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Published: August 11th 2017
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70th anniversary of the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh
(my friend Don N and the fringe have something in common :)) My Decision to reroute my Scotland schedule was indeed a wise one! The weather in the North was none to good and Edinburgh was a blast.
I can't count how many fantastic people I met over the last two days in Edinburgh but I'll share some of the highlights with ye !
I didn't arrive in Edinburgh until about 5:00 because I ran into some traffic between St. Andrews are here. However, I felt refreshed and was ready to explore and partake in all that Edinburgh offers knowing that I didn't have to jump back on the bike the next day.
I grabbed a bite to eat at Footlights where to my surprise my waitress (Ally) recognized my Packer jersey. One of her co-workers is a huge Packers fan (not from the US) and has a similar style jersey to the one I was wearing. The bar TV's had men's soccer and women's rugby playing at the same time. Women's Rugby was awesome as I watched Ireland and Australia battle it out. I don't remember who was playing in the Soccer match -well -- because it was soccer and who cares! 😊 (Sorry Gio and Bill P).
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Footlights first stop on the Edinburgh pub tour I then walked down to The Blue Blazer which has been a bar in good standing for over 150 years. I ordered a local brew and walked in the back area and found 23 Ukelele's all playing in unison and singing songs. I was the lone spectator so they asked me if I had a song I'd like them to play - I said how bout some Johnny Cash - they said is "Ring of Fire" ok ! It was awesome-23 Uke's playing and everybody singing "Ring of Fire".
My next stop was the Dragon Fly Pub - this turned out to be the best stop of all. I met three guys that were having a reunion of sorts but have been buddies for a long time. Rory - lives in Singapore now and is a professional photographer, Gavin- owns a restaurant in town called "Under the Stairs" and Conor is just starting a new career after taking a couple of years off to travel and get his feces coagulated after losing a close friend to a motorcycle crash. Turns out Conor is a fellow Geography major, diver, and travel nut. After a few rounds of drinks and I
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Kiudo's to Ally - she recognized my Packers Jersey think a shot or two, they invited me to join them to watch one of the Fringe Comedy acts taking place in the back of the bar. They warned me that occasionally some of the acts are really good but lots of times they aren't so hot! There were about 40 spectators and a young Japanese girl on stage with a mike when we walked in to the dimly lit back room. She did a 40 minute show and I was engaged the entire show- she was great. When I talked to her after the show she said she started doing standup 3 years ago. Her name is Yuriko Kotani (www.yurikokotani.com) I predict you will see her in the US someday. After some post show drinks, I bid the three amigo's farewell and promised Gavin I'd catch lunch or dinner at his place the next day. I figured I'd hit at least one more pub on the way back to my hotel but as my brother say's I was a feeling a little "Take me drunk I'm home!!! " so I eventually found my way back through the puzzle of streets to the Sheraton. By the way - The Sheraton
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Blue Blazer has been a pub in this spot for a minimum of 150 years. is the perfect location to be with in walking distance of just about everything but it is particularly good if you are visiting Edinburgh during August and the Fringe Festival. There address is 1 Festival square.
Edinburgh day 2
After a good nights sleep - I picked up tickets for the hop on -hop off tour Edinburgh bus. The bus made 12 stops and tour guides were very good. I love trivia and neat little tidbits of information and these tour buses are loaded with neat factoids and stories about the city. (my Dad used to call me his son "who knew everything about nothing" 😊. Here are a couple of the nuggets I learned about Edinburgh or its inhabitants. Birthplace of Thomas Edison and Joseph Lister- Mr. Edison I think you all know but Joseph Lister was a pioneer of antiseptic surgery which significantly cut down surgery mortality rates in the 19th century. The inventors of Listerine named the antiseptic mouthwash in honor of Mr. Lister's work.
When we went by Edinburgh castle they spoke about Prince Regent George who was a rather portly little fellow with a notoriously bad case of halitosis. Prince
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23 Uke's play and Sing "Ring of Fire" for me. George loved the ladies and when he was in town he would require 20 of the prettiest girls attend his arrival and he would go down the line and kiss each one of them- one young lass nearly fainted because of his bad breath! Thus sprang the Nursery Rhyme "Georgi Porgi puttin pie kissed the girls and made them Cry".
The one I found most interesting was the church door in the merchants square. It was purported that merchants caught cheating their customers would have their ear nailed to the door of the church. They could go home at the end of the day but only after they freed themselves from the door- this usually ended in tearing off part of their earlobe to get free. Thus they became forever "Ear Marked". I could go on but I realize not everyone is as big a fan of trivia as I.
After the bus tour I walked through the side streets and would come upon things like a Swiss band that first looked and sounded a lot like the Wisconsin Badgers band. I see why the festival runs 3 weeks because there is always something going on
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3rd stop Dragon Fly Pub trying the local brews in many different streets. The population of Edinburgh triples during the festival. Before heading back to the hotel I grabbed a cab and stopped for dinner at "Under the stairs" owned by Gavin (one of the three young men I met the evening before). Gavin was manning the bar and came over to say hi and we sipped a bit of his favorite Whiskey (Tennessee) . Very neat place and excellent food. After bidding Gavin ado I headed back to the hotel and started packing up for my trek to Glasgow in the morning. **** Don't forget if you click on one of the photo's it will allow you to scroll through the others not showing. There are 15 photos in this set.
Next stop Glasgow
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Dick
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Trivia
Liked the Trivia report especially prince Geo. Safe travels.