August Bank Weekend in Edinburgh

What to do on the long weekend in August? Cara, Cushla and I decided to headed upwards to the Athens of the North - Edinburgh!

August is Festival Month in Edinburgh with both the Fringe and the Military Tattoo being held, so we had to buy our Tattoo tickets and book our accommodation back at the end of May, early June.

Cush and I took the sleeper bus up on the Thursday night, arriving super early Friday morning. We dropped off our stuff at the hostel and found the only place that was open for breakfast so early - Wetherspoons.

Mid morning we separated, Cushla going off to explore the Castle and I headed up the Scott Monument.

View of Old Town and Edinburgh Castle from the Scott Monument

Cara's train got in just before lunchtime so after dropping her bag off the two of us headed to Viva Mexico on Cockburn Street. They had a great selection of gluten free food and had recycled their used tequila bottles for the house water.

At 1.45 we met up with Cushla on the Royal Mile for our free walking tour of Old Town. The tour took us to some interesting spots on the Mile and through Greyfriars Cemetery (for all the Harry Potter fans!).

After the two and a half hour walking tour there was enough time to fit in a 'free' comedy show (and an alcoholic beverage) before heading back to get ready for  dinner and the Tattoo.

The main reason I wanted to go to the Tattoo was because Mum really wants to go (I sent her lots of videos and snapchats!) but I really enjoyed it, much more than I thought I would. There were military bands from all over the world! Each country brought a bit of home with them, from the New Zealanders we had the Haka - quite interesting to see it in military dress uniform! - The Jordanians showed off some impressive rifle twirling skills and the Americans brought a bit of Dolly Parton!

Everyone together

Each 'routine' was accompanied by an awesome light show that lit up the walls of the castle. The evening is rounded off with a fireworks display.

   

Fireworks over the Castle from Grassmarket

The Saturday saw us exploring the local pub scene with Cara's aunty and uncle who had come down to meet us for lunch. (Helpful tip: don't try and outdrink a Scotsman). We followed up our drinking session with a cheeky nap before heading out to find somewhere to eat and head to our first paid-for gig.

I had seen Rhys Nicholson on YouTube and thought he was hilarious, so got tickets to see him a couple of weeks before we headed up - lucky we did! Our show was sold out!) The girls thought so too luckily!

It was still early after so we found the gig guide sheet and picked one that sounded good - Katie Brennan's Quarter Life Crisis. This was billed as a comedy, but it has a few depressing factors - obviously the 'crisis' part and it also has elements of cabaret - Katie's voice is amazing!

Sunday Cara wasn't feeling well so Cushla and I left her in bed and went on a walk. We headed deep into Old Town and somehow we managed to do a loop around the back of the castle and end up in the New Town! That wasted a few hours and we met up with Cara at a fantastic little bistro on Cockburn St called La Locanda. We flicked through the Fringe guide and one name jumped out at me - Frenchy! We secured our tickets at the box office and then went on a hunt for some free shows, mainly comedy.

We watched the Comedy Ashes - Australia won of course! We tried to find another show which was advertised, but they had packed up earlier that morning for some reason and also tried to get into another, but just missed out. On advice from someone in the street we purchased tickets to Glenn Moore, an English comedian. I think I might enjoy the Australian smut a bit too much, because he was a bit too high brow for me. That, and I didn't get some of his references either, but he was still worth seeing.

We squeezed in dinner at Cafe Andaluz in New Town (service to start with was really good and quick, slowed down for dessert and was pretty much non existent when we tried to get the bill unfortunately - food was delicious though!)

and headed back to the Mile for a quick hello to Cara's cousins who were playing in the Forth Bridges Accordion Band.

We scrambled for a taxi and made it just in time for our last show of the weekend - Frenchy!

I can't believe this guy used to be a teacher - I can believe his teaching licence (do you get a licence for teaching?) has been suspended though! Check out his Facebook for some of his vids. Anyone who has seen his World's Worst Adult show will never watch Frozen the same way again!

He was the only act who did a meet and greet after and was keen to get photos with the audience.

Photo bombed!

We had an amazing time in Edinburgh, got to see some wonderful talent and the sun shone all weekend for us!

We stayed at the Castle Rock Hostel at the top of the Mile.

The Sleeper bus through Megabus was £25 one way.

My train ticket with Virgin East Coast was £28 with a Young Persons Railcard.

Tickets for the Tattoo range in price from £25 - £75.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh has been a city on my must-visit ever since coming over to the UK (and possibly before that) and last week I finally got to go, and for a good cause too!

Last month I got a call for work asking if I would like to be a volunteer on a Back Up Course. 

A little about Back Up
The Back Up Trust is a charity that helps all those affecting by spinal injuries. It was first set up by James Bond stunt double and Freestyle Champion Mike Nemesvary in 1986 after he broke his neck.

 'Despite being paralysed from the shoulders down, Mike was determined to get back to the life he enjoyed.  Back Up was initially set up to offer ski courses for those affected by spinal cord injury. Over the years, Back Up has expanded its services to challenge and empower people to get ‘back up’ to a place they were at before their accident.'   

The charity lead around 17 courses a year, ranging from ski-karting in Sweden, water ski-ing, multi-activity courses in Exmoor to Back to work courses and skills for independence.

Edinburgh
I got to go on the Edinburgh City Skills for over 50s, the first time this particular course has been run.

So after a long journey on the train up from London (4.5 hours) and getting lost I checked in to the hotel and we all gathered in the courtyard for introductions. We had 12 people on our course, and everybody has a different role. We had 2 Group Leaders - one wheelchair user and one able bodied, 2 wheelchair skills instructors, 3 buddies, 2 Personal Assistants and 3 participants. 

Our ice breaker was 2 Truths and a Lie.

Can you guess my lie?

* I can drink a glass of vinegar straight
* I played basketball for the state defence team without ever playing beforehand
* I've been travelling for the last 3 years

The course included a day of wheelchair skills. We were lucky enough to invade RBS headquarters on the outskirts of Edinburgh - it's like a town unto itself! Starbucks, Tesco Express even a flower shop!

As an able bodied person you don't realise how much you take for granted. Simple things like curbs or manoeuvering around objects, carrying a beverage, even a slight incline on a road are made that much harder for chair users. 
We had two great skills trainers on our course J and R who went through some tips on how to navigate obstacles, like flicking the front wheels up onto a curb at speed and then using the momentum to get the back wheels up.

Or having a friend that has a power chair ;-)




The next day we hit up The National Museum of Scotland. The museum is housed in a grand old building looked over by this bloke. 

I'm not sure who he is, but he definitely needs a bit of a bath!

The museum is amazingly huge! Set over 7 floors, the exhibits range from a Chinese Dynasty, the animal world, science, Changing Scotland and much more! You definitely need a whole day to prattle about.

One of the interactions is driving a F1 car. Which I did. And I failed dismally. Besides that one time when I crashed, i'm a great driver (if I do say so myself) and I stand by my judgement that the museum staff have buggered up the steering on this ride. 

My favourite bit of artwork/painting/photo was this one that I found in 'Common Causes'

Can you guess which photo is of the Australian Scottish Regiment?

In the afternoon we had a bit of a treasure hunt around the city. At one stage the clues sent us hurtling down a hill the wrong way - but there was free fudge!  Who knew a 'crag and tail' meant crossroads? Google sure didn't!!

There was a bit of controversy when we got back regarding the last clue. 
'Take the ramp down to Waverley Station and take a photo that includes every team member - must not be taken by another person. hint, head towards Left Luggage'

My team and I had no idea why we had to head to Left Luggage, but we got there and took our selfie that included all 3 team members and even the left Luggage sign. When we got back, the other teams were in uproar because we outselfied them. Well, we had different interpretations of the out of date clues. Apparently the clues were ridden before selfies were invented so you supposed to get a photo from the photo booth right next to Left Luggage. We still won though! WOOO!

Selfie at Left Luggage

                     

Sunday included a trip to the Castle. I love a good castle and Edinburgh is awesome, especially for the views over the city. 

We started at the bottom of the Royal Mile and had to go uphill on cobblestones, which isn't the most pleasant experience in a chair. You can buy a contraption called a Free Wheel that clips on to the footplate and lifts the small front castors off the ground and turns the chair into an all-terrain vehicle.  

As an AB (able bodied) if I see someone struggling, my first desire is to give help. Don't do it! Offer help but don't do anything until you've been specifically asked. The course was all about gaining the skills to be independent. One of the participants is over 70 and pushed himself up the Mile without any assistance! With anybody or anything, you never know if you don't try. 

Knowing when to ask for help is important as well. One way we assisted the chair users is by pulling them up steep inclines. This is done with a loop of rope or similar. Put it down on the ground, roll across one side and pull the rope up so that it's in between the castors and the back wheel and under the knees. If you're assisting it's much easier to pull than push too.



 Edinburgh Castle
There is a bit just in front of the drawbridge that is supposed to have spectacular views, but the Tattoo grandstands had already been set up, so we missed out on that unfortunately.

Once inside the inner castle walls, the ground kind of flattens out a bit and to the right are the battlements and canons. We saw the canon that they shoot off every day at 1pm except Sundays. We went on a Sunday so we missed out but we got to see the gorgeous views.



Sunday afternoon was spent just like the Scottish do - Whisky!
I'm not a big fan of Scotch so the best thing about that was the free glass you get ;-)

Monday morning we headed down to Holyrood to go to Dynamic Earth. I love interactive stuff so this place was amazing! The floor shook, there was 'snow' dropped on us and a AI who answered the  most stupidest questions. 
The exhibit takes you through a series of rooms depicting the universe, from the Big Bang, right up until today. The rooms changed temperature from warm (volcanic era) to really cold (ice age) which I thought was great. 

I was lucky enough to grab a kiss off this handsome fella:

                                                           

Monday afternoon was free time, then we all came together for one last dinner. This one was participant's choice and we headed to Cafe Andaluz on George Street for Spanish Tapas. They were amazing! The staff were attentive, the food was delicious and the company was great. 

Tuesday morning was farewell unfortunately. I had booked my train for the afternoon so I caught up with an old friend for lunch. I got to try the Scottish National Dish of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. 



It was delicious! Haggis tastes just like the insides of a meat pie, only a bit more peppery. 



My 5 days in Edinburgh were amazing. I got to see nearly everything I wanted, spent time with some quality people and learnt a lot that I can hopefully apply to my job. 

Back Up is always looking for volunteers and support. If you are interested contact the team through the website: http://www.backuptrust.org.uk/about-us/volunteering 

This was my first course but hopefully it won't be my last!