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Having lived the majority of my life in Edinburgh I admit to being ever-so-slightly ambivalent about the Fringe Festival - I've been useless at going to shows and have spent most of my time muttering about the crowds and the fact it's impossible to get anywhere quickly! However, something I've always enjoyed is spending an afternoon hanging around the watching street performers and weirdly dressed people doing strange things, whilst at the same time challenging myself to avoid being handed 101 flyers for obscure fringe performances that I have no intention of seeing.

Now a "Glaswegian", I am going to go to a few shows this week, I'll tell you more about those in a future blog, however I was through in Edinburgh on Saturday and took my annual trip to the Royal Mile. Truth be told I've never ever seen it so busy. Mobs of people enjoying the sunshine and free entertainment on the seven or so stages packed into the street by . There were acrobatic jugglers, who I saw last year, but stuck around to watch again, a comedy gymnastic group (the woman - pictured below - reminded me of Sue Sylvester in the ), folk making balloon animals, a string quartet, a ukele player, human statues, clowns, a guy dressed as batman, bagpipers cashing in on the foreign crowds... the list is endless. It was virtually impossible to walk around - you had to shuffle very slowly and go wherever the sea of people took you whilst looking enviously at those lucky enough to find an outside table at one of the street's many cafes and restaurants, watching the entertainment in comfort whilst sipping a nice glass of wine - so much more civilised!

The atmosphere was amazing, and the best thing to do is find somewhere to stand away from the crowds and just watch people go by, marvel at the outfits and to see the expressions of excitement and joy on childrens faces. It truly is a special time in the city and well worth experiencing.

Sunday morning, I walked back through the Royal Mile to catch a train back to the West. The street was deserted, cars were still permitted and other than a lone figure handing out flyers it was hard to believe it was the same city - it felt empty and desolate but I knew that within hours the madness would begin all over again!