Fringe 2007

We had a blast at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival which has now just ended. Here are the shows that we saw: Cinderella, Emperor's New Clothes, and a Bubble Extravaganza. Claire was a feature performer in the latter today as she beat the bubble master in bubble volleyball on stage. Very fun. It never seems old riding a double-decker to Princes Street in downtown Edinburgh. On Saturday, we rode the bus to nearby Pentland Hills for a hill walk (hike) that went straight up at what seemed to be a 90 degree angle. We witnessed some DRY hill skiing - very much a UK thing. The girls did great on the arduous walk and we were rewarded with a blue sky and view of the ocean (firth of forth) and Edinburgh not to mention gale force winds and a rainbow peeking through the distant mist. After, we had a pub lunch with a pint of Bell Haven (adults only).

Cool commute

This is a view of some local mountains on my 1.5 mile commute to work. This park is huge and is called the Meadows and is currently filled with festival activities. It has a cool playground for the kids and often one can see cricket matches or soccer football being played.

Back to School--Scotland Style

Wednesday August 15, 2007







Today was the first day of school for Hannah and Claire. They attend Sciennes Primary School. We have spent the last week frequenting the local stores to acquire the proper uniform. Sciennes (pronounced "Sheens") is liberal in their policy—it is just dark bottoms, navy sweatshirt or sweater and red/white or blue polo with their logo—and of course black “school shoes”. Also a gym uniform of a white shirt, blue shorts and plimsolles (think Keds). Claire tried on plimsolles and decreed that they were dumb looking. It took some convincing from the sales clerk that she would not be the only child wearing them. In fact Claire decreed the entire uniform as “boy clothes” (you can imagine how dull she finds boys clothes).
Today started with a blue sky and sun, which I took as a good omen for this school year. We all arrived at the school, the students play outside until the bell rings and then they line up. The scene with all the kids in uniform could be from 1950. Our girls were escorted to their classrooms, we all met their teachers, and then Jon and I were dismissed. The building is a Victorian building with a cupola, cloakrooms, and a swimming pool in the basement. While, the building is old, the rooms are high tech with interactive white boards (these are cool) and lots of computers. The teaching staff is very friendly and young. The head teacher (principal) and receptionist are very nice (Hannah says they are nice, but not as good as Mr. Litwin and Judy).
I picked them up this afternoon and they were both all smiles and have made friends, although Claire can’t recall her teacher’s name or what she did much of the day (Hannah of course gave me a moment by moment recitation).
So a major hurdle has been crossed, while not every day will be great, it is a relief that they had a good time and want to go back tomorrow.

We're Here!

Amazingly we made it to Edinburgh! Five people (3 children), 15 bags, left St. Paul at 7pm August 2 and arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland 3:30 pm August 3, all just a wee bit tired. Many thanks to Susan's sister Jane and Paul Meekin for delivering us to the airport; customs for letting us sail through; the cheerful Edinburgh taxi who somehow managed to fit everything into his 2x8, and Nigel Masterton, our beloved relocation agent who met us at Thistle Cottage when we arrived to help us settle. Nigel was already changing lightbulbs, replacing fuses in plugs (don't ask) when we got there, and later did a little plumbing work on the girls tub. Nigel managed to get the TV working but we've just now got Internet in the house (that was an undertaking). We did manage to find the Daily Show on one of the channels - that was huge as we've been missing the states a bit.

The cottage is lovely and the garden (yard, that is) is spectacular, though we are getting use to a smaller home and how to establish new intra-home routines and such. We spend a lot of time in the four-season conservatory. The neighborhood is quiet and leafy - a collection of older stately detached stone homes. Neighbors are quiet and reserved - warm when you knock on their doors, but you have to make the first effort. Meeting new people will take time and patience. The streets are narrow, cobbly, and windy, and although Edinburgh is a small city geographically, getting from A to B can be very tricky, as street names can change abruptly and may be listed on buildings or not. A 1.5 mile journey to a store for the first time can be an adventure. The narrow sidewalks directly abut the street and so these tiny cars are zipping by inches from you. We're only a mile from Arthur's Seat with some excellent hikes and lochs.

Our first week in Edinburgh was very much like the Thistle - beautiful with some rough edges. Everywhere you look are old stone buildings and churches with cute shops tucked within them, with hills/mts and the ocean on the edges of the city. But at the same time it feels a bit strange and mysterious. The Jam's great song "Strange town" and the Doors "People are Strange" is spot on as they say. The Edinburgh festival is going on and the city is hopping - we've already seen one Fringe theatre performance and have two more coming up in the next week. We got the girls some used bikes as they may be able to bike to school which starts Weds! The weather has been mostly good - we've seen more blue sky than I expected, but some rain too. Yesterday was a bit rough. After failing to get a bike for myself, I stared at the computer weather screen to see RAIN, RAIN, RAIN for the next 3 days feeling rather blue; just then I noticed a whizzing sound on my right - Lily was emitting a stream of No. 1 right next to me into the carpet.

Despite the early bumps in the road, it will be a long exciting journey.

--Jon