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Edinburgh International Festival in general
by pert_abacus
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival dates back to 1997 when local barbers from Dunfermline rose up in disgust that the capital city was being over-run by artisans, musicians and men who blow really large bubbles. Led by a barbershop quartet from David Gray Salons they stormed into Edinburgh ready to cut the hair of the long haired hippy types ... and bring back some degree of sanity.
However, when they arrived on the golden mile they were distracted by a couple of students balancing precariously on ladders whilst juggling and decided instead to join in the fun....
Or perhaps it didn't start like that but what the hell it's fun anyway.
With hundreds of performances ranging from the brilliant to the sublime, teh ridiculous to the staid and from the good to the bad the Edinburgh Fringe is well worth a visit.
Throughout the month of August hundreds of venues (theatres, pubs, buses, museums and even houses) host a ridiculous variety of shows. Every single day there are hundreds of shows to choose from.
This year we only went into the city a handful of times as we had the nipper with us but here's a rundown of what we saw:
First thing we saw after we'd parked the car was a couple of street performers balancing on ladders with the aid of petrified passers by, moving on we watched an African Troop perfoming traditional music from their homeland, a youth choir murdering their favourite songs from the musicals, a very funny mime artist and men dressed as crabs dancing around. All this in the first half hour.
The shows we took in were an excellent production of the Magic Porrige Pot, a truly brilliant ballet of Snow White & the 7 Dwarves and a musical version of popular childrens book Room on the Broom.
Whilst I took in a coffee / sleep break with the bairn (she slept, I drank the coffee) my wife took in a 'feminist show' which comprised of 4 women standing topless on stage talking about breasts. The audience was apparently 7 parts women, 2 parts boyfriends / husbands and 1 part Dirty Mac Brigade who bought the tickets purely cos there was the promise of seeing some birds withtheir waps out. My wife reports that the show was very good & quite moving.
With the bairn awake once again we took in more street theatre before heading back to the car to battle through the busy streets, made all the more confusing due to the ongoing tram works and diversions.
It's worth noting that if my daughter wasn't disabled & therefore we have a disabled parking badge I don't think we would have tried driving into, and parking in the centre of Edinburgh during the festival. If you're going up next year I'd recommend using the excellent bus service or else you'll find yourself having to miss shows because of having to keep moving your car every few hours and sitting in traffic.
Anyway on with the festival, on our other trips in we mainly watched the free shows on the golden mile, chatted to the millions of folk handing out flyers and trying to get the punters in, and took in a few of Edinburghs gems that aren't part of the festival. The toy museum is free (bar a donation) and is excellent, the castle is always worth a visit and going underground into the old city is brilliant unless you're claustrophobic.
This year there was a brilliant play bus for the kids and we also took our little girl to a monkey music session - this was nothing taht she couldn't have done at home but it's a bit unfair on a toddler to keep dragging her around the city.
Anyway, this was just a very brief sample of what we did at the festival, my friend Monkey Peter will be posting his more in depth (& depths plumbing) review in a day or 2.
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Glasgow Imax Cinema
by gargrave50
The Imax Cinema is situated near to the Glasgow Science Centre and can be accessed from the Science Centre itself. It offers a number of films in 3D cinema with the best surround sound I have ever heard. The Imax generally shows around 5 or 6 films at a time, usually at least 2 in 3D. The Imax boasts itself as the ultimate movie ... experience. The large screen which is the size of a 5 a side football pitch apparently, gives crystal clear images easily better than any I have seen in any cinema. The sound is unlike other cinemas - and is called wraparound, which couldn't be more true. You truly feel like the sound comes from all the way around you, rather than from each side. We watched the new Harry Potter film here, and I am sure it felt 100% more eery than it would have in a "normal" cinema! Although cinemas generally have Dolby surround sound, this wraparound sound effect really makes it feel like you are in the middle of the movie!
It can be very popular and you may wish to book seats online. Even if you book online, seats are on a first come first served basis. This doesn't really matter as the picture is excellent and the sound makes it a great experience regardless of where you sit! The prices are a good bit more expensive than other cinemas with adults at £8.95 and children £6.95. You can choose to add on additional areas to visit e.g. the planetarium for an additional £2.50 on top of your cinema admission.
Tesco Clubcard vouchers can be used for Science Centre Admission, but cannot be used for admission to Imax movies - important for those Clubcard deals fans!
Overall, an excellent experience and markedly different from your bog standard cinema visit although hard on the pocket for a family. Make sure if visiting you go for a 3D movie for the full benefit of your admission price!!!
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The Ceramic Experience (Dunfermline)
by lunarc
I was lucky enough to be given some gift vouchers for The Ceramic Experience in Dunfermline for my last birthday, so I decided to invite my sister in law along with me for some ceramic fun! The Ceramic Experience is located in an industrial estate which is a short driving distance from the town centre. There were lots of available car ... parking spaces when we parked, so no problems there! On entering, we were warmly welcomed by one of the staff members, who showed us all the available ceramic bits & bobs we could choose from. There was a huge selection which were primarily unfired clay pieces, meaning that we would decorate them that day then they would be fired in the kiln by the Ceramic Experience staff and we'd be able to collect them a couple of days later. There were also some smaller items, which are suitable for decorating with different paints and taking home the same day, but these were primarily for children's parties so the kids all have something to take back with them. Anyway, after a search through the huge amount of pieces available, my sister in law and I both chose small flower pots to decorate. Another member of staff then showed us the paints that were available as well as stamps, paintbrushes, sponges etc. We were told to take as long as we wanted and just to have fun! And fun it was - my sister in law and I were able to chat happily to each other while we were being creative and it was extremely relaxing! We probably spent about an hour decorating our pots and were both really pleased with the end results. Overall, it was absolutely great fun and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful. There was a kids party in at the same time as us and they looked like they were having great fun too!
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