I am just now recovering from only 48 hours at the Edinburgh Fringe – but it was a real pleasure to have been there. The crowds were phenomenal – and the atmosphere very buzzy! The purpose in visiting was to see daughter Sarah in the interesting and complex The Carroll Myth at the Sweet in the Grassmarket. The venue is basically a meeting room in the Apex City Hotel which has been converted into a raked seating area with a tiny performance area. Whilst thoroughly enjoying the play – I was amazed that such a large cast (about eight) could manage in such a tight performance space and yet still give the impression of a Victorian drawing room with lots of space! The reviews are good – catch it if you are in the area!
Whilst there we also had a chance to stroll the hills of Edinburgh (oh- my aching muscles!) marvelling at the buildings, as well as catch a couple of other shows – The Sorries, lovely Scottish folk music, and the Oxford Gargoyles – jazz acappella – well staged and fun show. We ate at the Apex City Hotel one night – excellent food, and also I had the joy of a pizza place (Mamma’s) serving gluten free pizza – a real treat! The train there and back was packed – good job we had booked ahead! And we stayed at an interesting hotel in Bonnyrigg – the Retreat Castle. This was a real Adams’ family Gothic building but with a lovely warm welcome – and the food portions were incredibly generous! If you like your hotels a little different do try this.
Meanwhile in the real world there has been a tragedy with a Red Arrows plane crashing after a performance in Bournemouth (they were superb when we saw them at Silverstone), backlash against differing sentencing of rioters from the disturbances last week and other horrors in Libya and Afghanistan, as well as shootings in Newport in Wales – of all places. It’s good to get away from it all…
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