Day 5: Tuesday, 4 August 1998

I don't know how they did it, but the organizers of the convention actually managed to convince the city to let all of the jugglers parade through downtown Edinburgh on Tuesday at 2:00 in the afternoon. We walked right down Princes Street from Calton Hill to the end of Princes Street Gardens--a pretty long way. Imagine trying to convince a US city that having a mob of 2,000 people with clubs, sticks, balls and other potential implements of destruction walk down Main Street is a good idea.

Milling Around Before the Parade

Qarin, Robert and I took our time in the morning figuring that it would probably be more efficient just to go straight to the beginning of the parade instead of going all the way to the convention center just to get on a bus bringing us three-quarters of the way back.

True to form, we took quite a bit of time and just walked down as everyone else was beginning to mill around at the starting point. There were a few convention organizers trying to keep people in the right area, out of the street, and following the rules--but that was like trying to herd cats.

Once the parade got underway, it was a lot of fun. It was hard to actually juggle, though, because Mother Nature chose that time to kick up ferocious gusts of wind and to begin the day's dose of "soft^*". Despite that, Robert and I tried to pass a bit as we walked. Nothing fancy because just a regular four-count was hard enough. Everyone seemed to be having a ball, though. Even a few of the people trapped in busses by the parade seemed to get a kick out of it.

People were doing all sort of things, including juggling. There were a lot of stilt walkers, including a guy on a very tall bicycle. There were a lot of people in clown-like garb and other costumes. Many of the not-so-costumed had large balloon hats. There were even a bunch of annoying French people who were acting like even more annoying French people. (One woman had on really awful house coat stuffed with pillows to make her look fatter or something, and a little white hat that looked almost like a bathing cap.)

People Watching the Show

The parade ended by funnelling everyone into the far end of Princes Street Gardens where a stage had been set up. For the next hour or two, a series of really good jugglers put on a small show. I watched some of the show, but mostly I just stood in the back and people-watched.

It was a good day for hanging out in the park. The slight damp and grey sky and the castle up on the crag gave it a mideaval fair sort of feeling.

The show went on for about two hours. James Jay (or just "Jay") did an interesting pseudo-religious piece using books. A kid whose name I can't remember did an interesting club routine with way too many clubs. It was more amazing because of the wind against him. There was also a diablo act and many other things that I don't remember. We pretty much spent the whole time sitting on the lawn or juggling amongst ourselves. There was also a carrosel just next to the stage that people rode from time-to-time.

When the show was over, the busses that had brought people to the parade showed up again. We all tried to go and take the bus back, but it soon became clear that it would be a difficult trick because everyone wanted to take the bus back and there were only five busses, which wasn't going to be enough for everyone unless they made multiple trips.

Well, Seth and I decided that it would be nicer just to walk than to have to deal with the whole bus thing. Seth had his unicycle with him, but had ridden it so much that he didn't mind not riding for a while.

We walked back through Princes Street Gardens, stopping to pick up a little food on the way. I got some sort of hotdog-in-a-roll sort of thing. It was okay, but a bit lacking condements.

Coming out of the food stand, we ran into Eriq and Kristen who had also been in the parade and had watched the show. They were headed off to dinner somewhere, but heading in the same general direction so we started walking a bit together.

Eriq tried to ride Seth's unicycle a bit. He had tried a few times before in California, but didn't really know how to ride. Seth used a pretty good technique--eye contact--to get him going in the right direction. With a bit of help at the launch he did quite well. We even got him to turn a corner and begin riding up hill once.

Seth and I parted company with Eriq and Kristen at Waverly Shopping Center and continued walking up toward Calton Hill.

Just a little past North Bridge--near where the parade had started--we found another little graveyard.

David Hume's grave.

Seth and I were both hungry after the parade and the walk back and neither one of us really wanted to take our chances with the cafeteria food. (Not that the cafeteria was "bad", mind you, just that it was always "not good".) So we stopped at a little fish and chips shop a couple of minutes away from the sports center.

It was a pretty typical fish shop: plastic signs listing all of the stuff you could get, glass-paneled counters with heat lamps keeping pre-fried food hot, white linoleum floors, no chairs or tables, and a juke box. There were two high-school aged girls out front taking and making the orders and I think there was someone else in the back as well.

On the menu next to pretty much everything were two prices: one under "Plain" and the other under "Supper". Seth and I really didn't know what the difference was but we figured that the supper sounded bigger and was the one that we wanted. Also under "Fish" there was "Regular" and "Special". Well again we had no idea what the difference was, so we asked and the girls were nice enough to explain.

It turned out that "Regular" fish was dipped in batter and then fried, while "Special" fish was breaded and then fried. We also discovered that "Supper" meant "with chips". So we ordered both a "Regular" and a "Special" fish supper with the intent to split them later. I also got an Irn Bru.

We had to wait a few minutes for them to whip up the Special Fish because they didn't have any under the heat lamps. My feet hurt so much that I sat down right next to the jukebox on the linoleum as we waited.

When the Special Fish was done, they asked us if we wanted "Brown Sauce" on our fish and chips. I still have no idea what it is, but in Edinburgh it seems to come on fish and chips as a matter of course. It's kind of spicy, but not too, and kind of vinegary, but not so much as ketchup. Wanting to try new things, we both got it. After trying it, I decided that as an addition to fish and chips it's okay, but I prefer straight malt vinegar (and ketchup).

We headed back to the sports center to eat our meals because neither one of us really wanted to try to eat a greasy pile of fish and chips with our hands sitting in the street or on a lawn somewhere. We actually went to the cafeteria to eat, hoping that they wouldn't mind. No one said anything, but the next day there were signs up saying that only cafeteria food was to be eaten in the cafeteria.

I couldn't eat but half of the fish and chips. I actually only had a little of the Regular Fish because it was heavily soaked in oil. The Special Fish was much better, being fresh and crispy. And the chips, well, they were pretty grease-laden as well. In the end, I think we both preferred the Special Fish, but whether that was because it actually was better or because it was made fresh and didn't sit for ages under a heat lamp is still open for debate.