so far, probably 500 or more.

August 9 - Edinburgh, UK

pedestrian area

19 degrees, partly sunny

The weather was great for touring around the town today – I’m pretty sure I haven’t broken a sweat once since we’ve been here. As the Edinburgh festival is on, we set out to find the theatre of a show we intend to see after lunch. Then we wandered around a pedestrian area where some of the shows put on sample shows enticing audiences  – the place was packed, but civilized.

Lunch was typical pub style…first pub pints, fish and chips. It’s nice to be

Chris at the bar

back in a land where we know how things work. I particularly like ordering and paying up front, so that when we are done we can just leave without having to flag someone down for the bill.

The show we settled on seeing out of what seems to be an endless number of shows is a free one – a musical version of The Time Machine. It was pretty good and really good for a free show. The theatre is in a small room with a tiny, temporary stage, bar in the back corner and about 50

Chris in line for The Time Machine

people on set up chairs – neat.

back side of the Scott Monument

Before we headed back to the hotel for a siesta, we stocked up on snacks. I was pretty sure I’d find haggis chips and sure enough…I did. Haven’t tried them yet. We did try the digestive balls...delicious...polished them off in one go - 2 of us that is.

In the evening we went to a show ‘The Rat Pack’…don’t

The Rat Pack

think that needs much explanation. Plenty of the shows are an hour or under – this one was 50 minutes. This is good…firstly, if it’s crap…not much time invested, also it let’s you see multiple shows without committing too much time to just one.

After the show we wandered around a bit – the is a ton of action all over the place, all of the monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. Apparently, it is the biggest monument to a writer in the world – it is huge, and gorgeous.

front of the Scott Monument

time. There was an outdoor space with pubs, musicians and food that we checked out for a while in the Princes Street Gardens. While we were there we also checked out the Scott Monument, this is a

Then we went to Craig Ferguson – again. We liked it a lot last night, so we thought…why not? Last night wasn’t sold out, but tonight was. We didn’t have a ticket, but just as we arrived at the theatre, they released some hold tickets.

One thing I’ve noticed about Edinburgh is that it is very

civilized. There are line ups everywhere, because the place is so busy, but no one cuts in and in fact at the shows there are staff directing you about where to stand and if there are 2 parts to the line, because it is so long, there is a staff person at the end of the second line making sure the first part enters first…love this!

One thing I’ve noticed about Edinburgh is that it is very civilized. There are line ups everywhere,

because the place is so busy, but no one cuts in and in fact at the shows there are staff directing you about where to stand and if there are 2 parts to the line, because it is so long, there is a staff person at the end of the second line making sure the first part enters first…love this! I think it might be a lack of heat…no one is angry because they are so hot! Thera are also lots of kids around…many of the shows are for kids or are kid friendly. In order to get into our hotel we have to walk through the Three Sisters Pub. This Pub is GIANT. There is an indoor and out door part to it. The outdoor part is not a

garden like many pubs have, but like a tented outdoor space with food stalls, a dance floor, tiny areas for festival shows, walk-up bars – very interesting. When we got home the last 2 nights it has been very busy, in the middle of the day it is very busy – cool hopping place.

August 8 - Rome, Italy TO Edinburgh, UK

I assume it is hot again, but really didn’t spend any time outside as today is TRAVEL DAY – we are off to Edinburgh, Scotland. As it turned out when we got to Edinburgh around 8:00 it was clear and about 15 and when coming home around 1:00 it was probably 10.

must have been tasty

Breakfast at the hotel, followed by packing and a trip to the airport started the day, things were going smoothly until we tried getting our VAT (tax paid by non-Europeans) back at the airport. When we bought the item we tried getting the tax back on the sales person gave us a few instructions as to how to go about it. Then we read about the procedure on line and thought we knew what we had to do…ha…NO we did NOT. The instructions and EVERYTHING we read did not indicate anything about needing a boarding pass. It makes complete sense that we did in fact need a boarding pass as whenever buying anything duty free you need a boarding pass - HOWEVER…I am a complete rookie when it comes to getting the VAT

back, so I didn’t think of it and NOWHERE did it say online and in the instructions before then line up at the VAT place. So we tried me keeping my place, Chris get the boarding passes – that didn’t work…then we went to get boarding passes and were told we were too early (no earlier than 3 hrs is adhered to in Italy apparently)…grrrrr, in the end we were able to get the boarding passes, but had to keep our luggage to drop off later. OK…back to the VAT line and were told because this wasn’t our last point in the EU before going home we couldn’t do it until we were on our way to Canada. To say the least a few no-so-nice words were uttered…of course after we left the VAT office!

Once that ordeal was over we dropped our bags and got through security super fast and were sitting down to our last meal in Italy. We have discovered there are pizzas in Rome and there are pizzas – we discovered this the hard way. Unless the place says wood fired oven DON’T GET PIZZA THERE. Otherwise it’s comes on what seems like a pre-made crust and the toppings aren’t great either. I’ve eaten my fair share of thin-crust, European, have to eat the entire thing with a fork and knife, in and out of Italy…I guess jut not in Rome. Once we learned how to spot the kind we wanted with the wood oven we were set…didn’t think it could be that complicated. Anyway, apparently we had to come to the airport to get a decent pizza – it was better than decent – it was awesome.

really is Craig Ferguson

We were flying to Edinburgh on a Spanish airline, so there were some very interesting food choices on the plane – all at a cost, in fact even water and coffee were at a cost. I wasn’t hungry after that delicious pizza, but when I’m offered gazpacho on a plane I’m getting it.

The main reason we were in Edinburgh is to take in the Edinburgh Festival. Once we were checked into the hotel we thought we’d try catching a show. We know before coming here that Craig Ferguson would be here broadcasting his radio show each night and we planned to see it. We were able to get there just before it started. It was pretty great. We figure we might see it every night it’s on here – he has different guests each night, so presumably it’ll be different.  By the time the show was out it was about 1 in the morning, and we hadn’t eaten dinner. We got some street food of dumplings and mac and cheese and ate it in the room before passing out!

August 7 - Rome, Italy

random beer, on a random street

As our time here in Rome comes to an end so does this heat wave…it was still a corker today, I saw at one point a temperature display that read 35 – crazy when that is cooling! The heat was most noticeable when we were anywhere indoors without AC – churches and the occasional shop. We think we are retreating from the heat in there, but those place seem to have a higher humidity and we quickly become drenched…even Chris starts to glow, and that is no small feat.

We got another late start today, but we’re fine with that. There are still few things that are on our “would be nice to see if it wasn’t so freakin’ hot’ list, but since it is still so freakin’ hot, we passed…got to save something for the next time we are here…right? So we just wandered…there is always something to see and it’s fun finding what that is without a plan. There seem to be enormous, beautiful churches every 5 minutes and interesting fountains to look at so off we went.

Soon enough we were drawn in by the appeal of a tiny table spilling out of a tiny bar, on a tiny street so we sat in their tiny chairs – beers weren’t so tiny. Normally I

apparently one of the world's largest frescos

don’t drink beer firstly, because I’m not a bit fan, but secondly I never know where my next pit stop will be…these freaking’ hot days seem to call for beer.

 

Somewhere on our travels we spotted my mom’s street – Via Del Leone.

A bit more wandering and a couple more churches we found a place that looked good for lunch and so we sat…a couple of pastas and some wine later and we were satisfied.

More shade hunting, wandering, churches, fountains before one last pint shopping for room snacks and that was the afternoon!

'normal, typical' building

details like these are EVERYWHERE

One interesting thing we saw last night was a floating opera singer. This was a guy (might have been a few people) on a boat slowly floating down the Tiber (or Tevere in Italian) singing and broadcasting super loudly opera…super interesting and seems to me

…very Italian.

floating opera