Needless to say when we got to Edinburgh it was raining and it kept raining all day Saturday. still it didn't stop the fun. That night we went back to the Ghandi (50 Fountain Bridge) where we treated the Moff and some student pals to a curry. considering there were five of us, great value at £95 including drinks and a tip. I had chicken Podani, not overspiced and cooked with mint, lovely so it was.
Sunday and after a deep fried breakfast (I couldn't get the grill to work) we were ready for some shows. Did the Early Edition at the Udderbelly with Marcus Brigstock and Andre Vincent. Top notch entertainment much like his BBC 4 show with guest panellists including Ian Stone and Andy Zaltzman. Very, very funny,but when you have material inspired by the Mail on Sunday (Asylum seekers given bourbons and custard creams) you can't go wrong for satire.
We then saw Howard and Mimi at the Gilded Balloon, a story of a couple moving in together, told through her cat Mimi and his dog Howard. Nice characterisation by the actors playing dog and cat but began to wear a bit thin when stretched to an hour.
After a fish supper from the Century Fish Bar we saw the One Man Star Wars show at the Cow Barn. I'm not a great Star Wars fan and I found this show overlong with only about four decent jokes.
On Monday we ate lunch at Greyfriars Bobby (Candlemaker Row), where I had good sized portion of fish and chips with salad and mushy peas for £6.50, shame none of the real ales were on, but I guess there were plenty of thirsty festival goers around as many of the pubs had the same problem.
Found a great little North African/Middle Eastern food store where we got loads of spices (100gms for 69p, much better than rip off supermarkets)and some Harissa in a big tube for 69p. The Red Sea Food Store in Marshall Street. We stashed them in the suitcase, can't be too careful in the War Against Terror!
That evening we were also hoping to eat at El Mariachi the Halal Mexican near the mosque in Potterow, but it's now a Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant, we gave it a go anyway. all prepared by a chef at the table Moff and I went for Scallop Teppanyaki while Mrs F had the Chicken Teryaki. all very theatrical, but the drawback with this kind of cooking is that the food gets served when its ready so the different parts of your meal can arrive in any order so my Scallops arrived (and got eaten!) long before the rice and vegetables did. With a bottle of plum wine the three of us ate for £66.40.
Then on to thew Ensign Ewart for a few drinks, but did take in some of the music from the Tattoo from outside the castle, band of the Blues and Royals (my Grandad's regiment) and the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Steel Band very jolly!
Naturally no trip to the Edinburgh Festival is complete without a celebrity close encounter, we passed Rory McGrath outside the chip shop on the way home.
Tuesday home with a sodding delay at Edinburgh Airport.