Scotland Plans, Ideas, & Notes

There are actually multiple festivals going on in August in Edinburgh, including
1. the Edinburgh International Festival featuring music, theater, opera, and dance.
2. the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the main festival. Here or here is the program.
3. the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
4. the Edinburgh Art Festival.
5. the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
6. PBH's Free Fringe, eg we saw the Adam B Magic show, which was in the basement of a coffee shop. PBH stands for Peter Buckley Hill.
I like this picture of the differences are between Great Britain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the British Isles.
Getting Ready for Edinburgh Fringe 2024
1. Free vs. Pay What You Can vs. Pay What You Want Shows
2. August 5th & 6th you can get 2 For 1 Tickets (to some shows?)
3. August 7th onward, check out the Half Price Hut.
4. Shake Your iPhone When Using the Fringe App to Recommend a Random Show
5. UK's Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Lanyard
6. Show venues can get hot with lots of people, so consider bringing a paper fan and a water bottle (filled with free Scottish water from various outlets).
7. Consider a compact foldable sitting mat.
8. Walking or biking from point A to point B within the Fringe hub is faster than a taxi.
9. Recommended Fringe Shows
  1. 2:55 daily Gracie and the Start of the End of the World (Again).
  2. 2:45 or 8:40 Burnout on Monday August 12 only.
  3. 6:10 daily Why am I Still Like This?.
  4. 11:00pm Nish Kumar: Nish, Don't Kill My Vibe. Saturday, August 10 only.
10. Movie & Book Spoofs
19 Tips I Wish I Knew Before Visiting Edinburgh
1. It's pronounced Ed-in-Bruh, as in brother.
2. Walk along Dean Village and the Water of Leith Walkway for waterfalls, a river, and being in nature.
3. Edinburgh Farmers' Market under the castle. Saturday, August 10 9-2 only.
4. Mary's Milk Bar for great ice cream.
5. I.J. Mellis Cheesemongers Stockbridge to make a great charcuterie board, and go to ...
6. Calton Hill (not Arthur's Seat) for great sunset views. A 20-minute hike.
7. Use Airalo for our phones.

Fringe Festival Choices from the Fringe Festival Program.

Another Unwasted Evening - The Genius of Tom Lehrer August 4th or 10th only.
Yes-Ya-Yebo at 5:30.
The Big Show: Monkey Barrel Comedy's Fringe Showcase on Saturday, August 10 at 11:20pm only.
Jo Caulfield Pearls Before Swine at 7:10pm.
21: Music of Adele at 3:55pm.
The Fleetwood Mac Story at 5:00. (not Fleetwood Mac's Rumours with the Transatlantic Ensemble)
Footstomping: Live Scottish Music at 10:30pm at the Whiski Bar & Restaurant.

Scotland Committed Itinenary

Date	Activites	Stay At
Saturday August 3	3:35pm Fly SFO-London(LHR) BA 6995 O7T6PA.	On plane
Sunday August 4	10:05am Arrive at London Heathrow airport. 11:50m Fly London(LHR)-Edinburgh(EDI) on AA 7223 NNWBOC 1:15pm Arrive Edinburgh airport.	CoDE Pod - The CoURT - Edinburgh
Monday August 5	6:00 Dinner at the Copper Still. 9:30 The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo	Same
Tuesday August 6	9:30am Welsh Comedian Stefan Alun 5:30pm Dinner at Burgers and Beers Grillhouse 7:30pm Newsrevue	Same
Wednesday August 7	8:15am 3-Day Isle of Skye & the Highlands Tour with 28 people. Start at Deacon's House Cafe. Tour the Kelpies, Stirling Castle, Glencoe, Glenfinnan Viaduct, Loch Ness, Fort Augustus boat cruise (optional), Urquhart Castle. Inverness is the farthest north I've been at 57°28'41" N.	The Premier Inn Inverness Center. Unfortunately, Kathy booked the wrong days, 8-9, instead of 7-8, so we had to scramble to find a room for the night. We found the Mercury Hotel across the river for $233 instead of $173. Also, the confirmation email went to Melanie's doggieoflittletown email, which is why Kathy couldn't find the reservation.
Thursday August 8	Tour Portree, Achnasheen, Kyle of Lochalsh, Kilt Rock, Quiraing, Eilean Donan Castle.	Same
Friday August 9	Tour Culloden Battlefield, Clava Cairns, Highland Folk Museum (optional), Cairngorms National Park, Pitlochry. End at Deacon's House Cafe.	The Aparthotel Adagio Edinburgh Royal Mile
Saturday August 10	4:00pm MARGOLYES & DICKENS: THE BEST BITS 7:10pm Jo Caulfield Pearls Before Swine	Same
Sunday August 11	10:00am Edinburgh Castle Tour 4:30pm 1 Hour of Insane Magic 6:00pm Eat the Wine & Dine meal at The Sheep Heid Inn.	Same. Kathy started feeling bad.
Monday August 12	5:00pm The Fleetwood Mac Story	Same. Kathy tested negative for COVID.
Tuesday August 13	9:45am Take the 50-minute train ride to Glasgow. 10:17am Arrive in Glasgow. Walk to 16 Royal Exchange Square. 10:30am Take the 3-hour walking tour. See the Glasgow Cathedral built in 1197. We did not visit the Glasgow Science Center to try their Flight Simulator. Nor did we get a pie & dram at The Pot Still. 3:45 Take the quickest train back to Edinburgh. 4:36 Arrive back in Edinburgh.	Same
Wednesday August 14	10:40am EDI-LHR Heathrow BA 1441 J596XM

Scotland Idioms

A vomitorium is not what I thought it was. The story I always believed regarding Roman food orgies, is a myth.
There are 4 main Scottish languages, English, Gaelic, Doric, and Glaswegian, spoken in Glasgow.
Speed bumps are called "Sleeping Policemen".
Cyclists on the road are called "organ donors". Scotland has an opt-out organ donation program, versus California's opt-in.
Jokes that drivers play on customers are called "wind ups" and when it's happening, the driver "is on a wind up".
Sheep are "baby haggis".
Bumper-to-bumper traffic is called "tail back".
A fish and chips place is called "a chippie".
Potato chips are "crisps".
Being naked is being "starkers".
"The rain will go off" means it will stop.
Speed limit is "speed restriction".
Yield is to "give way".
An intersection is a "junction".
A "Munroe" is one of 282 mountains that are over 3,000" tall and are difficult to climb.
"Boohickey" means this sucks.
A tow truck is a "recovery vehicle".
A "layby" is a pull-out along the road to let faster traffic pass.
A "vulture" is an overhead speed camera, which detects your average speed between 2 points, not your instantaneous speed.
If there's seaweed or reefs along the shore of a body of water, it's salt water. Else it's fresh water.
A "close" is an alleyway.

England Committed Itinenary

Date	Activites	Stay At
Wednesday August 14	12:10pm Arrive at London Heathrow airport. Rent Alamo car. Stopped at the Iron Bull (ie motorcycle) Roadhouse and had Bobotie & Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. Both were delicious. And Forged Irish stout, which I liked better than Guinness. Saw Stonehenge. We didn't make it to Windsor Castle.	The Z Hotel Bath in Bath.
Thursday August 15	10am. Roman Baths Guided Tour and the Royal Crescent.	Same
Friday August 16	Saw the Bath Abbey, Blenheim Palace and its maze, the second largest hedge maze in the world. Drove to Stratford-upon-Avon.	The Ashgrove House Stratford-Upon-Avon (steep stairs)
Saturday August 17	1:15pm The Merry Wives of Windsor Royal Shakespeare Theatre We never made it to Warwick Castle.	Same. Kathy tested positive for COVID (I was negative), so we cancelled the rest of the trip, including the Dodd & Adele visit, the Harry Potter Tour in Watford, and the Heathrow hotel.
Sunday August 18	Drove to Heathrow airport and returned the rental car. Kathy got the 2 Harry Potter tickets extended for a year. We hope to use them in June, 2025 (booking #6084843).	Dodd & Adele Bennett's House 18 Gold Street, Hanslope, Milton Keynes Adele's Cell is +447985 437421 [email protected]
Monday August 19	4:15pm. Fly United UA939, LHR-SFO direct. Arrive 7:15pm.	In our own bed.

The only English idiom I picked up (pun intended) was "Getting the bats out of the cave", meaning to pick your nose.