The saga of Sunday August 4, 2024 in transit from Dublin, Ireland to Edinburgh, Scotland
After the intensity of our two days in Dublin and the immense amount of walking we just put our children through, and our early wake up time, Chaim and I agreed that it was worth it to hire a taxi to the airport. The door-to-door service was a very welcome change of pace. We made it through to our gate with plenty of time to relax. The boys were very excited because there was Wi-Fi at the airport. They had been begging for screentime with Wi-Fi for days and we were finally able to oblige. About an hour later, we walked through our gate to board an airport bus that took us to a tiny plane. We climbed the boarding stairs with all of our luggage and squeezed through the aisle. During the flight, Chaim and I discussed our plans for the afternoon. August is Fringe Festival in Edinburgh and I wanted to try and catch a show before the Nine Days (a period of mourning in the Jewish calendar) officially started. We booked two shows hoping that our children would be awake enough for both shows and worrying that we would miss the first one.
We landed in Edinburgh at 1:00PM and immediately everything felt easier than it had in Dublin. An easy three minute walk to the tram and we were on our way to our hostel. The tram dropped us off another three minute walk to our hostel. We were too early to check in so we stored our luggage for free in their storage closet and headed back out to our first show. The boys were dying for ice cream so I stood in line for the 360 All Stars show with the boys while Chaim went in search of ice cream and water. Just as the line began moving, we spotted Chaim sprinting back to us with four ice creams and waters. He totally scored “Best Dad” award. The boys didn’t even care that the ice cream was already melting.
After a very long wait, and several toilet visits later, we were able to take our seats. The show was unbelievable. Five performers, two who are on stage for almost the entire show drumming, singing, rapping, and beatboxing, and five who are world class athletes in their respective areas were mesmerizing. The boys were jumping in their seats with excitement, whooping, and screaming every time they were asked to participate. Each performer was better than the next. Eitan went crazy over the freestyling basketball player. He left wanting to be just like him and almost peed his pants when he got to talk to him and take a picture with him. The show quickly became a highlight of our adventure thus far.
The show ended just in time for an early dinner. Our dining spot included a large TV that played music videos back-to-back. The boys couldn’t take their eyes off the screen. At some point, Eminem’s video turned on and Amichai lost it. He loves Eminem’s music and makes a point of listening to the clean versions when around the family. The fact that the twins were watching the music video and listening to an unedited version of the song, when they were seven years old and he had to wait until he was eleven to even listen to Eminem, was beyond frustrating. Turns out we did such a good job of sheltering our children that they did not realize the rest of the world does not censor certain content the way America does. Another observation they made was the difference in number of people who smoke in Europe verses the United States.
Dinner was delicious, but the boys were getting tired. The unanimous family decision was to skip the second show to turn in early. Chaim and I were mildly annoyed that we paid for something we weren’t going to use but knew this was the right decision for everyone. We made our way back to the hostel and checked in. Our bedroom consisted of three bunkbeds, a shower, a sink, and toilet with a sink. I was mildly worried about bedbugs and did a cursory check even though there really wasn’t another sleeping option because Edinburgh was fully booked due to the festival. I couldn’t be sure, but I didn’t find anything alarming, at least that I could see. Exhausted, the boys went to bed and I finally took some time to write in my own journal.
