On the Fringe of Edinburgh

So it turns out we landed in Edinburgh during the first week of the Fringe Festival.

We got in in the evening and just needed to settle down... what was perfect for that? Indian food. Nothing like an intentional carb load to help one shut the hell up and calm down. Right across the street from our airbnb was this little Bangladeshi & Indian restaurant named Verandah. It had mixed reviews online, but not from the Schlossini's. A+. The owner doesn't know his booze, but he knows his food and this was fantastic; we all left satisfied.

That night and the next morning we decided that instead of seeing Edinburgh's sights, we'd focus on the shows at the Fringe festival and take in what we could of Edinburgh "in flight." This turned out to be a fantastic decision. Honestly I think the girls were just about exhausted from "seeing old shit." What we did see was an absolutely beautiful, intricately-woven tapestry of a city. It seems well laid out, well designed, made from largely the same material (architecture and building materials) and complex. In many places of the city you feel like there are two entire levels of the city in the same place at the same time: think Maurits Corneille Escher. Hands down, this has been the most pleasing city to walk thus far on our trip; it rivals (but doesn't quite match) Budapest for me.

We were accosted on the street by two lovely and kid-friendly young ladies advertising their show: Flossy and Boo's Curiosity Cart. We navigated over to the Bedlam Theater where they were playing and procured ticket. Tori so cutely delivered the secret password: "bearded lady" to the box office that they gave us all six tickets for free. This was a show designed for people of all ages, but they certainly connected with our girls. They even managed to get Zoe up on stage and she became comfortable in the limelight faster than I could pull out my camera.

After the show, we meandered back to City Centre and got what Gianna named as "the best burger since leaving home." The lady likes burgers, so better listen up. the joint was called "Just Burgers and Beer" and Gianna and I both got "The Marsellus Wallace" which included bacon, cheddar, peanut butter and buffalo sauce; it was fantastic. I also ordered a side of deep-fried haggis fritters. These were delicious as well, but they were so rich I could only each one, everyone else that partook shared one more leaving two whole fritters to waste. Big burger, late lunch; I skipped dinner. A quick run to the local convenience store had me back with some sundries and a bottle of wine and the whole family sat down to many's first viewing of the Matrix. Better than Braveheart, but I suppose I could have spun that as the "Martyrix."

The next day went went right back into the breach again and saw two shows. The first was a solo theatre piece called "To She or Not To She" on the seism in the theatre industry. I found it a tad slow at times, but all in all well done and definitely well acted. We then went on to see the Sonics in Toren which was a four person dance and acrobatics show. It held us all in rapture for an hour and was exactly what the kids needed; they had stars in their eyes and the raptured clapping of the starstruck. I managed to snap a photo of the wee trio with three of the four Sorens.

The night ended in a rather spiritual away. It might surprise many readers to learn that I am an ordained priest. You read that right. The religion isn't a cult as there are no less than 300,000 of us world-wide. I am a Dudeist Priest of the Church of the Latter-Day Dude. So, if anyone wants me to say "Yeah, well, that’s just, like, you’re opinion, man" at your wedding while legally marrying you -- I might be the dude for you.

Here in Edinburgh, there is Lebowski's. An enormous delicious burger and many White Russians were had: the dude, the woo, the creedence and the cab driver.

My wife took me to church for date night. Fuck yeah.