It’s raining, it’s pouring, if only I was snoring. August is here and if you are (un)lucky enough to live on the Royal Mile–or somewhere of equal historical interest–you are feeling the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival to full effect. Park your tour bus and exchange your currency, the tourists have arrived!
Since I am on the verge of completing my Masters programme, I haven’t had a chance to see anything; thus what I am offering you is a birds eye view of the Edinburgh milieu. Hey, that rhymes. Allow me to now get out my binoculars and take notice of ‘tourist behaviour.’
Ok, here is our first subject: the middle-aged man, dressed in casual wear and holding a camcorder. He’s walking in my close (or wee passage-way as he might say), videotaping himself…walking! How many hours of footage has he captured? Is his camera even on? I’m sure his relatives and friends will love to gather round his television and watch this epic video. They will be humming that bagpipe tune for weeks.
Next up is a family coming round the corner. They are all wearing plastic ponchos with tiny Scottish flags on them–they didn’t prepare for the rain did they? A tiny girl breaks from the pack and takes off toddling down the road and the rest of the family follows in ‘flying-v’ formation. Look at them go!
Our next study takes place at my work, where many tourist women come in for local fashion. Strike a pose, we’re on the high street! If we go down to the fitting rooms, we find a pack of young female tourists–from my own country I might add–who handle the most expensive dresses like they were rummaging in a ball pit at Chuck E. Cheese. Must keep smiling and suppress urge to kill.
I tell you, sometimes the theatre is best on the streets instead of in the venues. You can even BYOB instead of pay an arm and a leg for drinks in overpriced tourist watering holes. I sometimes cringe at what happens to our fair city during the festival, but it’s all in the name of fun and it’s a tradition that has long preceded my residency in Scotland. What people forget is that when they travel, they are seen as ambassadors of their country, specimens to be dissected by those they come in contact with. Indeed tourists can be amusing to behold, but other times, they just need to be more respectful of the countries they visit. It’s just common sense.
Hm, that beer garden is sounding pretty tempting just about now.
