Fringe Fun

It's a bit of a family tradition that we go to the Edinburgh Fringe. We used to go every year without fail, but in more recent times we haven't managed it. So when we found a weekend that the four of us were free, we hopped to it and got ourselves up to Bonnie Scotland.

Bagpiping 'ell.

I love Edinburgh. It is without a doubt my favourite city in the entire world. The city is beautiful, the landscape is beautiful and you can get an IrnBru anywhere at any time of day. 

Scott Monument or Maleficent's castle???

We only had a few days, so crammed as much as we could into that time. My personal favourite was seeing the legendary Romesh Ranganathan (Mock the Week), who was utterly hilarious.

Romesh Ranganathan

Pleasance Courtyard, one of the venues

There are a few things that are brilliant about going to the Fringe Festival:

1) You don't actually have to book anything - every day there are loads of shows that are absolutely free, both events in venues but also street performers on the Royal Mile that will keep you entertained for hours.

2) It is so multi-cultural. People come from all over the world for a laugh, effectively. 

3) It's acceptable to drink IrnBru with every meal.

4) You will see many celebrities. This year my sightings included Jeremy Paxman, and Jean-Paul from Hollyoaks (OMG!)

Some people go to extreme measures to get you to their shows...

And you do see some pretty weird things...

If you've never been to the Fringe, you haven't lived. Bold statement, I know, but it's honestly the most incredible atmosphere ever.

I think the best part of Edinburgh is Victoria Street. It has the best shops, including many crazy vintage shops, a fab joke shop and this really cute gift shop called the Red Door Gallery.

Victoria Street

The Red Door Gallery

A few minutes walk away from Victoria Street is a cafe called The Elephant House. This was the cafe that J. K. Rowling first started writing Harry Potter, and as a massive Harry Potter fan, it was sort of like finding the Holy Grail. When you go inside it's just a normal cafe, nothing special about it, but the real magic (get it?) is in the bathroom, surprisingly. Over the years, hundreds of fans have graffiti-ed the walls of the bathrooms with quotes and pictures - it's crazy!

Basically, get yourself to Edinburgh. 

DO:

• try haggis. It's delicious if you don't think too much about what it is.

DON'T:

• forget your umbrella. It is Scotland after all.

- Beth