Bagpipe ban for tat shops

[Phil]

A bigger issue was the severe lack of toilets for the evening festival crowds.

You have touched on a major issue, not just here in Edinburgh, but in most of our towns and cities. Young people, in particular, after they leave a pub on their way home after a night out have virtually nowhere to answer the inevitable call of nature. I take it that things are much better organised in your home city with a plentiful supply of toilets but here it seems the Council have no interest in providing such facilities. Why this should be I have no idea, although unsupervised toilets do tend to get used for all sorts of purposes, mostly illegal, beyond their actual function so perhaps cost is the issue here. Nevertheless, for a city that leads the way in tourism this is a shocking lack.

[billsides]

Hey, you don't have to be young and drinking too much, it gets worse as you age. I nearly got in trouble many times before I discovered where some were hidden. In Oz we have little blue signs on lamp posts all over the place pointing to toilets which is vital for visitors. Very few toilets are manned in Oz and we don't have turnstyles requiring up to 50p for a pee either! I got adept at vaulting these turnstyles when I did not have the right money! In my last visit we stood in line for over an hour and right after our evening meal before the long parade up the Royal Mile during The Gathering. No loos were available for the 1000's who marched then the lousy few at the tattoo ground which took 40 minutes for my wife to access! I warned as many as I could of the situation prior. I spotted a portable toilet with door wedged hard against a tree near the start which was obviously not meant to be used, but, with a few others helping, I manhandled it and got it functional which pleased a great many people judging by the long queue which formed! Education on basic tourist needs is badly needed there. I suspect some spend almost as much time looking for toilets in Edinburgh as they do shopping for a kilt!

Bill

[CMcG]

<snip>Education on basic tourist needs is badly needed there. I suspect some spend almost as much time looking for toilets in Edinburgh as they do shopping for a kilt!

By the sounds of it, tourists probably spend MORE time queuing for the toilet than they do kilt shopping! This could perhaps be another solution for the proliferation of tartan tat shops: provide more public toilets. That way people will be more likely to make it to the back of the store where the good stuff is, or to do a bit of comparison shopping and realize the different levels of quality. Time is of the essence when nature calls

[billsides]

Hi Phil and Jock,
Yes I agree, they have a bad problem maybe turn a tat shop or two into a loo, I am, sure it would meet with tourist favour as would adding some of those little blue signs to posts.
I am going no further north than the Highland Games at Perth this trip, my next trip however will be north including the Shetlands. My mothers parents came from there, my grandfather was an Anderson and a fiddle maker/herring fisherman and always joked that he was a blown away Norwegian. My grandmother was a Sinclair and claimed allegance to Caithness both however were very devout Scots and installed much of their pride in my parents and me. I have toured the highlands twice in style on the Royal Scotsman train and been as far north as Wick on it. They take kilts seriously on it and suggest one be worn to their formal dinners on board. It was a bit bizarre rocketting along at 65 mph in the highlands in a kilt doing the Gay Gordons down the carriage isle. I will be revisiting those areas but by car next time, maybe next year. It is a beautiful part of the world and that train is very special and rightly expensive.

Bill