This intriguing odd title for a blog post, came to me on the train home from Glasgow. It has nothing to do with my actual fringe ( known as ‘bangs’ I believe, in the US! ) which is in dire need of a trim, but everything to do with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
I don’t have a bucket list. Do you? But there are many places I haven’t visited and activities I haven’t tried…yet. Going to the EFF was one of these. As a Brit, I am ashamed to say that I have never been to Scotland until this week. Mr FF was playing hockey in a ten day tournament and it was a great opportunity to watch him play. What I really mean is that it was a great opportunity to visit Glasgow and Edinburgh, especially as the Fringe Festival was taking place!
We stayed in a modern and well equipped Airbnb flat in a part of Glasgow called Glasgow Green.
This was a very convenient area, well located for the city centre and the hockey venue!
As we had limited time, we decided to take advantage of an open-top, hop-on-hop-off bus tour.
http://www.citysightseeingglasgow.co.uk/
I think this is a brilliant way to get to know a new city. We hopped off to visit Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis. 
The Necropolis may seem a strange place to visit but this vast multi-faith cemetery, modelled on the Père-Lachaise graveyard in Paris, has amazing views over the city of Glasgow, as well as being very interesting in its own right.
The photo below is from the website of the Friends of the Necropolis. Here is the link to their website in case you would like to find out more.
http://www.glasgownecropolis.org/
And then there was Edinburgh! But where to start? It was the seventieth anniversary of the Fringe. The atmosphere was amazing. So many people; different ages, different races, different styles but all set on enjoying themselves and everything that the festival had to offer.
Our strategy (?!) was to try to experience events across the art forms. We started with political stand up, went on to a female a Capella group and then to Shakespeare, enjoying an abridged version of a Comedy of Errors. This was followed by a brilliant comedy drama set in an evening class. Our final choice was an experimental dance performance; probably my least favourite show. On top of this were all the street performers – fire eaters, musicians, dancers et al.
It was totally brilliant to have experienced the Fringe Festival, even if was for such a brief visit. I really hope we’ll go again but next time we’ll plan a bit more with what we want to see and aim to book some events in advance.
Do you have a bucket or an unbucket list? Have you been to Glasgow or the Edinburgh Fringe? I’d love to know!
Fancying France 
We went to Edinburgh last year for a pre Christmas break and loved it. It’s a bit sad that I moved to France without investigating the UK properly first but there never seemed to be the time!
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And it’s just not possible to go everywhere!
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Hop on-hop off buses are the best. I’ve used them in so many places and love the freedom and flexibility they allow. never been to Edinburgh (definitely one on the bucket list) but I do love the parts of Scotland, including Glasgow, that I’ve been to, especially the Western Isles. I live close to Worcester (in the Midlands) where they have a much smaller, lower key festival (where I won the student prose prize in 2015). It felt like such an achievement! It’ s a great atmosphere and I can only imagine that Edinburgh, being so much more established, is the same but magnified many times over.
Eloise
thisissixty.blog
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Hi Eloise. I agree that hop on-off buses are great. I’ve used them abroad, too. Do visit Edinburgh if you can. I’m definitely going back but I would also like to visit the isles, one of these days. Also, I want to attend a literary festival, possibly Hay. Congratulations on your prize, too! June
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I visited the The Hay festival over 20 years ago. Lovely atmosphere. The Ledbury poetry festival is fab too.
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Missing your posts!
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Hi Eloise! That’s a lovely thing to say. To be honest, I’m missing writing them. Life has got in the way, as it so often does, especially where family are concerned. I do have a draft post, waiting to be finished & your comment will spur me on! Thank you.
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We went to the Edinburgh festival about 3 years ago, sadly for only two days. It was part of a cruise and the highlight of it, we felt. The whole experience was amazing – we saw two ticketed events and just drank in all the other experiences. So yes, I do have a bucket list and the top priority is to spend a week in (or near) Edinburgh during the festival! Btw, it rained both days, but we didn’t mind at all, although I did feel sorry for the acts performing regardless outside in the rain. Need mind the rain – will definitely go back for more!
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Hi Penny! Thanks for commenting. The acts we saw were at the cheaper end of the price range or free but with an optional donation to charity. Ironically, the most expensive performance we saw turned out to be the least entertaining! The weather wasn’t great for us, either but it didn’t detract from our enjoyment. Luckily, I wore lots of layers! A week to properly experience the Festival sounds ideal.
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Never mind not need mind!
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