Edinburgh Book Festival At Home

 For years Edinburgh has been a stopping off point on our holidays in Scotland - sometimes for an odd day, sometimes for longer - but recently we haven't been able to go and I've missed the buzz of street performance, plays staged in bizarre back-rooms of bars, music in the fabulous National Gallery, and most of all the book festival's take-over of Charlotte Square.

Months ago, when the coronavirus lockdown was a new thing, I was shocked to hear Edinburgh had cancelled its summer festivals. At the time August seemed so far away, and we all hoped the virus would be a thing of the distant past by then. Well, here we are in August, and despite the easing of lockdown restrictions things are far from normal, and I just don't want to think about what all those festival visitors would have done to infection rates.
All is not lost though. Like other festivals, Edinburgh International Book Festival has gone online - see here for full details of authors. You can join in online and chat to the authors and fellow audience members, or pick a more convenient time to watch  - that's what I've been doing, preparing dinner, and beans for the freezer during events!
There are quite a few advantages to these online events - they don't sell out, you aren't limited to the days you can spend in Edinburgh, or discover that your favourite author is appearing the day after you leave, and as everything is free (though donations are welcome, and I'll definitely send one) you can go to as many events as you like.  So I've taken this opportunity to catch authors I might otherwise have missed - I've seen Bernardine Evaristo talking about Girl, Woman, Other, and want to catch Alexander McCall Smith and Arundhati Roy (all of which would probably have sold out) and discovered Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, billed as Uganda's First Woman of Fiction (having listened to her reading from her novel, The First Woman, I definitely want to read more). I need to make some effort though as I think events are only on line till Monday 31st.
On the other hands there are definitely things I miss - the buzz of being actually there, the random sighting of a celebrity browsing the bookstore, meeting up with friends as we pass on the way to events, the mad dash across town to see a Fringe show, grabbing pizza from the van on the Royal Mile, and even watching the street entertainers juggling swords and chainsaws while riding a unicycle.
Hopefully next year will be back to normal.

Forty-eight hours in Edinburgh

Our mini, six day holiday started with forty-eight hours in Edinburgh - Wednesday evening to late afternoon on Friday. We thought it would be enough time to re-acquaint ourselves with the city, and maybe catch a Fringe show or two, but how much can you fit in to forty-eight hours? Well ... more if you can decide what exactly to do.









We went away with no firm plans, and certainly no idea of what we'd like to see on the Fringe, so wasted a lot of time 'just looking'. My daughter went for less time a couple of weeks ago, with definite plans and tickets bought in advance, and went to seven or eight shows, and met up with friends in the gaps. We wandered aimlessly, only saw one free music event at the Museum, and discovered afterwards that we'd stayed down the road (literally!) from a friend.







Still, we wandered the length of the Royal Mile from Holyrood to the castle

ate some marvelous food - hot smoked salmon and baked potato at a pop-up restaurant on George Street, and pasta (and sundae) at Taste of Italy.

wandered around the city at night, when it looks magical, and caught the fireworks which round of the military Tattoo each evening

Aberlady Bay

went to the seaside, near Aberlady where we were staying, and Portobello which is hardly ten minutes from the centre of twon

Portobello

certainly got to see our share of free on-street performers, even if we didn't catch a proper performance

drove round Holyrood Park and walked a short way for views out towards North Berwick Law (the conical hill in the distance, left), and over Holyrood Palace (below). It's extraordinary to find such a wild open place slam bang in the middle of a city; it's easy to believe you're in the middle of the countryside.

and eventually we got to the Museum, to hear a harp (clarsach) recital, and say hi to the Giant deer (no trip to Edinburgh's complete without seeing him)

Victoria Street

and then had a brief wander round the Old Town, with its buildings seemingly piled up on one another - this is my favourite area of Edinburgh, where the past still seems alive and with us despite the crowds on the streets

the castle from Grassmarket

I wished we'd had more time to stay and explore, but more than that I wish we'd planned before our visit. Knowing the city well, we expected to be able to take things as they came, but we lost too much time unable to decide what to do. It was good to be back though - and next time I'll be prepared.

My Top Tips for Visiting Edinburgh at Festival Time

I'm having one of those moments when social media is making me feel left out. Edinburgh Fringe festival kicks off today, Edinburgh International Book Festival next weekend, and I can't go. I'm going to be spending the month just looking through my old photos from past visits, and remembering how much fun I've had there, but for you lucky folks going, here are some tips - not the sort you'll find among the lists of  'Top Ten best shows to see at the Fringe', but an idiosyncratic list of  things I've learned over years of visiting...

Get the Fringe guide - it lists every show that's on, tells you where and when, and if there's an age rating, and it's free! You can pick it up from the Fringe shop on the Royal Mile, and the Half-price Hut by the National Galleries, you might even be able to find it at some booksellers before you go, so you can plan your time (especially handy if you're only there a few days)

Next - find the map in the guide, plan what you're going to see, where it is, and how far from the previous/next show. Edinburgh can feel deceptively small but once you've walked down the Mile and then back up to the New Town, and south to the Meadows, it all starts to add up! Also allow more time than you think you need as the crowds can slow you down.

Check the Half-price Hut for cheap tickets - it's only for shows on that day but you can get some excellent bargains

Give yourself time to just watch the street performances, from musicians to fire eaters there's something on almost all day, and personally I love hanging out at the section of the Mile where shows are handing out flyers. You can chat to the actors, find out if their show really IS your kind of thing, and again catch free street entertainment - be warned though, it's crowded.

If your party might be splitting up, watch your phone coverage. We've experienced problems in the past with trying to contact each other - it could be the old high-rise buildings but something seems to mess up signals.

Take time out to look up and see Edinburgh's fantastic architecture, or investigate some of the secret closes and wynds off the Mile - there are even peaceful gardens to relax in.

View from the National Museum

Head to Charlotte Square and the Book Festival - entry to the square itself is free, and you can either catch an event (there's something for all ages and tastes), grab something to eat and drink, or just sit in one of their deck chairs and play spot the author (and there are photos of them around so you can be sure who you've seen).

Visit the National Museum of Scotland - most of its exhibitions are free, there's often music at lunchtime during festival time, and the views from the roof are amazing!

Holyrood

There are lots of other museums to be visited, plus the Castle at one end of the Mile, and Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament Building at the other, and the National Galleries - actually you could probably spend a whole week going round them all. I particularly like the National Trust for Scotland's Gladstone's Land, a restored seventeenth century tenement on the Mile near the castle.

Portobello

If you've got any energy left, climb Arthur's Seat or go to the seaside. You might not realise but Edinburgh has it's own beach, at Portobello, easily reached by bus.


The only snag is - I now want to go even more!

Edinburgh - in threes

This year we only had a very brief visit to Edinburgh - three nights in fact - so here's a potted guide to Edinburgh in threes.

Three iconic views  -




 The castle from Princes Street Gardens

Holyrood Palace












and the old town -Victoria Street with its sky-scraper houses

Three skyline shots - from the roof of the National Museum

 looking towards Princes Street and the Scott Monument

 and back up to the Royal Mile







Three night-time shots

 Three book events - we always call in at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and this year I caught two events there - Sara Baume and Ian Stephen, both in the running for the First Book Award, and Lucy Wood and Sarah Hall  - and a book-related fringe event - a Literary Death Match 

Three new things - exploring the City of Edinburgh museum, walking from Dean Village alongside the Water of Leith, and eating haggis pizza

There's always plenty of things happening along the Royal Mile at Fringe-time, so ..

 Three acts out promoting on the Royal Mile

Three guitarists, well four actually,

 Three more acts out 'flyering' on the Mile - and I could probably have come up with thirty-three more!

 Three trips to the seaside - It's easy to forget that Edinburgh is almost on the coast but one evening we went out to the harbour at Newhaven,

 then on to the country park at Gypsy Brae to catch the sunset behind the Forth bridges





and one morning I went paddling at Portobello with a new best friend.