Julie and Marj go to the Fringe

Julie and I promised each other a day at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Today was the first day in August when we were both free. Those of you in the know, will be shaking your heads, because the Festival and Fringe have ended for 2017. Julie realised last week, but we decided we could still have a grand day out - which we did.

I particularly wanted to see the Edinburgh Salon - a major photographic exhibition at the Edinburgh Photographic Society. We had a coffee en route and found the place fairly easily. That exhibition ended on 27th too...

We did see some beautiful basements gardens and seating areas in the adjacent houses in Great King Street. As I photographed one, the owner came out by chance, but delighted that we liked her garden. A few doors down (see extra) was the house where Feliks Janiewicz lived. He was a Polish violinist in exile and he founded the first Edinburgh Festival. As I photographed the front door, people opened it and were very surprised!

We moved on to the Museum of Scotland - both open and free. There are good views of the city from the roof terrace. Then we made our way by a circuitous route to the Egyptian tomb exhibition. (We thought the internal signage was poor in a museum that occupies 2 buildings.) The tomb exhibition was excellent.

A late lunch followed on the balcony. The food was very good.

On then to the Dovecote Gallery to see the weaving. You go up to a gallery and you can look down on the master weavers at work. There was a lot of information about previous commissions and also an exhibition called Daughters of Penelope. It was all fascinating. See extra for a work in progress and note the many different shades being used.

By now we were tired. We had tea in the café, wandered around the Lawnmarket, stopped for a drink in a pub, before going to The Dome for a meal. The food was very good and the  setting was splendid. Our very friendly waiter was from Slovakia and delighted to know we had been there as part of our Polish holiday.

I can't omit what happened when we arrived back at Newcastle station. I was going to drive Julie to her house. She could not find her house keys in her (very) capacious bag. Friends will know that Julie has all sorts in there. She had to empty it completely and the keys were still missing. Finally she tipped the bag upside down and a large bunch of keys clattered out. This was a moment of relief and hilarity.

It's been a grand day out.

We checked the prices for a twin room in a hostel for next year's fringe. Only £145 per night..........