Leaving on a Hash Cruise...

The following morning, we took an Uber to the port in Rosyth, north of Edinburgh. We don’t usually fall for these silly staged photos, which were taken while still on land, but this time we couldn’t resist.

Here was our first glimpse of our ship, the Marco Polo...

…and our room. We didn’t have a porthole, but our room was conveniently located and we didn’t spend a lot of time in it anyway. Our hash goodies didn’t include a shirt, but instead a really nice travel towel, small foldable backpack and classy whisky glass.

The ship, built in 1965, was much nicer than we’d expected, especially considering that it was willing to be filled with over 700 crazy hashers.

Cockatool was the mastermind behind the entire trip. I wasn’t the only one skeptical that this young guy could pull off the complex logistics for the entire weekend, including hashing in Edinburgh, on two islands and then a final time scattered across the mainland. Luckily he exceeded all expectations and everything was incredibly well organized. 

Aberdeen rock band The Lorelei played throughout the weekend and even hashed with us.

The girls were the youngest on board, but that didn’t bother them at all.

Footnote: Sadly, due to coronavirus, the cruise company closed in July 2020 and the Marco Polo was sold for scrap (here’s an article with photos showing the ship beached in India). Some hashers think perhaps it was because we broke the ship, but more likely it was that the ship knew it could never have that much fun again. 

Red Dress Hashing in Edinburgh...

While we had planned to stay together, Jimmy quickly got separated from us and missed much of the trail.

He has forgotten how he ended up in a warehouse-style grocery store, which was definitely not on trail.

Us girls stayed together and saw a nice overview of the city. This is the Dugald Stewart Monument, built in 1831 as a memorial to the Scottish Philosopher...

...and this is Arthur’s Seat, a extinct volcano.

There was a drink stop at the National Monument of Scotland; later we had a beer stop at a pub.

Veronica had volunteered to help raise funds for the chosen charity: Vintage Vibes, a service tackling isolation and loneliness among over-60s, something that hashing naturally does.

Here she is talking tourists into giving her money. While she has no idea how much she managed to raise, we do know that the group collectively raised £4,001!

The girls made a smart decision when they chose to skip the On-In and head to a Fringe burlesque show as Jimmy and I spent much of our time waiting in lines for food and drinks.

Getting Ready for the Red Dress Hash...

That afternoon was the Edinburgh Red Dress Hash. Here we are in the elevator...

...and here we are at the cricket club at the hash start.

Jimmy was especially thrilled about his new Chinese robe that he bought at a vintage charity shop in Norwich; silly boy had tried negotiating for a discount, completely forgetting that it was for charity. Ashlynn’s lovely robe was a gift from Sophie from Bali. 

It was our first hash together as a family in several years. Gillian was hoping to pop by to say hi, but she wasn’t feeling well so unfortunately it didn’t work out to see her.

Coastal Clean-Up...

The following morning, while the girls went for a wander, Jimmy and I ended up doing an impromptu cleanup along the coast next to our apartment building.

At the end of the walkway was an abandoned building...

...where we picked up trash underneath.

It was helpful that we found a bucket as the trash bag from our apartment was already full. We may be smiling, but mostly we’re sad that people are such pigs.

National Museum of Scotland...

Like national museums in London, admission was free to the National Museum of Scotland. This lovely cast iron hall dates back to 1866. 

My favorite piece was the Millennium Clock Tower, made in 1999 in the form of a medieval cathedral standing 33 feet (10 meters) high. Not only does it mark the passing of time, but it serves as a summary of the best and worst of the 20th century. 

My favorite section was The Nave because of the convex mirror positioned in such a way as to have a really artsy reflection of the escalator. Little did I know at the time, that there are also figures of Lenin, Hitler and Stalin as reminders of the worst aspects of the 20th century. At least there was also a celebration of better times with a playground of animated characters, including a Chaplin-like figure.

From 2009, Kitchen Necklace was very clever, shown here along with the 19th century Delftware plate from which it was cut.

This smaller old-fashioned hall was filled with planes and other technological advances.

Ashlynn was quite excited to pose with the stuffed remains of Dolly the Sheep, the first successfully cloned mammal which Ashlynn had learned about in Biology class. 

The rooftop of the museum offered great views.

At first glance, I thought this was a Quidditch Pitch, the sport played on broomsticks in the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, who wrote much of the first books in cafés in Edinburgh. Although it was actually a temporary stadium for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (referring to military bands, not body art), I couldn’t help but think that it could have helped to inspire the famous author.

Exploring Edinburgh...

Crossing back across the park after lunch.

Can’t even imagine what charges the accused must be facing that would lead them to resort to hiring Very Good & Co to be their defense lawyers.

Thought this shot was especially cool with the flowers flowing out of a turret below Edinburgh Castle.

While your eye might be instantly drawn to the vibrant colors at the curve of this street, don’t miss the funny sign on the left.

Nearby was this grateful sign from 1616.

We enjoyed walking through this lively and colorful street, watching street performers along the way.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival...

The next morning we met up with the girls at the Edinburgh Bus Station and then made the long journey out to Leith to drop our stuff at our apartment. I knew that the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the world’s largest arts festival, took place throughout August, but it never dawned on me that there would still be tickets available to anything. Turns out there were more than 3,800 shows with over 3 million tickets available, so there were lots of folks on the street touting their shows. 

Our first show was Neon Future, which was an entertaining combination of science and  magic. 

There were lots of performers in the streets trying to drum up ticket sales.

Here’s my silly family after watching a street performance.

Thought these two fellows were particularly clever in their efforts to advertise their shows.

There was a small market with some creative crafts, such as these banjos made out of cigar boxes. Jimmy bought me a shard of old pottery made into a lovely necklace for my birthday. 

We had a yummy lunch at a vegan café in a park and had cocktails at this bar with a crazy number of stuffed animals attached to the ceiling. 

After a vegan sushi dinner, we went to see Trump, The Musical, which was totally hilarious. The President would have been particularly insulted that he was played by a woman, while another woman played both Putin and Kim Jong Un.