Edinburgh Festival

(one big struggle to get the visa - we were finally in Scotland)

B'fast at the accomodation was different cereals and SCONES!! (yummmm scones)
Walking around, we LOVED everything we saw and SMELT - smell of fresh porridge being cooked.
Very typical 'scottish' landscape...OH so different from what we've seen in mainland Europe.

Discovered HENDERSON's was just there - the vegetarian restaurant (didnt realize it untill we enquired at the counter) "everything here is without meat." yes!! the right place for us.

While placing the order I realized it was hard to orient myself to a place where I could be understood...I can understand people - people are speaking in ENGLISH!! I was still taxing my brain to frame my sentences, pick the words to speak in German.

The Fringe Festival had plenty on offer:
2:20 pm - The Tron 
Stand up comedian Yianni ...
Was DAMN GOOD. he mixed dialogs and music and singing...nice!
 
5:00 pm, @ GRV for some more comedy...this guy was rather imaginitive, wild and evidently gay.
I learnt, I will never sit in the first row during a comedy act again.

11:40 pm - the guy threatened to do the full monty...the audience spared us.

NEVER LAUGHED SO MUCH on a SINGLE DAY before.
We realized we were so starved of this sort of sense of humour (considering we live in Germany :-P)

Other than these specific shows, during the Fringe, there were tons of street performers all over the Royal Mile...acrobats, jugglers...singers...the entire place is alive untill late in the evening. The Scottish weather of unpredictable rain is in no way a deterrant.

Capturing some of the highlights of our days in Scotland post the Fringe Festival:

• Ghost trail took us through the torture sites and 'underground' world of Edinburgh where hundreds of people took refuge trying to escape the plague but eventually died of it..."Edinburgh was a disgusting city in the middle ages" - the tour guide. There was not enough place to bury its dead, so they just threw them over into the river. "The souls of all the dead could not rest in peace...they wander as ghosts..."
  
  They build up the story and the end of the trail well enough to scare people like me...only to have a hearty laugh later. :D
• Baked potatoes with vegetarian Haggis on Hunters Square
• Breakfast with Burns @ Hendersons: Some yummy scones, juices, fruit salar for breakfast while listening to a duo play the pipes, singing songs of Robert Burns.
• The characteristic Taxis
  In Edinburgh, it is possible that a Taxi driver refuses to take you where you want to go. Reminded me of the auto drivers in India :)
• The 'Red' public phone booths.
  In this world of mobile phones, Im surprised this still exists. Some of them smell like urinals...perhaps thats what they are being used as these days. yikes!!
• The drive in the Scottish Highlands (From Edinburgh > Fort William > Fort Augustus > Inverness and back)
• The Thistle growing on the tree less hills of the highlands made the hills look purple. Very beautiful.
• We spotted some dolphins frolicking in the bay of Inverness almost by accident.
• The hike to Crow Hill in Holyrood Park
• While using the Lothian Bus service, its extremely important to have the exact amount (of the ticket price) in coins. We handed some paper currency to the driver and he did not give us the full balance back to us. When we asked about the remaining cents, the driver shrugged his shoulders and said, "i dont have change to give you. if you want the balance, i can give you a note, you will need to go to the main office of Lothian to claim this." phew!! we gave up.
• Again, reminded me of the small change that gets gulped down by all saying, "i dont have change."
• Drivers hit the gas pedal on amber - before the traffic light turns green
• Unruly, misbehaved teenage kids get into a row, fight, argue with a 'government body' - a bus driver on being asked to behave. 

Do I see some legacy here?? :D :P
The cultural experience was very different from rest of Europe. A lot of the older generation we interacted with had been to India/ knew a lot about India. A large digital chain store is called "Curry's Digital" :D
I percieved the 'integration' of Indians and Indian culture with the society here was different from other countries, e.g. USA.

[View Photostream]

Cant wait to visit Britain.