Mad Edinburgh

[cessna152towser]

My wife's bridesmaid is over from the Netherlands in Edinburgh on holiday this week and we met her and her boyfriend there for lunch today. First time I have had to suffer Edinburgh city centre for more than a year, with its awful Royal Mile full of tourist tat shops. We live just 55 miles from Edinburgh but it is the one place in Scotland I would rather avoid. Much too touristy and too gimmicky and the locals are probably the least friendly of all Scots. Even though the frivolities of the festival and the tattoo are over for another year there were still plenty of tourists around today. I wore my Hunting Wallace kilt. Thankfully I never met any smart asses who claimed to be direct descendents of William Wallace. As far as I know William Wallace never sired any children and the surname Wallace simply denotes someone of Welsh ancestry. The only reason I occasionally wear a Wallace kilt is that I had a great grandmother who bore that surname. Mercifully there was no shortage of kilt clad busking pipers on the streets with their begging bowls and wearing those silly beefeater hats and white hose to amuse and entertain the tourists and submitting to being the subjects of many photographs so I was able to sneak unmolested under the radar, wearing my kilt casually with black hose and polo shirt, without being hassled as some sort of curio by our visitors. I did spot a few other casually kilted persona, may have been like minded Scots or perhaps American tourists. I just don't get why anyone would ever choose to visit mad manic Edinburgh when there is so much more of the real Scotland to see, from the majestic mountains of the Highlands, through the splendid architecture of Glasgow with its beautiful parks, vibrant waterfront and friendly locals to the rolling hills of the Southern Uplands and the fine sandy beaches of the Western Isles and of the Solway Coast. Ah well, perhaps I best not rant, the magic of the name EDINBURGH somehow conjures up the idea of a must see destination for folks worldwide and provides a much needed boost for our Scottish tourism.

[Father Bill]

So tell us what you really think, Alex.

[Liam]

Alex....When Mrs. Liam and I visited Scotland a few years ago, I found Edinburgh very touristy and much preferred Glasgow and the countryside, so can identify. It is much like coming to Western Canada and going to Banff. The Royal Mile is the equivalent of Banff Avenue.
Slainte...

[The Q]

The only Good reason to visit Edinburgh is to visit the many museums, galleries and perhaps the Castle ( and in my case the Harburns Model railway shop on Leith walk). Though I'd prefer to do it in the winter to avoid the majority of the tourists.
But that applies to most cities I hate crowds....

[hector]

Alex, Edinburgh is a very nice destination for a city trip. The museums are very interesting and your portrait gallery can beat the one of London! However, I agree 'The Royal Mile' is to be avoided. I cannot understand that Scots accept that this central historical part of their capital city is exploited to sell the most unthinkable silly items one could imagine, and not in the least 'their' beautiful masculine garment 'the kilt'.
Genuine kilt shops are very few and difficult to find as they are located close to the end of the mile or have their premises in side roads.
A bit of more national proud, not to confuse with chauvinism, would be on its place.
And your promoting the Highlands and the West.....please keep them unspoiled!

[Peter Lowe]

Yes as someone who lives close to Edinburgh and "comes into town" very regularly I understand what has been said. There are still many things to see and do that make visiting a great experience. The trouble is that the business rates (essentially a charge for occupying the buildings) in central Edinburgh have been used as a "cash cow" by the town thus chasing the quality out from the centre. Also the "shopping experience" has changed and the customer wants something different.

Princes Street is still great but I remember it as it was. Then words could not describe it's magnificence. Nevertheless it is still a great place to visit.

Maybe I have not moved with the times!

Peter

[John_Carrick]

As a fairly regular visitor to Edinburgh and having been seconded by work to spend two days a weeks there for five months earlier this year, I must rush to the defence of the great city of Edinburgh, even though every criticism made of it by Alex is reasonable.
I would agree that there are many wonderful treasures of landscape and culture around Scotland and I recently spent a great weekend in Glasgow, which has many fine buildings, museums, nightlife and a better array of retail therapy opportunities than Edinburgh can offer.
You need to have a few bucks to live well in Edinburgh and real estate prices are up there with London. But although the main historical street is infested with tourist tat and seasonally deluged with festival goers, you have to agree that this is one of the most beautiful historical cities on the planet. Every day I would walk to work in the West End along Princes Street, looking up at the castle and the profile of the old town buildings on the skyline down to Arthur's Seat, leading from one extinct volcano to another! I would pace through the metrical squares, past the multitude of beautifully preserved and well laid out Georgian town houses, punctuated by architectural jewels such as churches, ornate hotels and businesses, wonderful village areas with nice shops, restaurants and pubs, parks and botanical gardens, beaches and hilltops and waterside walkways like The Water if Leith, which takes you miles through the city to the port of Leith, where you can imagine you might be in a Low Country port town. I find the people very pleasant and interesting to talk to. I absolutely love the place and would happily move there.
John

[OC Richard]

So many things Alex says resonate with me in different ways.

There's the thing about locals having sort of a reverse view of their own iconic places, which people travel from all over the world to see.

I personally experience this, because I live in Southern California and I work at Disneyland.

People come from Europe, from Australia, from China to visit. Yet there are people born and raised within walking distance of Disneyland who have never been there, who you couldn't pay to go there. They intensely dislike it, everything about it. They find it baffling that people would travel thousands of miles and invest thousands of dollars in holidays to visit it.

Then there's Los Angeles, and Hollywood.

I hate those places. I've never lived there, and have the typical Orange County view of Los Angeles, which is something like the annoying bigger brother who is sort of a bully, always lording over you.

We view LA as being a dump. I was dumbfounded when I ran into some young French tourists who were telling me how beautiful LA was. We had quite a discussion, but in the end we just had diametrically opposed views.

I know a guy who lives in Edinburgh and he refers to it as a dump. So there ya go!

I think Edinburgh is the most beautiful city I've seen. Mind you, I've not seen that many! And I love Glasgow, and Inverness, and York, and Chester... it's all very cool for an American, in ways that people in the UK just can't relate to, like Los Angeles and those French guys.

For one thing, it's the way Edinburgh is built on those hills, so that the city looks different from different viewpoints. So many cities are just flat and dull.

But certainly it's horrible the way The Royal Mile is crowded with tat shops. I hate those passionately.

My first visit to Edinburgh was in the mid-1980s and those didn't exist. Up and down the Royal Mile were actual Scottish Highland pipemakers and Highland Dress makers.

I've stated my opinion here many times: just as the European Union protects many local industries, things like you can't call a cheese by a certain name unless it's actually made in that place, I think that all items of indigenous Scottish culture such as kilts, sporrans, kilt jackets, bonnets, Highland bagpipes, etc that are sold within the borders of Scotland should be made in Scotland. This protects both the native Scottish craftspeople, and the tourists.

You don't know how many times somebody has called me about coming for their first bagpipe lesson, somebody who has just returned from a Scottish holiday, who has bought a set of bagpipes in Edinburgh. Always it's a ***** Pakistani bagpipe, utterly useless as a musical instrument. "But, it has to be a real Scottish bagpipe- I bought it in Edinburgh!" they say. I have to be the bearer of bad news: if they want to learn to play they'll need a legitimate instrument.

BTW I've visited Edinburgh during the Festival and when Edinburgh is rather quiet. As annoying as it must be for locals, I do enjoy the craziness and energy of Festival time, in spite of the hordes of European tourists. (There must be 100 Italians and Spaniards for every American.)

[ctbuchanan]

My complaint with my Scottish cousins is that when they come to the USA they go to three places: Walt Disney World in Orlando, New York City and Las Vegas.

I admonish them that they are not experiencing America! But to no avail. People go where they want to go.

I will say that Alex did come up to New Hampshire to visit us on one of his trips over recently and he go to experience Olde New England for real.

Note: I was in Edinburgh to march in the Tattoo this August and it is a city like many others, you need to know the right places to visit. But as my mother was born in Glasgow I do have a preference.

[bodhran4me]

I am with the good Father Bill, don't hold back, tell us how you really feel! It is bad for ya to keep 'er all bottled up!

Edinburgh is a large city and I could probably never live there but I did enjoy it for what it was and yes enjoyed the Royal Mile as well. Indeed, I would have liked to have spent more than just one day so I could have explored a bit more. As a Canadian it is rather remarkable to wander in and around structures that have seen so many centuries, even if they are now occupied by tat shops and such. Try to see past the hustle and trappings and enjoy the feel of cobblestone under your feet . Glean what you can from your next trip.

Having said that we also stopped to see where my mum-in-law used to stay summers with her granny in GlenIsla. I could not only live there but die there as well. Strolling the roads, sitting on the stone bridge over the flowing stream was beautiful to use a hackneyed expression. I could have spent the entire couple of weeks exploring and roaming, but so much to do in such little time, eh? I also did a late day start/finish of Ben Nevis and must say the way down was much less crowded and more enjoyable, except for the pain in my old knees!

If I were to return, I would likely skip the cities we did visit albeit briefly(Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness) and either hike the West Highland Way, visit Glen Isla or maybe even John O'Groats!

Cities anywhere can be interesting and even remarkable but there are forests, hills and glens which are majestic and truly resonate.