Edinburgh is not only one of the lovliest cities in Europe but every year it is graced by the incredible spectacle of the Edinburgh Festival when there are literally thousands of events in the city. I have only ever been to the festival - indeed the city - once but it was one of the most enjoyable places I have ever been. We stayed in the Pollack Halls of Residence at the University - a few minutes walk from the city centre. I was only there for a few days but in that time I managed to see more than a dozen events ranging from Japanese Drumming to a flute quartet to a performance of a Brecht play to a quartet of extremely funny young comedians billing themselves as 'The Horsemen of the Apocalypse'.
All this and Military Tattoo too.
Most of these images are of street performers at the festival, one is a statue in the city. See if you can pick the odd one out. (Hint - I don't mean the one behind the  piper !)
Of course some are a little more obvious than others. Neither the dancers nor the rather jolly DEATH are statues.
This remarkable row of chimney pots was photographed from the turret of Edinburghs Camera Obscura. I never did find out what kind of building requires this many chimneys.
As I said Edinburgh is a truly beautiful city. There is scarcely a building anywhere which isn't worth a photograph or two. OK maybe one or two of the city centre shops are a bit ordinary but even there as often as not if you lift your eyes to the upper storeys the magnificence of the city's architecture is there for everyone to see.
And to complement the buildings the city has its share of parkland all neatly tended and splendidly laid out.
Of course, as famous as the Festival is the military Tattoo. Now this sort of thing isn't really my style but when I went I paid for a package which included the Tattoo as part of the deal so I went. There are really only two pieces of advice that I can give to anyone considering attending. The first is to go and see it. True its all very loud and bombastic and the inclusion of motorcycle displays and troupes of Irish and Scottish dancers largely fail in their objective of making it less militaristic. Nevertheless it is all amazingly colourful and spectacular and probably the best conceived and performed entertainment of its type in the world.
The second piece of advice is one I wish someone had given me. I had spent the best part of the day before the Tattoo drinking large quantities of beer. (Well when in Rome...) This was a MISTAKE. So many people are crammed into the Castle for the event that leaving your seat is an impossibility. The show is spactacular but possibly not as spectacular as the bladder control needed to watch it. So the second piece of advice is that there will be plenty of time for drinking when it's all over - trust me you'll feel better for avoiding it beforehand.