Fun at the Festival

We scooted on up to Edinburgh for the Bank Holiday weekend. Well, we didn't scoot. We actually flew. Scooting is such hard work for long distances, and especially hard when you have luggage as there really isn't any storage space on a scooter! Although, I think ground-based transportation would have been easier as the flight wasn't without incident...well, not so much the flight itself, more the fact that Stephen managed to mislay his drivers license on the plane after he showed it to board the flight. He didn't realise it was missing until the next day. A phone call to the airline failed to locate it, but at least they confirmed that his other ID would be enough to get him on the flight home.

We had a brilliant time! After a quick catch-up with my family we headed up to the city centre for a pre-dinner cocktail in Gusto where I was made to feel exceedingly short by the gigantic willowy blondes gathered at the bar. When did women get so tall? I barely reached their elbows! It didn't help that I was wearing flats (soooo practical) and they were in towering platform heels (soooo not), but even so....! I was very relieved when I got a bar stool and got to feel more like normal height.

Dinner was fabulous. We got the corner table by the fireplace (as I'd been told to ask for last time we were in) and had a very delicious meal of smoked salmon starter and fillet steak which was to die for. We were seeing a show at 10:30 so after dinner we hit a nearby bar...where once again there were herds of women wandering about like giraffes across the Serengeti. Stephen got a bit macho at one point...yes...you read that right! He got all macho and protective, tapped some bloke on the shoulder, gestured at me and said "Watch your elbows!". I was quite taken aback! I had had to move sharply to avoid getting said elbow in my face, but when you're my height that's not an uncommon experience! I have good peripheral vision and quick reflexes...

Friday nights show was Camille O'Sullivan and what a show it was! She was brilliant! The band was brilliant! The illuminated rabbit was brilliant! The meowing was brilliant...odd..but brilliant! Of the shows I had booked, this one was the one that was a bit of a punt so I was delighted that I'd picked such a winner. We were entranced from the opening song. We had a bit of a celebrity spot on the way in too. As we were standing in line to go into the Assembly Rooms we were directly behind the actor who plays the barman in Still Game. (That will mean nothing to anyone outside Scotland!)

We did some mooching on Saturday morning, then met up with my sister who'd just packed off her summer school students. After hauling her pregnant butt up the hill to the Royal Mile we decided it was far too busy to move, so headed up to the Pleasance Courtyard for a further mooching opportunity and a chance to see the smallest venue on the fringe...a camper van! Making note to tell Audrey & John about possibilities of renting out the Motor Mansion as a luxurious Fringe venue for next year!

Dinner on Saturday en famile was in Pizza Express overlooking the Water of Leith, right on Stockbridge. We got the table in the little glass sticky-out bit so we had a wonderful view and it was like being in our own little restaurant. We couldn't see the Antony "Angel of the North" Gormley statue - a figure standing in the water - but we did see "Stockie" earlier, dressed in a very fetching patterned mini dress. It seems the good people of Stockbridge have been giving him regular makeovers!!

We went to see Jennifer Coolidge aka "Stifflers Mom" on Saturday night. She was very funny, telling very self-deprecating anecdotes about her Hollywood life and talking about her current ambition to "Get the F**k out of the USA". Sadly, her attempts to find a single man in the audience to help with that plan fell short...every man she singled out was gay...

Eve and Chad headed home after the show and we went for a drink in one of the trendy Stockbridge bars with Mum. Its very good that we have family who now live in one of the trendier areas of the city, with so many cool shops and bars to frequent! They also have an excellent chippy which we also made use of that night. I've previously explained my love of chips with saltnsauce - you can take the girl out of Edinburgh, but you can't take Edinburgh out of the girl ! - there is nothing finer after a skinful of wine!

Stephen: Two bags of chips please.
Franco's son: Saltnsauce?
Stephen: One salt and sauce, one salt and vinegar...
Franco's son: Ahhhh...I get it. One Glasgow. One Edinburgh....!

And there we have it. A nation divided...!!!

We had lunch with Dad and Joan on Sunday. Eve's little bundle was complaining about the fact that she was scoffing down an enormous roast dinner and there was no room in there for him!! I got to feel him give a good kick - which freaked me out a bit I have to admit! Although, I'm apparently the only person apart from Chad that he's kicked for, so we've bonded! I just hope he doesn't change his mind when he meets me in person!

I discovered Hendricks gin (Scottish, tastes of cucumber and roses - try it!) that afternoon in the Voodoo Lounge, which I think I may have frequented back in the day when it was just the upstairs bar of the Cafe Royal. I spent a goodly time trying to work out which bits may have looked familiar from 20 years ago...difficult given that I was probably in an alcoholic haze whenever I was in there!!! And in a seamless alcohol-themed segue...I had the most bogging glass of wine it has ever been my misfortune to have on Sunday night. I could try and describe the bouquet, the nose, the colour...but the best description I could hope to give would be MINGING!!! We were waiting for the doors to open for Jimmy Carr and had a quick drink in the venue bar. Very quick as it turned out. Three mouthfuls. Three screwed up faces when I swallowed. Actually four screwed up faces....Stephen wasn't happy that the wine was minging when he'd paid a fortune for it!!

Jimmy Carr was HILARIOUS! OMG, we laughed ourselves silly for nearly two hours! It was only supposed to be a 1h 15 minute show...but there were a lot of pretty drunk Scottish people there who thought they were funny, so "audience participation" took up more time than they had really allowed for!! He also had some woman thrown out for talking - she didn't take the hint the first time he'd had words with her about it so security were called. Please note: never try to outwit a comedian as sharp as he is...you're never going to get the last word!!! It was 2 hours of knicker-wetting hilarity and definitely not for the easily offended - nothing was off-limits!!!