WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get. This is a journal blog, an explore-blog, a bit of this and that blog. Sharing where the mood takes me. Perhaps it will take you too.

MenoFest; Where The Fun Is

Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe is world-famous... well... at least to those who are into festivals of arts, music and mayhem. You'll have seen that Bertie's Gail took off for a foray in the festives, such is the allure of the Bonny Land's capital at this time of year.


Met this Leonberger on the bus - gentle giant.
As stated here last Friday, I's hooned across country to be here for a week of it. Whilst the evening concert with Equilibrium was reported yesterday, what was not mentioned was that I had a very full day on the Saturday. Set off at 9am to drop Li'l Ren in at the car doctors... (very sad story that and it will involve a considerable number greater than 87 to get her set free again...) From there, caught the bus down into the 'New Town' for the Photographic Exhibition.

Hmmmm... the definition of photography was well-stretched, IMHO; so much digital manipulation that very often one couldn't actually say there was a photograph at all. There were many fine entries, but as many again of this highly processed type and not to my taste at all. That said, it was well worth the five quid entry, because there was a full, glossy brochure to take away, which is definitely worth the having. Don't get me wrong, am open to manipulation of images and often take to it myself... but declare it as 'art' then and not as photography. Matter of personal taste - and that is how it should be. For those who are interested, this year's catalogue is not available yet, but last year's gives you a very good idea of what is represented.

From there, it was back on the bus down onto Princes Street and there it was time to give Shriek a view of this fair city. He was keen to smell the roses, though slightly shy at this, his first photo-shoot...

We wandered along towards the art gallery to take a second viewing of the RSA Open. As always, there was plenty of interest along the way...











































After the gallery, it was time for lunch. As Shriek sat on the table, a couple of young ladies and their cleverfones wanted to instigrab him; a star in the making! I got this long shot of him and couldn't help drawing comparisons with the ice-cream cone on the sign behind; losing all interest in the backdrop of festival tents, gallery architecture and castles...


The seats look empty here... but within minutes they were filled to capacity and lots of other folk were standing around us -not just for the rather tasty and cost-effective offerings of the food hut, but due to the very fine violin-playing busker; a young lady from the Orient serenading us with a large repertoire of modern hits. Beautifully played. Shriek and I donated five quid for our half an hour of joyous listening. Bless her, I hope she gathers a goodly bit for her efforts. Our lunch was the vege-burger and chips. Light and delicious and just right to see us onto the bus up to the Meadows.





































































Oh yes, you may think that it looks lush and the sun is out. Which it was, at this point. Prior to getting off the bus, there had been a cloudburst and it was dark and thundery and very very wet. But it dried up just for us getting out to walk again. However, what you can't see here is the freezing hurricane of a wind which was blowing! Not that it stopped Shriek from grinning. He's easily pleased.

We were due to meet up with Mac1 and the father for a short musical show of a friend of Mac1s - needless to say there was a miscommunication of location and we ended up for half an hour people-watching in the Meadows... and that was just fine. There was a travelling fair with all the fun behind a wire fence and then there was the 'circus' of the modern kind behind the crazy wall...















Then it was back on the bus to home for a few hours before going out to the concert in the evening. It was tiring but great fun. Day one done.

Sunday was actually an 'at home' day. Today, there are no shows as such on my list, but social stuff in the morning and hopefully will be getting Li'l Ren back home with me, refreshed, renewed, and in full order. She better be, the amount of ransom which is being demanded...

Tomorrow, some of the round and about picz from Saturday - with some of the visual manipulation with is more art than photography!!!

10 comments:

  1. Yam Aunty thank you for the wonderful photos and commentary on your festivities thus far. Shriek is for sure a star in the making. Your lunch looked absolutely delicious. Were there huge crowds at the cafes?
    Hugs and continue to have fun and share
    HiC

    ReplyDelete
  2. Packing a lot in there. And people watching at the Festival never disappoints! Somehow we managed to arrange it so we were indoors during all the downpours on Friday.
    Cheers, Gail.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a wonderful festival! And what a wonderful place for any festival! Oh we miss out on so much with all this new stuff around here!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

    ReplyDelete
  4. the mama wished to be the fab red mouse... a veggie burger and chips... ooooh the pawradise ;o) has your bonny land a lot of tasty things for non-meaters?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hari Om
      Good question... you may not have known me at the time I went on a MENOLOOPal rant about how behind this country is compared to many with regards to eating out and vegetarian diet... in the nearly four years since my return from Elsewhere, though, things have improved slightly; I do occasionally have an instinct that things are not 'pure', in regard to preparation, but one simply must allow for some adjustment when 'oot and aboot'!!! Yxx

      Delete
  5. Hello, the festival looks like a fun time. I am sure it is crowded too. Love the photos of the scenery and Shriek. Happy Monday, enjoy your day and the week ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ooh, a mouse on adventure! How nice. We will soon be traveling as well.

    Those chips look just fantastic, my stomach is rumbling right now. I think that might be my first stop when getting to the Netherlands: chips!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a cutie mousie! I love your trips. The kids really enjoyed Edinburgh, too!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Grand times you and Shriek are having! And what a lovely fellow you met on the bus. I too would appreciate the vegetarian options. Fortunately that doesn’t often pose a problem in Northern California. Best of luck ransoming Li’l Ren.

    ReplyDelete
  9. People watching can be some of the best entertainment and it is usually free. Looks like you are having a grand time. Wish we could have some of your cool breezes. We are approaching 40 days of triple digit weather but a tropical depression is bringing relief. Glad you are being able to enjoy yourself with the family. Sorry about the car : / Namaste, Janice xx

    ReplyDelete

Inquiry and debate are encouraged.
Be grown-ups, please, and play nice.
🙏