The Edinburgh Festival

As mentioned in my previous blog, now that I have moved back to Scotland I am trying to make an effort to go to new places and see all the exciting things that my country has to offer.  With this in mind I took a trip to the Edinburgh festival this weekend to experience some culture, support the arts and appreciate the work of poor performers etc etc..

If you don’t know, the Edinburgh Festival is an annual celebration of arts and entertainment taking place during the entire month of August. Artists, comedians, dancers, singers, and general creative types (hipsters) from all over the World descend on Scotland’s capital to showcase their work. The Royal Mile in Edinburgh turns into a chaotic runway of bizarre and wonderful street art and the whole city is buzzing. I’m pretty sure the Edinburgh Fringe is directly responsible for the deforestation of the rainforest with all the leaflets that are handed out, but we will overlook that because why support the trees and ecosystem when you can support struggling performers who have dedicated their life to ‘art’.

There is something for everyone at the Fringe. From well known celebrities to up and coming performers plus every single drama student in the UK you wont be short of things to do or see. Generally tickets for big well known names sell out pretty quickly but if, like me, you are just there for a day out there are plenty of free shows to choose from. In fact there are so many shows that it’s literally impossible to see everything. There’s also a lot of ‘contemporary’ street art which you won’t understand and various promoters trying to get you to come to their show, just keep your head down, avoid eye contact and you’ll be fine. You don’t want to be that guy who gets peer pressured into the 1 hour poetry reading about the life cycle of an orange, trust me, it’s not pretty.

We spent the majority of the afternoon in Cabaret Voltaire, where there are several rooms all showcasing up and coming talent, usually of the stand up comedy variety. Everything is free and I can honestly say I enjoyed every performance that I saw. Like I said, this was only one venue of the hundreds to choose from, you really need a good few days if you want to experience the festival properly.  If you are strapped for cash take a look at http://www.freefestival.co.uk which lists all the shows that are completely free. I would recommend buying tickets in advance if there is anything you really want to see, then spend the rest of the day visiting some of the free/cheaper shows which are still of a very high standard. (mostly..)

I might return to the Fringe this week so please let me know if you have any suggestions of things to go and see. If you are thinking of going but haven’t quite got round to it yet – do it!! You will love it and there isn’t long left!

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum - Glasgow

Since moving back to Glasgow, something I have been telling myself I need to do (but haven’t quite got round to it yet!) is to discover new places and try new things as well as revisiting some of the old and iconic places my city has to offer. Becoming a tourist in my own city if you will. I think, like most people, if you have lived somewhere for a long time you take for granted the fun events that happen and you don’t take the time to experience the unique things to do in your home town.

With this in mind, I went to the number 1 ‘thing to do’ in Glasgow according to Trip Adviser. This was to visit the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Now I am sure I went many times as a child but I haven’t been for years and couldn’t even remember what was inside the gallery. I’m not exactly the cultured type but it’s free so I really had no excuse not to go.

The building itself is amazing, surrounded by Kelvingrove Park and Glasgow University. The entrance/front door of the museum is very picturesque, many a selfie to be taken there. Once inside there are paintings (in an Art gallery.. funny that!), dinosaurs, ancient artefacts and an alarming number of stuffed seagulls. Now I’m not much of a historian, or art lover for that matter, but even I enjoyed wandering round looking at all the different pieces. Now I won’t pretend I knew what they were all meant to be, I mean I am pretty sure I could have drawn some of them, but I did enjoy listening to other people giving their interpretation of what I considered to be a squiggly line on top of a square. I even attempted my own piece of art in the form of decorating a box with coloured string, Pablo Picasso eat your heart out.

Now we missed the famous organ recital which happens every lunch time, but despite this we did spend practically the whole afternoon inside Kelvingrove, which surprised me as I thought I’d be bored after 10 minutes and want to find the nearest pub! In fact as we were leaving they were clearing up the café and reception ready to close for the evening, time flies when you are looking at paintings, who knew!?

Overall I had a great afternoon at the museum and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Glasgow or if, like me, you haven’t been since you were a child. I wouldn’t set aside a whole day for it, but it’s definitely worth visiting if you are in the area.

Anyway, this visit marks the start of my new goal to try and experience all the delights that Scotland and the UK have to offer, instead of doing the same things and going to the same places every weekend.

With this in mind I am open to all suggestions of fun/different things to do – I’m already planning a trip to the Edinburgh Fringe (which is a must), a visit to see the famous Kelpies and a sub crawl which isn't really a cultural experience but more of an excuse to drink all day with my friends across the entire city, but aside from these activities I am an open book so let me know your thoughts!

One night in.. Manchester!

This weekend I made a flying visit to Manchester to catch up with some old friends. I got the train down from Glasgow on Saturday and was home again by Sunday, short but sweet. Like me.. and a lot of the guys we met in town..

I’ve heard that Manchester is infamous for a good night out and I have to agree. It’s similar to Glasgow in terms of places, prices and well, the rain but as I had never been before there were lots of restaurants, bars and clubs I wanted to try.

We intended to go out early and hit a few bars but girls being girls ended up not being ready until quite late so didn’t have time to go to as many as we would’ve liked. We went to The Alchemist for a few cocktails and I was obviously delighted by anything which had dry ice, was set on fire or contained a novelty syringe. What can I say I am easily amused. I’d definitely recommend going here for a cocktail or 2 on a night out, the cocktails ranged from around £7.50 - £10.00 so you wouldn’t want to stay here all night however it’s worth stopping by.

We then went to Bijou nightclub which I now don’t think was the best choice but I still had a great time! It’s more centred towards, how can I put this politely, people who enjoy posing and taking selfies in booths than people like me who love a good dance!  Even so, we had the dance floor practically to ourselves and weren’t afraid to use it. The drinks were quite expensive, similar to London prices so it’s not really worth it if you are just there for a fun night with the girls but if you are looking for a chic modern night and have the money to spend then I’d say give it a go. Next time I go to Manchester I’ll probably try somewhere a little different but in the end we still had a fun night.

On Sunday we went to a cute little coffee shop in Didsbury called Cocoa Cabana where I had the best Hot Chocolate, ever. It's a tiny store but the menu is amazing.. if I lived there I'd go all the time, and would probably develop diabetes. We then went for lunch in a little pub called the George Charles, I would recommend the roast if you're ever in the area, so so good! 

Unfortunately I didn’t have time to explore Manchester as much as I would have liked to however it’s always fun to visit a new city, even if it’s just for one night. Beats staying in, right!? Where would you recommend if I visit the city again!?

Glastonbury 2016

I’m muddier than I ever thought was possible, my whole body is sore, I have no money to my name… and I literally had the best weekend ever!!

Glastonbury, you have my heart. You were everything I expected and so much more.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, this weekend was my first ever visit to Glastonbury music festival. Now I have heard a lot about Glastonbury and how amazing it is, but no one could have prepared me for the sheer size and scale of the festival. We literally walked for hours and hours every day and were lucky if we saw maybe half of what was going on. It is an experience that you truly need to see to believe, no words I could write would do it any justice.

The site was muddier than I ever thought was possible and even though I hate mud and rain it honestly didn’t ruin my experience at all, in fact in some cases it even made it better. Watching people losing wellies to a mud mountain, trying to manoeuvre through knee deep mud in the dark with a drink in each hand and jumping around to Two Door Cinema Club during a torrential downpour are memories that will stay with me forever!

Something which again is not possible for me to do any justice in this blog is the atmosphere at Glastonbury. Everyone, from staff to bands to the campers, are genuinely having the time of their life and everyone, from all over the world, is welcomed and accepted. I can honestly say I didn’t witness a single fight or disturbance and I was actually taken aback by how friendly and open everyone was (the cynic in me was very confused!). You can wear what you want, be who you want to be, dance as weirdly and wildly as you can and will still be accepted. It’s an experience I will never forget and am so happy I got to be a part of something that is so special and brought so many different types of people together. 

Without being too cliché the highlights of the festival were definitely the headliners Adele and Coldplay who are world class in very sense of the word. Other standouts for me included Jess Glynne and Catfish and the Bottlemen. There was never going to be enough time for me to see everyone I wanted but every act I did see put their heart and soul into their performance and as I said it was the best festival I have ever been to in my life.

I could honestly go on about my experience at Glastonbury for hours and still not say everything I want to so I’ll try to end it here. This weekend will stay with me for a long time and I don’t think I’ll ever go to a festival quite as memorable as this one every again.  There’s a reason why it’s described as the best festival in the world and I 100% agree. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to go and I certainly hope it’s not my last time!

Coming back from the festival to the bleak and torn UK was a definite wake up call and I can only hope one day we will all live in a world everyone is happy and accepting of each other. It is possible, just look at Glastonbury – peace, love and rock and roll prevail year in year out. It may only be for a few days each year but it proves that it is possible for everyone to get along and that acceptance, love and friendship always wins!

So Glastonbury, thank you for everything. See you next year!