Rollercoaster Mop-up

August in Edinburgh continues at a better pace than my training.  On Sunday night it was the turn of Che Camille, who waltzed some mouth-watering, covetable fashion past my lens, streamed live online. (The sound got a bit screwed on the live recording, sadly, but the eventual video will be nicer.  Live live and learn.)

Here's a review of the show:
http://accessory-addict.blogspot.com/2010/08/che-camille-you-are-treasure.html

Then on Monday Kim, one of my most jet-set-go-getter-make-it-happen mates, turned up riding a large borrowed BMW bike he called "the Pigpen" (well, it was dutch for pigpen but maybe something was lost in translation.)  He last arrived a few years ago on a Ducati and apparently, the beamer is no match.  Rounds of G&Ts and gossip followed, and on Tuesday Ross, Kim and I hit Edinburgh for a great "festival as punter" experience.

Overwhelming crowds, crazy street performers, an hour's sanctuary in the calm National Gallery then three back-to-back shows in two venues.  Classic Fringe.  Beer in plastic, antipodean accents everywhere, famous pedestrians and an all-day game of "costume or outfit?" to keep us busy.  Tip to the nation: don't bother going to see Three Men and a Hoover, even for free.  This is not their year.

The next day we opted for a trip into town to show Kim Glasgow in the daytime.  We'd been out for dinner on Monday night but it was obvious that all the money in town had been spent at Glasgow Fair in the last few weeks and any people and coinage left had been bled into Edinburgh.  Only the tumbleweeds made an appearance.  So I took Kim to Buchanan St at lunchtime to prove there were actually people in Glasgow.  Then a quick trip on the subway to Artisan Roast for a silly amount of caffeine and one of Robert's famous chocolate and cherry brownies gave us enough of a buzz to enjoy the gardens and architecture of Kelvingrove, before heading over the river for four hours of climbing at the Glasgow Climbing Centre.  Primo!

http://www.pikodesign.com/tour/gcc/

All rounded off with a Bento Box and strawberry sushi at OKO.  We didn't manage any pictures of anything - we were too busy doing.

This morning Kim and I went for a short jog around Glenboig Loch and the poo-covered trails of Gartcosh Nature Reserve before he packed up and headed south on the Pigpen.  I'm now bereft and devoid of all delight, with a mountain of paperwork and editing in front of me.  Chucking it all in and leaving town on an oversized bike has never seemed so appealing.