Edinburgh. I live here all year, and its generally a lovely place. For one(ish) month of every year however my feelings aren't as clear cut. The month in question is August. Festival Season.
I have mixed feelings about the festival(s), on one hand I love it, the city has a buzz of excitement, theres lots of extra things to see and do, extra money available if you're willing to work for it, and can be lots of fun....On the other hand there are thousands of people EVERYWHERE. They are often either confused or downright rude too which doesn't help, and this means I also hate the festival(s).
You can see my dilemma. B-Man came up with a good plan recently (which I'm sure the council would throw money at! hahahahahahahahaha) that the people who live in Edinburgh really deserve something to make up for the fact that they are expected to hand over their hometown to complete strangers for a month. Not monetary compensation or anything grandiose (especially as we would all probably end up with approx. 10p) but something to say thankyou. Maybe the performers could organise somethings amongst themselves, and just have a few extra shows before it all kicks off with free tickets only for Edinburgh dwellers?
I'm sure every city has a similar issue if they have a large tourist season, so maybe we should just educate the tourists - make them pass a test on the border all about buses, how not to walk into people with your backpacks or stand in the middle of oncoming traffic maybe?
I'm off to be a tourist next month myself...the big question is, should I give them a taste of their own medicine or be a shining example of good tourist behaviour and not be a pain in the ass???
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