The Edinburgh Fringe - Day 1 - by Dea Birkett and family

Things have not gone to plan. That’s the first thing you learn about family holidays. I’d booked our accommodation in the fab Smart City Hostel, which has family rooms only yards off the Royal Mile, right in the centre of the Edinburgh Fringe action. I’d written a schedule of shows we wanted to see and places we wanted to visit. And then, only moments after we arrived by our bunk beds close to midnight, my eldest began to throw up. Kids. They ruin schedules. Particularly on holiday. In our case, very often on holiday. Plans and young people just don’t go together. I won’t waste the week beforehand scheduling again.

We (or rather I, as like most women I’m the scheduler in the family) had to reschedule. There was no breakfast show this morning, having been up half the night – later than even the latest fringe hardliners. Of course, my teenager is fine now, having a robust young body. It’s only me who’s a wreck.

So we started our first day gently at the very best place to start any Edinburgh visit - the Camera Obscura - a wonderful piece of Victorian technology that still captivates kids. [Unfortunately it doesn't have family tickets - see Kids in Museums family ticket watch ] From the top, a live image of the city lay on a round table before us. We touched passers by storeys below, lifting them off the table as if we were all-powerful giants and they were Lilliputians. We could pinpoint our hostel and navigate the old and new towns, getting to know them before wandering around the over one hundred fringe venues. We had bird’s eye previews of what was on offer, as we looked down on the theatre companies performing extracts from their performances in the streets. We could decide what to see from the vantage point of the Camera Obscura. I took out my schedule and began to scribble.

We stayed there all this morning. I suppose, at some point soon, we must see a show.


Further information
Edinburgh Fringe
Smart City Hostels
Camera Obscura