I’ve moved…

Hi everyone!

This is just a quick note to say that after a few years away from blogging, I’ve decided to set up again over at http://www.andadditionally.com if anyone wants to come over and check it out!

A Travel Guide: A Weekend In Edinburgh

Last weekend, Edinburgh gained the coveted crown of my new favourite city. First it was London, then New York, then Seville, now Edinburgh (actually, it just seems to go in order of places I’ve visited, but never mind). I was there from Friday to Tuesday morning, staying with my godparents and getting my first experience of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I figured I’d give you a quick rundown of the shows I saw, for anyone who’s wondering what to see or is just interested, plus more general things we did and my overall impressions of Edinburgh!

(For those who don’t know what the Fringe is – one of my friends asked why I had to go all the way to Scotland to get a fringe when I told him where I was going – the Fringe is an arts and comedy festival that takes place throughout the whole of August)

edinburgh-fringe-prosecco-bar

Before I go into a bit more detail about what I actually did in Edinburgh, I have to say that the Fringe is overwhelmingly amazing. There’s so many incredible shows, both free and paid, plus all the street performers on the Royal Mile, it’s hard to know where to start. The approach we took, which worked pretty well, was to book a couple of shows in advance, see some free Fringe stuff that we got given leaflets for and also go to a paid show that we got a flyer for that turned out to be absolutely brilliant. Also, quick side note – so many bloggers seemed to be there according to Instagram? I don’t know if I was just more aware of it because I was there but every other Insta story and tweet was either someone saying they were there or asking for recommendations because they were going soon!

edinburgh-fringe-fairy-lights

Anyway, onto the actual shows – on Saturday night we saw Nina Conti, a ventriloquist whose primary puppet is a monkey. She also got the audience involved by picking people out and basically doing ventriloquism on them with varying accents – hard to describe but very funny! My godfather and I then went to see Circolombia at the Circus Hub, who were absolutely incredible. They’re a circus group, all from Colombia (hence the name) who combine all sorts of incredible circus acts, often involving aerial stuff, with music and dance. They were unexpectedly brilliant (although mildly terrifying to watch at points) and got a fully deserved standing ovation at the end.

On Sunday we went for a more spontaneous approach, watching a few street performers on the Royal Mile before watching a student comedy sketch show as part of the Free Fringe. As my godfather said, it was a proper ‘Fringe experience‘, in an upstairs room of a bar that sold incredibly strong cocktails (beating Seville to become the strongest mojito I’ve ever had), covered in graffiti and with a slightly odd odour. The show itself was a bit mixed, but it was a really fun experience and I now feel like I’ve properly done the Fringe. We then went to another student show, this time paid, that we got a flyer for earlier in the day. It was an ‘improv musical’, where the audience pick the characters, location and title, and help provide plot suggestions halfway through. Ours ended up with the main characters of Tinky Winky from the Teletubbies and ‘everybody’s grandma’, set in a toilet block, with the title of ‘Tink in the Stink’. It was absolutely hilarious, and ended with Tinky Winky and his grandma (?!) falling in love.

We then moved onto my final show of the Fringe, which was a performance by Exeter University acapella group Semi-Toned, who I then interviewed for local radio (spot the budding journalist!). They were a bit different to most acapella groups in that they interwove the songs with some comedy bits (and some admittedly dodgy acting), which helped to make it feel a bit more like a Fringe show than just a concert.

semi-toned-edinburgh-fringe

The next day we went back into central Edinburgh, though not for the Fringe – we first had lunch at the Boozy Cow (highly recommend – the burgers are amazing and you get kitchen roll and a tray instead of plates and cutlery), before a trip to a chihuahua café!!! There were eight chihuahuas in total, and they were all adorably cuddly, especially when it was time to feed them! There was also some decent watermelon cake too, which is always a bonus…

We then walked back to Waverley Station through Princes Street Gardens, which were beautiful and had a really nice, buzzy atmosphere. I was obviously visiting during the best time, being the height of summer and full of the excitement of the festival, but the whole city had such a nice atmosphere of excitement the whole weekend, even when the weather was cloudy and damp (which, being Scotland, it was quite a lot of the time). Another thing I’d mention as worth a brief visit is the Scotsman Steps – they link the Old and New parts of Edinburgh, and each step is made of a different marble, so they look pretty impressive (although they’re pretty lethal during wet weather!).

Have you visited Edinburgh lately? What are your recommendations? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter!

Music of the Month: October/November

I know it’s been over a month since I last posted, but I’m just going to jump straight back in with a mega, bumper Music of the Month which I think mostly covers October and November? I’ve kinda lost track tbh, but here’s a bunch of music I like…

music-of-the-month

Albums

You Haunt Me Sir Sly

Death Of A Bachelor (+ This Is Gospel & Build God, Then We’ll Talk) Panic! At The Disco

Vessel (+ bonus tracks) twenty one pilots

Wild World (Complete Edition) Bastille

Songs

Final Song

Never Be Like You Flume ft. Kai

Human Rag’n’Bone Man

After the Afterparty Charli XCX ft. Lil Yachty

Re-arrange Biffy Clyro

Lovesick Mura Masa

24k Magic Bruno Mars

Water Under The Bridge Adele

Starboy/False Alarm/Sidewalks The Weeknd (+the Kygo remix of Starboy)

Would I Lie To You John Gibbons

Shout Out To My Ex Little Mix

Unknown Tuvaband

Treat You Better/Mercy Shawn Mendes

Fresh Eyes Andy Grammer

In The Name Of Love Martin Garrix

All We Know The Chainsmokers

Love Me Now John Legend

All Night The Vamps/Matoma

The Mack Nevada

The Greatest Sia

Say You Won’t Let Go James Arthur

Rockabye Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie

Highs & Lows Emeli Sandé

By Your Side Jonas Blue

Call On Me (Ryan Riback Remix) Starley

Liquid Lunch/Tangled Up/That Man/A Night Like This Caro Emerald

I’ve Got A Dream/Mother Knows Best/When Will My Life Begin? Tangled

That’s My Girl Fifth Harmony

So Good Louisa Johnson

Don’t Wanna  Know Maroon 5

Quick Step Maceo Parker

Stayin’ Alive Say Lou Lou

Anywhere Passenger

Dye My Hair ALMA

Good Girls Crystal Fighters

Love On Me Galantis

Starving Hailee Steinfeld

Sexual NEIKED

When You Love Someone James TW

Crazy In Love Eden Project ft. Leah Kelly/Oh Wonder

Fuel To The Fire Rationale

When I Wake Up Lions Head

Can’t Help Falling In Love Twenty One Pilots

Feel Good/Put Your Records On Aslove

Let Me Hold You Cheat Codes

This Town Niall Horan

Renegades X Ambassadors

Cheap Thrills Vitamin String Quartet

Danza 2016 Lucky Chops

listen to this playlist on Spotify here


What’ve you been listening to this month?