Edinburgh!

I traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland with my friend Jaclyn this past weekend for a vacation and the Fringe Festival. We were only there for a period of 36 hours, but managed to squeeze in a lot and have an awesome time (did not really sleep while there...). I think Edinburgh may possibly be my favorite city and hope to go back to the Fringe again and have more time to sight see.

The first place I visited in Edinburgh was the Castle, home to Scotland's oldest chapel (St. Margaret's Chapel, built during the 12th century). The castle is also the birth place to James I of England and home to a 2000 year old outer gate, the sword and scepter used in the coronation of Mary, Queen of Scots, and prisoner of war dungeons. The palace was £14 to enter, but definitely worth it.

The architecture in Edinburgh is beautiful: the entire downtown area is made of stone and looks completely medieval. Along the Royal Mile, which runs along High Street from the Castle to Holyrood Palace, are huge stone tenements separated by alleyways just a few feet wide called "closes". These closes run off High Street, which really is high in elevation, down cobblestone stairways to the surrounding streets. Up until the mid 1700s, High Street was enclosed by a man made lake on one side and a wall on the other three, enclosing 57,000 people in tenements along the Royal Mile. Underneath the city run tons of underground vaults. I went on a Ghost Stories tour through the vaults (cool to see, not worth the tour).

The Fringe Festival has been happening in Edinburgh for more than 50 years now, and this years festival featured more than 2500 different shows. I saw five shows while in Edinburgh, making my show count reach 24 this summer, and an Oxford Acapella Group.

I saw a production Spring Awakening Saturday at the Pleasance Courtyard Theatre (one of the bigger venues) by the Royal Scottish Academy. Saturday evening I saw Angel City, a play by Sam Shepard and directed by Trevor Nunn, which was in a super small venue that sat at most 60 people. The play was about two producers trying to create the next big thing and interesting to say the least.

Sunday was basically a female power day. First thing Sunday morning I went to I, Elizabeth, a monologue given by Queen Elizabeth during her 20s that I found painfully boring. Most of the people in the audience were much older than me and enjoyed it. One of my favorite shows of the weekend was Bunny, another monologue written by Jack Thorne, one of the writers from Skins. Fair Trade, produced by Emma Thompson, focuses on the sex trade in Europe. It wasn't a bad show, but felt like a not so great version of the Vagina Monologues to me.

Sunday morning I woke up super early to go for a hike up Arthur's Seat. If you walk down the Royal Mile toward Holyrood Palace, you reach the base of Arthur's Seat at the bottom of the hill. Supposedly the location of of the Arthur legends, Arthur's Seat provides one of the most breathtaking views of the city. The cliff is only 800 feet high, so it doesn't take too long to climb and is more than worth the trek.

A final highlight of the trip was stopping to visit The Elephant House, where J K Rowling wrote part of the first 3 Harry Potters. Here she supposedly scribbled out notes for the books on napkins!

A great city! I definitely recommend the visit!!!