He may be a good photographer, but his pricing practices are a little strange and wholly…read morecounter-intuitive. I accept having to pay £10 per print if I want to have one as a souvenir, but to charge £15 per digital image (500 pixels wide, hardly print quality) makes absolutely no sense.

excellent photographer, brilliant with the kids.read more

Bristo Square is one thing during the festival, and a completely different thing outside the…read morefestival. During the festival it houses the Udderbelly. Throughout the rest of the year, be there rain or snow or the kind of wind that bites you to the bone, Bristo Square is where the skaters go, as well as those kids who ride those really small bikes. Possibly BMXs? You also get people doing parcour there. It's really quite fun just to sit around and watch people either a) succeeding in their tricks, or b) falling hilariously (without any ambulances, nae worries, I'm not that sadistic). Bristo Square is smack in the middle of a load of student buildings: McEwan Hall, Teviot, Potterrow and the Dugald Stewart Building. So, even throughout the academic year, you can expect to get flyered around there. And also, if you actually decide to walk through the middle of the square, make sure you're not on anyone's bmx/skate trajectory, 'cause it could end both hilariously and painfully.

Bristo Square is an area I frequently walk past, and is always buzzing with student activity. It is…read morethe one of the main squares within the central campus of the University of Edinburgh. It has McEwan Hall, Teviot Row Union and the Potterrow union all in its vicinity. It is always full of people dotting about to these popular places. During Freshers' Week this square is always busy with fun fairs or acting as meeting points for student guided events or tours. Also, during this time, students create a large slithering queue in Bristo Square for the student nights in Potterrow. Furthermore, Bristo Square is used by many newly graduated students as the place to take photos with their families or just with them posing with their certificates in front of McEwan hall. Also, during the festival the Underbelly is located here and is one of the hot spots of the Festival! During the year the square is frequently visited by skaters and by people with BMX bikes. And sadly also by groups of drinkers as well at times! Bristo Square is always thriving and is a great feature of the University of Edinburgh!

Zoo Southside is one of the largest venues in the Fringe. On Nicholson Street, one of the busiest…read moreroads during the festival, it is obvious as an old converted church, immediately giving it an impressive appearance. Inside, the venue is huge as well, seating about 240 people. In addition to the large capacity, the fact that it was a church and has high ceilings means that it stays relatively cool, even when full, which is a nice change from the majority of venues. As it is one of the bigger venues, they attract good acts as well. Though less likely to see some of the top comics around, there are always good theatre productions. Occasionally these are a bit amateur, but generally they are pretty well done. As well as theatre, it hosts a bit of everything - music (jazz / classical / contemporary), magic, dance, cabaret and acrobatics, and as there is fierce competition to get a place here, the acts are normally top class. If you are looking for one of the famous comics, then this is not the place to go to, but if you want a bit of culture, or even less famous comedians, this is one of the best venues in the Fringe to go to.

This is actually a review of a show I saw last night (13/08/14). Go and see it!…read more Pss Pss Zoo Southside (Venue 82) Aug 14-17, 19-25 18:50 £10-£12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykXvXsC8M3o Cirque du Soleil award winners, The Baccalà Clown premiere at Edinburgh Fringe festival this year with Pss Pss, directed by Louis Spagna. Former students of the Teatro Dimitri school in Switzerland, clown duo Simone Fassari and Camilla Pessi have since united to create an intricate clown act that ranges from compelling comedic simplicity to intricate aerial circus theatre. Taking inspiration from Buster Keaton, Federico Fellini and of course Charlie Chaplin, until 2010, they largely played circuses and cabarets, before turning their hand to theatre-based clowning. Together they compliment each other's opposing characters. Fassari portrays the older more mature of the two with a silent-movie appearance, who tries to remain sensible throughout, while Pessi in a bright concoction of tights and bloomers, is the mischievous, childlike and needy younger 'sister' with her wide-eyed expressions. The show is as much about their relationship as it is the stunts. The curious blacked out stage comes to life and the lights gently come up, a bare stage. Pessi enters with a lunch box containing an apple they are oblivious to the audience, as they squabble over the apple. Sudden realisation on our presence, the stop, shocked, eyes popping out. Nervously and awkwardly, they attend to entertain us. She bows in victory because she managed to juggle a single apple! They continue to build on their skills, each stunt improving from the last, until Pessi balancing with one hand on Fassari's head. Their reactions are precise and unexpected, even they appear surprised by what they have achieved. Their timeless performance of hilarious mishaps, simple gestures and outstanding acrobatics is utterly charming. The old-fashioned music hall act maintains a clumsy connection, communicating with the universal language of expression and action. From daft distracting dances, diablo misfortunes, long hugs, audience participation, banana delight, a musical ladder and tense trapeze slapstick, they had the audience giggling throughout the performance. Their volatile relationship takes us through emotions such us desire, disenchantment hope, yearning and a bit of tomfoolery. Although this show is extremely family friendly, sadly they only allow over eight year olds to attend, claiming it to be a clown show for adults. Either way their light, honest mime and acrobatic act is an all time good fun, world touring show and a must see this festival. Four funny stars!

I only ever come here when sitting exams and as such the place absolutely petrified me. That said…read moreit is a very impressive building with some great architecture and amazing history. If you ever get a chance to have a look round do, but sitting exams in the grand hall with portraits of famous physicians staring down at you is quite intimidating.

A great venue for talks and lectures…read more There's one fantastic lecture theatre which is kitted out with all you need including a massive projector screen and microphones scattered through the audience. These make chairing a session a million times easier as you don't have to wear yourself out legging it up and down the stairs with a mic. Other rooms can be used as lecture halls and I must say that I felt well fancy giving a talk surrounded by fancy art and statues in a room with amazing awnings, blood red carpet and fancy gold fixtures. The catering they provide is also great. I've been here several times and it's usually a selection of sandwiches that's vast enough to suit everyone, some fresh fruit and various biscuits. The coffee is good, which is generally not expected when they're catering for 150 odd people! The foyer behind the lecture theatre is big, not decorated all the best but it's big and comfortable. There's a big cloakroom just off it, which is convenient but I imagine not very secure. When there's a lot of people wandering in and out of the building it would be super easy to slip in there unnoticed. Finally, the bathrooms are awesome...they're super fancy!

Event: drinks, dinner and dancing for 60 people…read more I cannot recommend this venue highly enough. The venue itself is beautiful, the food was excellent and the staff were all friendly and helpful. We organized a drinks reception, followed by a sit-down dinner and then dancing to a live band. The venue has two levels with the bar area downstairs and dinner served upstairs. This worked really well for our event. We had an entirely vegetarian menu which we felt was going to be a challenge but they pulled it off with flair - even the meat eaters were chuffed. From beginning to end all the staff at Unusual Events were responsive and friendly. The verdict: trying to find an excuse for another party! Top drawer.

They have zubrowka vodka! A wide selection of other spirits and coffee. Good music, bartenders are…read morefunny and cute. In a great area for the fringe or any other time of year. If you can't have a good time here, it's your own fault!!

I discovered Swanfield Studios through a groupon deal for singing lessons. I decided to try it out…read moreand if I showed any potential, would pursue my secret rockstar fantasy as my new hobby (if I didn't do it now, I may never) and ended up spending half a year here on weekly lessons. I was extremely nervous on my first visit but was quickly put at ease when I opened the door to the cheery faces of the studio. At first I was surprised at how young some of the tutors looked - some would be younger than me (I'm in my late 20's) and was a little worried about how experienced/qualified they would be. This was only based on the experience of my piano teacher when I was a child who was about 80 and sometimes hit my fingers if I played a wrong key. But my concerns quickly dissolved as it turns out these tutors had either music degress or other qualifications and were highly experienced - with a few if not all pursuing their own music careers at the same time. The studio itself sits amongst a number of businesses in a industrial estate in Bonnington. Initially it is small but split into maybe 4 practice rooms and a wait room. It does lack a polished studio look you see on tv with the brick walls being painted over, basic funrnishings, a toilet (useful when dealing with nerves), a coffee machine for self service and I don't think any rooms were sound proof but that didn't take away from the quality of teaching/service provided. I liked that every time I walked through the door I was always greeted by a smiley 'Hi Valerie how are you?' by whoever was manning the desk. Since I shared a similar age with a few of them, we often engaged in banter as well. I went through 3 teachers during my time here - 2 left to concentrate on their own music careers but I wasn't put off. Each was very friendly, made me feel relaxed and although had slightly different ways of doing things this did not interfere with my progress. Basically they leave it up to me to tell them what I wanted to achieve from the lessons and let me choose the music; inputting their choices to help out when I hit a wall. I just wanted to enjoy the experience of singing without the pressure of working towards exams so did a little a theory and was encouraged to absorb more as I got a bit more serious about it and now I have bought a book for a little extra help at home. Along the way I have learnt various scales and techniques for warming up the voice and best practice for looking after it long term. I got so into these I found myself occcassionaly blaring them out at traffic lights whilst waiting to cross roads (only realised I had opened my mouth after the funny looks I got). Another benefit I obtained was boosting the projection of my speaking voice as sometimes I am quietly spoken. A really valuable thing I learned were breathing techniques - I don't know if I have breathed the wrong way my whole life but this taught me to breath the opposite way to my normal style and as a result have felt a lot more relaxed in general and have even stopped using my inhaler for the gym as I suffer from mild asthma. I'm glad I got to explore a lot of music genres to broaden my technique and had a lot of fun, also sharing giggles with my tutor if I hit a wrong note - quashing any fears of failure. I work different shifts each week so the studio were really flexible to accommodate my needs and didn't mind if I had to skip a couple weeks until my next lesson. I noticed a lot of ages using the services and facilities here from young children to older people, individuals and groups - and the staff were equally as friendly and professional to all. So I am not a rock star yet but my experience here was very valuable and has given me a lot to work on and nurture my ability. The studio provides tuition in a range of music styles and instruments, music production, mixing and mastering, as well as a recording studio and events and workshops.

This place is mainly for outside catering, like business lunches sent to offices, but whilst…read moreworking in Edinburgh I sampled some of their soup and sandwiches that had been ordered in to the store. They seem to be competing a bit with Bread and Olives, who also do catering, and it was interesting to see the prices pretty much match up exactly. The soup was Thai Chilli which I later found out was the speciality, and it was delicious with just the right amount of heat in it to be enjoyable! The sandwiches and baguettes were assorted but I enjoyed all of them, especially the chicken tikka. Delicious, and very reasonably priced if you need to have sandwiches made to order.

If you're looking to have a sandwich/roll made to order then Flavours in Drumsheugh Place is ideal…read morefor this purpose, though sometimes the accompaniments are over priced. there is a good selection of fillings and if it's a "Thai Chilli Soup" day it's a bonus. This is their best flavoured soup but at £2.20 could prove costly if purchasing on a daily basis. I've always received quick service and the staff appreciate that customers don't want to spend their lunch time queuing

This is a beautiful big conference centre owned by Edinburgh University and based at Pollock Halls…read morewith beautiful views onto the Salisbury Crags. It has the Pentland room for big conference events and keynotes but also mice break out rooms and areas for refreshments. It's nice it's just outside the city centre in a beautiful location!