Checking in from the Fringe

On Tuesday night while in Edinburgh, I had to experience the "Fringe" life of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and so found myself a free show to go to. LUkcily there was one right down the street from my hostel so I headed over to Ryan's Cellar Bar to find an empty room. Well, there was a screen with some chairs set up. But there was a show eventually happening. I sat down one of the chairs as two guys kind of messed around with the computer connected to the screen and then I eventually went upstairs to get a drink of water, feeling awkward all alone downstairs. I passed one of the guys at the top of the stairs talking to two other people and he started when I went back downstairs.

"Weren't you just downstairs? Did you sneak past me?"

"Yeah, I just popped up to get some water."

"YOu were so stealthy! I didn't even see you! I thought you had a twin or something!"

"No, I'm just really good." I grinned. "I army crawled right past you."

"Good on you! You're sneaky!"

This guy turned out to be Aiden Goatley, our host of the night. His show was called "Ten Films With My Dad" and went through ten movies that he and his father had watched together that brought them close, seeing as they never talked to each other. He was hysterical, talking with the audience, showing home-made clips of the various movies (since it costs way too much to get past the copyright infringement) and I learned a lot. Among the things I learned:

1. Indiana Jones in the Sound of Music=Best.Movie.Ever.

2. Wearing red wellies will keep you safe from JAWS.

3. If oyu don't want to sit through Avatar, put some blue paper over your eyes and watch Dances with Wolves- it's the same thing.

4. It's OK for men to cry at the death of a loved one, the birth of a child and a sports movie like Victory.

5. Die Hard is just a gay love story.

I thanked Aiden after the show and he asked me where I was from. I told him American and he was relieved.

"I was worried when I said the Canada thing [it's a country where Celine Dion is a cultural icon so really adopting a child from there is just rescuing her] you'd be offended."

I'm sure there is a lot more to experience at the Fringe Festival but the little taste that I got did not disappoint.

Earlier that day, I had also walked by the main thoroughfare and checked out the local street groups. This included an English bluegrass band that I just fell in love with (they were clearly so passionate about their music) and some interesting girls dressed up in crazy costumes and hula hooping. Go figure.

Also, Edinburgh does have some AWESOME views. It was nice to see it in the sun, seeing as last time, it was sooooo cold and gloomy! From top to bottom: Edinburgh Castle, two pictures of the Royal Mile Buildings, a short of the park under Princes Street and finally the Sir Walter Scott Memorial.