Edinburgh

Edinburgh tried hard to redeem itself by keeping the rain in check behind grey skies and even put on some sunshine in the afternoon but overall it hasn’t been very kind to us.  Ross’ cold deteriorated but he put on a brave (albeit pale) face in the morning so we could venture into the city centre.  It was a half hour walk to town and to Usher Hall where we have tickets to a concert this evening.

 

Usher Hall - named for the whisky distiller who contributed a small fortune to its construction

Then it was past the imposing castle perched high on the rock.  We didn't venture up the hill, preferring instead to admire the castle from below.

Edinburgh Castle

After collecting our concert tickets we joined the throng of tourists inching slowly along the Royal Mile. 

Edinburgh Royal Mile

Edinburgh Royal Mile

Being the last day of the Edinburgh Fringe the spruikers were out in force trying to offload the last of their leaflets to afternoon shows.  They were trying all sorts of ways to get attention including fancy dress, rolling around on the pavement, even tapdancing down the Royal Mile dressed as clowns.

Edinburgh Fringe

Pop-up stages along the Mile lent colour, music and character as a series of 5 minute acts came on one after the other including a capella singing groups, and dancers in Japanese costume.  Together with the obligatory bagpipers, buskers and other fringe acts, it was chaos.   

Although fine and dry, the buildings of the Old Town still looked grim and dark.  There were many little cobblestone alleyways leading off to unexplored vistas but Ross looked miserable so we didn't linger.  After a quick detour to Grassmarket for a bowl of hot soup, it was a taxi back to our accommodation for a restful afternoon.

* * * * 

And so it was that my last evening in the UK was spent alone.  Ross didn't feel well enough to attempt an evening concert so I sampled an Edinburgh Festival treat on my own, although poor martyr did drive me into town.  Either that or it was a clever ploy to avoid having to sit through Haydn and Beethoven!

I returned to Usher Hall for a concert by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under maestro Rene Jacobs.  The Hall is a beautiful round performance space with two tiers of balconies, decorated sparingly but with two grand columns fringing the stage and supporting a decorated ceiling.  I couldn't believe that the Hall was less than half full and I had an entire row of seats to myself.  At home, a concert like this would be over subscribed.  Maybe the Scots are just festival-ed out or they're so used to high calibre performances like this that they don't even bat an eyelid.

The emptiness of the hall seemed to lend a rather echoing acoustic - not helped by Darth Vader sitting a few rows back.  Poor man was attached to oxygen and had to keep gasping for air.  Still, he chose to devote his laboured breath and perhaps last days to some of the finest music ever written so I couldn't begrudge him for that.  

The music was wonderful and it was a nice way to spend the evening - in peaceful surrounds with mellifluous sounds.  Not so my return to bed - poor Ross was coughing all night and could have given even Darth Vader a run for his money.