Edinburgh Festivals:
Edinburgh bustles as a
vibrant and historic city any time of the year, but in August it explodes. The Festival that covers the city for three
weeks is that largest art festival in the world; it also is known as "three weeks of cultural hedonism." Part of that is International with classical
opera, symphony, drama; part is the Fringe with magic, comedy, circus,
exhibits, and more; part of it is the book festival with readings, signings,
discussions; part of it is the street scene of minstrels, bagpipers, and anyone
else who wants to perform. During the Festival there are literally thousands of events taking place in
hundreds of venues--from theatres and museums to bookstores and bars to
bingo halls and back courtyards. The
population of the city nearly triples; the people watching is amazing. It’s akin to the State Fair and the Renaissance
Festival all at once. What a blast!
Edinburgh Castle is one of the venues, since the famous Military Tattoo is held there. I'm going next week so expect more on that later.
Here you see the city and castle (with stadium in front of it) from Arthur's Seat, about a mile away.
Hello from Arthur's Seat : )
Other venues might be on the sidewalk for some Chinese yo-yo
Or in the front of a bar (look through the window for the back of the guitar player)
The Fringe organizers are proud to say there is no censorship. Look closer and you will see that her sign says, "smut while U wait." The audiences appear to love the open expression and free flowing nature of the Festival.
Dalkeith House:
Exploring the house and
grounds here at Dalkeith continues to reveal more. My room is on the third floor, up in the
eaves, with the attic above me.
The view from my window is over the treetops to the three spires of
Dalkeith. Left to right: St. Nicholas of
Buccleuch (bah’ clue), St. John’s and King Park Church (two names, one church), and a former church
that is now a woodworking shop (barely poking out of a tree). The 800-acre estate where
I am living is called the “Dalkeith Country Park.” It is owned by the Buccleuch family, who have
a long and interesting history and lots of other properties. This house is leased by the program I am with,
and the grounds are open to the public for a variety of purposes. Many locals come to walk their dogs or have a
picnic. Others come for events like the
recent equestrian show or last week’s dog agility competition or the upcoming
music festival. There are open fields for such events and other fields used as
pasture for sheep and cows (known locally as “coos”). There also are many forested areas with birch,
ash, pine, and many oaks—some of them hundreds of years old.
The view from my window
The view of my window--just to the left of the lowest chimney
The view from the front door of the house, across the field are some of those old trees
An Odd Little Cultural Observation:
Yes, I am still in
Scotland. I knew I would need to watch
for cars driving on the “wrong” side of the road, but I didn’t know I’d have to
be watching for zebras, too. I had been
doing pretty well with looking right-left-right until yesterday when I nearly
stepped in front of a bus. Old habits
can be dangerous! It doesn’t help that
the cars parked on the side of the road might be facing either way or that the escalator
you want will be on the left but once on it you should stand to the right. Sheesh!
Thanks goodness I am not driving, since I
surely would go the wrong way on the round-about (seriously, I gasped when the
bus swung left to enter one). Maybe, by
the end of my time here, I’ll get it—and then be in trouble back at home.
Oh, yeah, for those of you who don’t know what
a zebra is, it refers to a crosswalk.
Those are painted with white stripes across the black pavement, thus the
zebra tag. Trust me--I'm glad there are zebras in Scotland!
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