If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have had no way of avoiding my Edinburgh updates and story posts a couple of weeks back, I went up for a long weekend at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival.
I'd not been since 2013, so this time I wanted to make a longer weekend of it and see as many shows as I possibly could.
I AirBnB'd again (does anyone use hotels since these things existed? I love AirBnb!) and stayed in a small flat down by the Scottish Parliament.
This was perfect as it was a big walk up a hill every morning, but a big walk down hill after a long day!
Here's the shows I went to:
Bethany Black - (Extra)Ordinary
Abandoman - Life + Rhymes
Mitch Benn - Don't Fear the Reaper
Dolly Wants to Die
Robert Newman: The Brain Show
Brandon Burns and Colt Cabana do Comedy Commentary to Bad Wresting Matches!
The nice thing about Fringe is that you can do a really wide variety of shows, which I did. Bethany does funny, self-deprecating stand up about her life and all the twists she's experienced along the way, Abandoman do improvised rap, with a celtic twist (there was a hip-hop ceilidh, I'm not even joking), Mitch, who I first heard on Radio 4, writes brilliant parody-feel songs about life (and in this case, death) interspersed with stand-up, Dolly allowed the brilliant Helen Monks to tell audiences how stupid somethings in life really are (mashed up with some satire and feminism), Robert did a lovely, heart-warming show about brain science and emotions and Brandon and Colt did exactly what their show title said they would - and I laughed so hard that my face hurt. That deserved a selfie with Colt:
Everyone loves a muppet face selfie! |
Aside from all these brilliant shows, there was tons of other things to indulge in. I went to some amazing places for food and drink, like the super stylish The City Cafe, whose breakfast is enormous and comes with bottomless coffee for £8.50.
I found a Tanqueray Secret Gin Garden, where I tried Jinzu for the first time, with apple and elderflower:
My friend & I spent a lot of time just hanging out it George's Square between shows as it was pretty central and was home to a few venues and bars. A pint of Coast to Coast was only £4.50 and each one was filled to the brim!
There was an impressionist exhibition on at the National Gallery, which could not have been more up my street as I love me some Monet and Van Gogh.
But also Edinburgh is just BEAUTIFUL!
I mean, it's hilly, so you need at least 2 pairs of comfy shoes to rotate. The venues can be far apart, so leave an hour between your shows (not 20 minutes, like I had between Mitch and Helen's shows ...) and you will see 4 seasons in one day when it comes to weather, so bring layers and a brolly.
All hillwalking. Thanks for the cardio, Edinburgh. |
Despite extending my stay longer than last time, I'm going to have to extend my trip longer next time, as there was easily another day of shows I could have done.
Edinburgh, I'll be back next year. For longer, with more shoes.
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