A special day on the fringe…

A special day in Edinburgh yesterday with the arrival of Tom and Harry – up for just one day to catch the only show on the fringe…

…that their old man is involved with anyway.

Despite our collected best efforts for their visit to be discreet, word somehow gets out somehow and there is a knowing feeling amongst my audience with heads craning backwards to the two people who arrived late and are lurking at the back of my ‘theatre’. This is off-putting for me, on-stage and at work but understandable I suppose and a peril of having a well-known son?

From the show and on to dinner in the magnificent Hawksmoor – a restaurant that vegans would not approve of.

Edinburgh is arguably the most beautiful city in the UK. The oldest at least? My venue is in the territory of the city known as the new town – which dates back to the 17th Century – little wonder then, why Americans walk about the place with their jaws agape.

I am unsure whether this can ever be proven but Edinburgh is certainly the heaviest city in the UK! Must be, built entirely from stone and granite, Edinburgh is a city that has been as much carved as it has been built; magnificent and grand buildings abound, which brings me to the gaff where number one son is staying for the night which is in stark contrast to our accommodation for the this fringe run.

Team Holland – (Myself, Nikki, Sam, Paddy and Tess) are ensconced on the rugged coast in a caravan park. (Don’t ask). It is spacious and perfectly fine but the walls are made of paper and an ill-timed fart can wake up the wole family everyone.

Tom and Harry, meanwhile have checked themselves in to the Edinburgh Grand Apartments on the prestigious St. Andrew Square.

An opulent building that was once the headquarters of The Royal Bank of Scotland, it is a building like no other. Their apartment is on the fourth floor and is both achingly glorious cool and enormous. The en-suite bathroom is bigger than my venue. It has a bed that can sleep six (Hollands, at least) and it has more sofas than a branch of John Lewis; they have even provided a dog bed and treats for Tess who will be joining the boys for the night.

The night is a great success – if too short. Dinner is magnificent albeit dry for me as I am driving. A short straw if ever there was one. The apartment is so big – all four boys decide to stay and why not? Never mind that this is a stunning residence, it is also a night off from the caravan!

So we leave our boys and dog in the palace and in the rain, Nikki and I drive back to our cardboard abode. A metaphor for life of the Holland parents against our offspring if ever there is one – and yet, an unexpected upside…

…that suddenly being all alone in the caravan means that for one night only, it is a dwelling where night-time noise is no longer an issue!

An upside for me then, anyway.

Great seeing you boys. Thank you for coming up and thanks also to the magnificent, Edinburgh Grand and the Hawksmoor.

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