The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Bagpipes

Here we are with this title that sounds so stereotypical, but, with Fringe and the Military Tattoo taking place while we were in Edinburgh, was actually quite literal. There were bagpipes. Many. Also hills. Those too were most literal. And some serious ass-busters.

Anyway Edinburgh… my haggis, what can I say? A smallish sort of city with organic restaurants and an organic grocery store right downtown, stunning architecture and narrow closes that sweep one back in time, tea and coffee down every street.

As for the detail of our days in the city, it’s largely been done. Most of our time in Edinburgh was spent traipsing about Fringe and stuffing our faces with scones. We did stop by the Edinburgh Book Festival, which, I hate to say, was a little disappointing. Not that their schedule of authors isn’t damn impressive. It is.

It’s just, for me, a book festival is about drumming up interest in books, authors, reading in general. The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is this incredible event that sprawls across the USC campus, welcoming everyone – everyday readers, casual readers, and passersby alike – and gives them plenty to put ears and eyeballs on with its amazing array of free events on multiple stages. With the reputation of Edinburgh’s book fest, I was expecting something to beat all. Situated in a small, gated park with a single entrance and filled with lines and tents for paid customers and very little to do for those who didn’t hold tickets, it felt very much like an event meant to exclude.

Shame, really. Though, it did make me appreciate the Times fest even more.

That minor glitch hardly detracts from Edinburgh, though, which, it turns out, is not only one of my favorite cities in the world, but a city I think I could actually live in. Like, for a while. And, if you know me at all, you know that’s saying something. Nothing profound. But something.

And now, some photographic evidence that I was there.