Edinburgh Festival and stuff

Wow, so long with out an update. Well got lucky this time, didn’t even have to pay for most of the trip, work has decided that I’d be more productive in Edinburgh…during the festival. Oh the fools. But seriously I was sent up beyond the Hadrian to do a job. Due to the festival there was no affordable accommodation anywhere near the city so I ended up staying in the little village of North Queensferry, which is at the northern end of the Forth road and rail bridges. It was only 15mins on the train into the city and one stop to work, but the train was only every half an hour on average.

Anyways, Edinburgh was lovely, if I had to summarize the look/feel of the city, I’d say solid. The architecture is square cut massive blockwork, there’s a massive castle in the middle of town on a solid rock mound, and the old buildings are just tall (apparently up to 15 storeys) back in the 15^th century. Because of the glaciers in the ice age, Edinburgh is a series of steep hills and valleys, and to cross these, the engineers of old had build up these massive arch bridges crossing the town, which resulted in a multi-tiered city. The second day I went for a wee stroll up Arthur’s seat which this hill/park towards one end of the city, from the top of which you can see the city all around you. It decided to lightly shower just when I had nearly gotten to the top, but I weathered it out and got a few quick snaps for you all to enjoy.

While I was there the festival was on, now for those who aren’t aware, there’s a number of festivals on during this time, the majors are the International, Fringe, Film, Book and the military tattoo. I managed to see a few shows while I was in town, mostly in the first and last weekends and a couple after work. I even managed to get a scalped ticket to see the tattoo on my last night in Edinburgh. One of the walking tours took you down into the vaults of the city which is supposed to be the most “psychically active” haunted place in the UK. I didn’t manage to see anything though, but the guide was trying his best to scare the pants off anyone who was listening. All in all a fantastic trip all curtsey of my employer Arup.