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1999 Fringe Diary : Week 1

Saturday 7th August

A dull, grey day with more than a hint of rain in the air when I left the house at 8.15 this morning: even duller and greyer when I arrived in Edinburgh at 11.05. But at least the train was on time!

I'm living in the Georgian town, an area I don't really know at all, but it's within a few minutes walk of the Assembly Rooms and only about five minutes to Princes Street. What I'm not looking forward to is having to trek up the Mound to get to the old town venues. Once or twice is OK, but every day!

Anyway, time to get along to the Press Office, get my press card and book my tickets. I just hope it doesn't rain!

(Later)
Good start! I'd decided to ease myself in gently with just three shows tomorrow, one in the morning and two in the evening. The Press Office now tell me that the two evening shows have changed their start date, so it's back to the drawing board for Sunday! Ah well.

It hasn't rained yet - just a wee bit of drizzle, but the wind's getting up and it's quite cool. A big change from the last couple of weeks when it's been roasting, so I don't feel at all guilty about sitting indoors working through the programme and then just having a quiet read.

(Later still)
The Georgian town is so different from the old town that it's hard to believe they're in the same city, let along separated by little more than the width of Princes Street. Even around the Assembly Rooms, one of the Fringe's main venues, the atmosphere is totally different: it's so much quieter and even those who are handing out fliers are more restrained. There's certainly none of the excitement and noise of High Street.

If you ever come to Edinburgh for the Fringe, it's High Street you should head for, because it's there that it's all happening. Even today, before the Fringe actually begins - that's tomorrow - and with traffic actually going along the street (it's closed to traffic from Monday), it was full of leaflet distributors, actors in costume, a magician, human statues and TV cameras.

The Georgian town is much more refined. Rose Street has its buskers - a harpist, a sxophonist and loads of guitarists - but there's no atmosphere at all.

What it does have, however, is restaurants - real ones, and lots of them. High Street has cafes and eating places which, although some are very good, do tend to rush you through your meal because of the crowds waiting to get in. In past years I've been based in the old town so I've only been in one Georgian town restaurant. Now I have a whole new world to explore! Regular readers of my Edinburgh reports will be aware of how important food is in my life!

I began this evening with the Erawan, a Thai restaurant in South St. Andrew Street, just off Princes Street. I always think that a good test of a Thai restaurant is its Massaman Curry. The Erawan passed the test: it tasted just like the ones I make! Although perhaps it was a tad too thin: a Massaman should be a little thicker than other Thai curries, I think. Still, I'll be going back.

I'm tired. It's been a long day. I'm awa' tae ma bed!

Sunday 8th August

The third show I was going to see has changed its start date too! So it's a complete change for today. It does mean that I can fit in a couple of shows I wanted to see but couldn't - a multi-media rock musical called Macbeth 2000 (I kid you not!) and a revival of Coward's Words and Music, its first production since 1932. Should be interesting!

The weather's no better: grey, windy and quite chilly. And I came prepared for heat!

Later
Edinburgh is starting to get a little livelier. High Street - in spite of the traffic - is buzzing. One thing that has attracted a lot of attention is a group of musicians - a piper and four drummers - dressed in the real kilt, not the skirt (I almost said "frock"!) which we are most familiar with. They looked like thet had just walked off the set of Braveheart and their playing was much more exciting than the piping you hear on what seems like every street corner in Edinburgh. You'll find the pipers attract one or two people looking on, but this group drew a huge crowd.

However wandering around isn't that pleasant at the moment. It's really quite cold, definitely the weather for wearing a coat or sweater. I decided to warm myself up by having a curry this evening, at the Bay of Bengal on High Street. A good meal, but a wee bit over-priced, I fancy.

American readers - particularly those who are thinking of travelling to the UK for the first time - will be interested to know that a meal which costs $20 in New York will sell for the same number of pounds over here. In other words, more than half as much again. We're being ripped off somewhere!

Today's other show was Whoredom, by the Rejects Revenge Theatre Company. I saw that during the afternoon. The Coward was an early evening show, and then on to Macbeth 2000, which finished at a quarter past midnight. I got a taxi back: it's a long walk from Southside to my digs!

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©Peter Lathan 2001