Breakfast: one cheese roll, one chocolate donut, both from Greggs. Delicious!
Now that's finished, I'll get on with the day. The light streaming in through the cracks of our hotel room curtains would indicate that it was a sunny day today, but light can be deceiving. Once we hit the pavement it was a little gray. One of those days where you aren't sure if you need a jacket or not. Lisa and I both had one on standby, and we both used them.
The first performance of
Martyr's Crossing was a success, with a little audience and a smooth performance. I loved watching the students and knowing how hard they had worked to get the show here. I wish I could beat the drum louder and get everyone in town to come see it, but I'm also competing with 2700 other shows. Literally, 2700. If you have friends in Edinburgh, tell them to come see it. They'll like it. It's funny and sad and there's a (SPOILER) big Joan of Arc burning scene. My former student Adam Slee was there with one of his students. I'm so proud of Adam - he's been a fantastic alumni of our department and such a huge support to us. It was so great to see him at the show and visit with him afterwards.
The cast was starving so we took advantage of the tasty but frugal 3 pound meal deal at Sainsbury's. Lisa and I exceeded our 3 pound limit, but just barely. And only because we always live on the edge like that. We all enjoyed our sandwiches on Grassmarket street and I heard Josh say "I really, really love Chris Clark" to Lisa, but he actually said "I really, really love croissants." Oh well, anyway. I love you, too, Josh. I get confused with croissants all the time.
We had a wonderful visit to Edinburgh Castle. The view from the top is spectacular, and I love the tour guides, even if they are Dutch and not Scottish, as ours was today. At one point Nate claimed to have a "BS in Edinburgh Castle" and gave us all a fascinating and completely bogus tour of his own.
Lisa and I stopped for a few minutes at St. Margaret's Chapel, the oldest building in Edinburgh and the site where my cousins Jeff and Nanette got engaged. (I think? I told Lisa it was.) We also had a special place for it in our heart because of another Margaret back in Utah who likes chicken strips, makes funny faces, and meows her primary talks.
We stopped for a few minutes at the Tartan Weaving Mill and Exhibition, but it's a little noisy and busy in there so we went to Primark, where things are never noisy and/or busy. Actually, we went to H&M first, which used to be so cheap in my mind and now, thanks to Primark, anything over 5 pounds feels like an extravagance. Clothes lasting longer than three months? What's the point? But, oddly enough, I did find that the third floor of H&M affords the most magical view of Edinburgh castle:
Lisa and I went to see
Blancanieves, which I had been reading about and worried I might not ever get to see. It's a black and white film, with no speaking, like
The Artist. But it was just made this year, so it's visually beautiful and stylistically stunning. It's a version of Snow White told as if Snow White were a Spanish bullfighter. It's funny and clever, and so touching. My kids will love it. If you get a chance to see it, you ought to. It's so sweet and it will stay with you for a while.
We finished our day at Nando's Chicken Factory, despite the death of a rooster being a major plot point of
Blancanieves. It was delicious. At one point we thought we heard a major car crash outside, but it was the sound of fighter jets flying overhead for the Tattoo. It was nice in Nando's, and not as crazy as London. All that pebble ice and free refills and peri peri chicken! Is this heaven?
Outside Lisa wanted to take a duo-selfie, which we did.
And then we got photobombed by this clown.
We had a wonderful visit to Edinburgh Castle. The view from the top is spectacular, and I love the tour guides, even if they are Dutch and not Scottish, as ours was today. At one point Nate claimed to have a "BS in Edinburgh Castle" and gave us all a fascinating and completely bogus tour of his own.
