Festival Fringe Fireworks

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world and takes place every August. There is a fireworks show to conclude the festival at the Edinburgh Castle. We attended this year with the Nickels, Kellys, and new friends, Benj and Amy.

After church, the Nickels picked us up and we planned to stop at Ikea on our way to Edinburgh. Halfway through shopping, Liana and I had to abandon our cart due to a fire in the warehouse. Garrick was second in line for meatballs. Ikea fail. Off to the city centre for dinner!

Liana suggested The Potting Shed, a restaurant serving rustic bar food. The girls ordered pretty cocktails and the boys, beer. After our meal, the Kellys arrived and we had fun catching up.

We waited on a crowded Princes Street for the show to start at 9pm. The fireworks were perfectly synced with an orchestra playing familiar pieces and ended with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Truly, this was one of my favourite nights in Scotland, and we spent it with wonderful people!

And please watch this. Absolutely amazing!

Saturday in Edinburgh

Sometimes we just need to get out. It's the best way to remember how much we love the small-town charm of St Andrews and to experience the options and beauty a city offers.

We caught the 8:40am train and enjoyed a few games of cribbage before getting off at Waverly. On a whim I asked Garrick (who hates heights) if he'd like to climb the Scott Monument. He obliged and we paid our 8 quid and began walking the 287 steps up to the top. There are several landings with little nooks to explore, including a museum halfway up. As we neared the top, our shoulders touched the side walls and we could barely fit through the door to the lookout. The views are said to be the best in Edinburgh, and we'd agree!



 

Back on the ground, we shopped at the Gap and then sat down at Starbucks (thanks, Dad!) for some tea and coffee. For lunch we ate at Oink on Grassmarket, then explored a few bookstores and met up with Will and Jackie, who we got to know last summer in Paris. They showed us Stockbridge, home to amazing charity shops, and then we stopped in at the Hanging Bat, a delicious beer café. 

They invited another couple to join us for traditional fish pie at their flat and we concluded the night with games. I actually fell asleep on their floor with a heated blanket wrapped around me. Heaven.

We caught the last train back to St Andrews, not realising that a Scotland vs. France Rugby match had just finished. Scotland lost. I got beer dumped on me. It was an experience.

We are thankful for this unique city that's so close to St Andrews, and also for fun friends to show us around. We'll go back soon!

Good Eats: Edinburgh Edition

During our month in Paris, we met Will and Jackie Kelly. They live in Edinburgh while Will works on his  PhD at New College. Will also received the grant to take the French course and we quickly hit it off. (Click here for Jackie's blog about their expat life.) Since then, we've talked about trips to see each other, and so we set a date and bought train tickets. We invited the Nickels to join us on our day trip to experience Edinburgh with a 'local' (Will is currently in Germany, so Jackie kindly showed us around).



After returning some items to the Gap and Levis and feeling refreshed to be in the big city, we made a quick stop at Anthropologie and then began our day of eating some of Edinburgh's finest fare.

Brew Lab

Coffee was first on the list. Garrick enjoyed a fruity Kenyan coffee brewed in a Chemex machine. I has a square of peanut butter chocolate shortbread, and we sat at the picnic table style seating and began our first of many good conversations over yummy food and drink.

Next, we wanted to try out a local falafel take-away called Che, but forgot that these tend to be closed on Saturdays. So, the Villager was our plan b. Hungry, I forgot to get my camera and photograph the beefy goodness and thin, crispy fries.

 

To appease to two PhD students in the group, we stopped at a few old bookshops. Garrick, Jesse and Liana all found some gems, and then the girls left early to eat cake.

 

Lovecrumbs

 

I love Lovecrumbs. A lot. They've converted a wardrobe into a cake display and menu, display lots of vintage décor, and have a good coffee and tea selection. Pictured below is Liana's peanut butter chocolate tart with a glass of milk, and my apple crumble cake.

 



 

We walked off our cakes and headed for Brew Dog, where we sank into a worn leather couch and enjoyed some hoppy beverages. I'm so thankful for good friends to share life with.

 

 

And finally, dinner time. We chose a Chipotle-like burrito place, fit even more in our bellies (how is that possible?!), and then headed for the train. We're looking forward to having Jackie come visit in St Andrews and showing her a few of our favourite places. With that, I'll leave you with my attempt at photographing the Edinburgh Castle at night with no flash: