A toad, 9 guys and South Africa

August 22nd -- Today we had tickets to 3 Fringe shows. Our first show was not until 12:30, so Amy and Abby made a trip this morning to the grocery store while Austin and I stayed back at the apartment. They picked up some pizza's for us to fix for lunch. After lunch, we headed out to our first show of the day, The Wind in the Willows. The show was in a large theater located in a mini-castle.`It was a great kids show and was enjoyed by all. When we came out, there was a large pavilion area set up with drinks and food. It was the first sunny day we have had in Scotland, so we enjoyed hanging out outside before our next show at 4:30. After a while, we decided to head to the Royal Mile to catch some street shows. We came upon a show just starting at Hunter's Square, right off the Royal Mile. The kids again sat down in the front row and Amy and I were standing behind them. After a little bit, Austin said he had to go to the potty. So he and Amy took off. Right after they did, the performer picked me out of the crowd to come up on stage with him. I was thinking, great....here I am and Amy and Austin have left. Luckily they came back before long and were able to watch as I and another man from France took large chains and wrapped him up like in a straight-jacket and padlocked him in. Then he proceeded to work his way out of the chains. It was pretty cool. After that, we started walking to our next show, Africaaah!. It was a performance by the African Children's Choir in St. Andrew's & St. George's Church. The choir is made up of young children from South Africa who have either lost one or both parents to HIV. It was AWESOME! They sang and danced their hearts out in a celebration of their culture. Once again, I made it up on stage when they asked for volunteers to help out with the drums. Austin was a little upset that he didn't get to play the drums. After the show, we headed across the street to Hard Rock for a quick dinner before our next show at 7:30. After dinner, we walked back across the town to see Brocante Sonore: The Mechanicians. This was by far the most "unique" show we have seen. When we walked into the theater, it looked like a junk yard on the stage. Then 9 guys came on stage and began to make music with the various items on stage. They used everything from drills to hoses to saws to chairs to make music. It was highly entertaining and again, very good. It was the perfect end to a day of Fringe shows.