A Rant is not just for Christmas

Edinburgh’s Christmas is in full swing. All we need now are Bellagio’s Dancing Waters and we could become the new Las Vegas of the North- forget Athens of the North, the City has definitely gone downmarket.

At least there were brilliant blue skies even if the temperature was hovering just above freezing when I entered the Central Edinburgh theme park to meet up with a friend. Princes Street was gridlocked with what seemed to be the entire bus fleet and a tram in the mix. It made crossing the road very easy even despite the red man at the lights.

On the plus side, the Norwegian Christmas at the top of the Mound is a lovely shape, straight and regular with its lights twinkling engagingly on the passing pedestrians. I hope it stays like that until the last Hogmanay visitor has departed in January.

I did notice a few groups of more mature visitors whom I imagine are on special package tours from points south come to visit the Christmas Market spread over Princes Street Gardens. Underbelly, the promoters receiving most of the monetary benefit, will no doubt get retrospective planning permission for the scaffolding erection, having failed to consider getting it beforehand.

I hope the City Fathers are pleased with their efforts in the promotion stakes. I imagine most of them live in the suburbs and are immune to the upset in the city centre and are possibly not bus drivers either.