Tony is The Man. If you’re planning an Edinburgh trip, check his many RU-vid vids. He knows his stuff. Couple other things not to do in Edinburgh: - Don’t spend £25 buying shortbread in Pound and Beyond on Princes Street. You get the same top brand, Walkers, for less than a fifth of that price in any supermarket. - Don’t book Airbnb. It’s killing accommodation opportunities for locals...as most visitors know, but conveniently ignore.
Awww man, when I was about 3 or 4 I used to pass Bobby every morning on my way to nursery and give him a kiss and a cuddle. That was 50 years ago and I still glow inside when I see a picture of his statue.
Thanks Tony. I totally agree with the #4. There is a "#4" in almost every city in the world where you do not do that "thing that ALL tourists do." Just...... don't be that tourist! Keep up the great stuff Tony. Thanks!
The toughest thing for me when I visited Scotland was driving on the opposite side of the road lol. It was really challenging. I did figure out how to say Edinburgh correctly before I went to Scotland. I was warned not to go to an old man’s pub but somehow ended up in one in Dunbar and was adopted by a local group of folks my age and we were up singing at the top of our lungs in the back of the pub till the wee hours of the night. I never saw that group again but we had a blast! They were locals but I was happy they took me under their wing that night. I traveled alone and never felt an ounce of danger the entire time I was there.
About Bobby's nose; have you seen the 3 months old video by Passing Stranger? He claims the rubbing is for good luck....No wonder tourists do that mistake. Somehow I knew not to do it. Following you for years, have you mentioned it before? Love your rambling! Keep up the good work with CLAN Broonford! Love from Norway.
I imagine on seeing that Bobby's nose is all shiny, visitors assume this is the tradition, and continue to do so. Bobby would have to be screened off for a while to enable the original patina to grow back, so maybe to raise him beyond easy touching height would be the answer.
Extremely important to be respectful when you are visiting a city. 100% with you Tony and thank you for sharing this valuable information with all of us. I really appreciate it..
Thank you, Tony! (The bit about those silly hats was very entertaining! lol) When I visited Edinburgh about 30 years ago, I took a picture of Bobby, and when I was there again last year, I took the same photo (same position, etc) and it was terrible to see the difference in his nose :(
As usual, an awesome video. Great info for tourist to know. I to have incurred the look of disdain when I told a group of tourist to stop rubbing the nose. The city needs to raise Bobby up a fee more feet out of reach of tourist.
I visited Scotland in 2006 and LOVED it so much. I never bought a kilt but would want to buy the correct one for my last name not some guess. I DID buy some gorgeous handmade locally weaved ponchos/wraps/blankets at the gift shop at Sir Walter Scots home and they were costly but beautiful and I still have them to this day and they are lovely.
The gentleman who walks passed you at 7:30 has to be one of the coolest people in Edinburgh. I don’t know who he is, but have crossed paths with him the last two visits. The only way I can describe his look is traditional Scottish crossed with gentleman punk rock crossed with way cool vibe. Find him and make a video - he has to have a great story.
Nice restraint on the dude touching Greyfriars Bobby. As an American who watched a lot of videos like this before coming to Edinburgh, I too had a little freak out moment when I saw how many people were doing it.
Phew! Made it to the end and I’m not guilty of any of these. Love Edinburgh! Had a look at the wee dog and it was surrounded by tourists touching it’s nose ;-)
I made the mistake of touching Bobby's nose in 2018, but I have restrained since! I often ponder if I could bring a metal sealant to protect Bobby's nose...we have some fancy wheel polishes and the such in the U.S. i would also say: treat waitstaff and bartenders/staff properly even though tipping is not common. And tip anyway!
Absolutely love this video. I'm from Mull and have an absolute passion about all of these things. Daft cheap kilts, jimmy hats (totally insulting), mispronunciation of our capital city's name and our second city....it's not Glascow!!! And definitely DO NOT RUB BOBBY
Great video as always. I never get why people can't just enjoy something without touching it. My boys and I will be there May 30 and I've taught them how to say Edinburgh correctly. They will also NOT touch the Bobby ❤
Suggestion for a video Tony!:About the Plaque of Nova Scotia Canada and how and why it got there!🇨🇦🏴It is located on the low wall on the Castle Esplanade.The 400th anniversary of 1625 is coming up next year.The event observed by the plaque.Regrettably even tour guides tend to ignore this great history.A special story to be told there Tony!
I was born in Edinburgh, live in Bc I remember how I learned to spell my home land where I was born … here it is Edward die in November buried under Robert graham’s house lol .. Oh when we were there last year I found my nanny’s house on the Royal mile and big blue door and I hugged it so as my grandparents lived there and my nanny brought my mom home after she was born
Tony’s videos are great help! I only had two days to spend in Edinburgh, but thanks to his videos I felt like I got so much more out of my time there. Great prep!
I would have said " no! Don't touch the Bobby!" to those misinformed tourists! Had to laugh, I get ads with my RU-vid videos and right when you went to talk about Bobby, up pops a dog food ad! 😂 Very appropriate 🙂. Looking forward to seeing your beautiful city in May!!!
I lived in Edinburgh in the 1980s and worked part time in a number of hotels. I rarely managed to get Americans to correctly pronounce the name of our capital city. Another thing to avoid is walking on the Heart of Midlothian set in the pavement outside St Giles’ Cathedral in the Royal Mile. Personally I wouldn’t patronise any of the shops there: they sell nothing but tartan tat which certainly isn’t made in Scotland. Nor do I know when people started touching Greyfriar Bobby’s nose: it wasn’t done when I lived in Edinburgh.
I am visiting Edinburgh more often now that the weather is improving. A few weeks ago, before discovering this channel, I was heading to Greyfriars kirk and witnessed 2 young girls ( twins I think ) about 8 year old climbed on booby's plinth and both rubbing the statues nose vigorously like it was Aladdin's lamp. No genie appeared but I really saw a red mist. Instant anger. The kids I can forgive but they were being egged on by their adults for the sake of a video.
Hi Tony, I watch all your videos and enjoy every one. Before you told everyone 'not to rub Bobby's nose', I hang my head in shame because I used to rub his nose myself. I'm genuinely sorry. Gordon Taylor, Methil, Fife.
Hi, Tony!!! The last time I was visiting Edinburgh, I caught the attention of some tourists who were doing the typical "tradition" of touching Bobby's nose. My small contribution to preserving the city that I love in the best country in the world. Next week my girl and I will return for a weekend, maybe we will be lucky enough to meet you and greet you. Thank you for giving me, every week, my little virtual walk through your city.
Loving your educational vids of Edinburgh. Watching these videos really makes me miss it there so much. We have visited twice to the city and surrounding areas. Hoping to bring my mom back next year. ❤
Hi Tony! I'm proud to say I knew about Bobby's nose, I knew about the pronounciation of Edinburgh (in Italian we say Edinbra, it's much easier!), but I must say I didn't thought much about the length of the kilt. Now I know it! The chippy hat ahahha I didn't have the curiosity to buy them ahhahaha Thanks for your advices and keep going!! ps how can we not be rude by telling tourist not to rub Bobby's nose? XD
Thank you so much for this video, you pointed out all the thing that drive me insane! I especially hate the hats and kilts or anything that makes a mockery of my wonderful country, beautiful city and of the Scottish people.
We have the town of “Edinburg” (spelled with no “h”) in New York State; makes it difficult for us to remember to pronounce it correctly - plus 21 more towns ending in burg or burgh; heaven help us when in Scotland
Hah! I knew the last two. The first two were quite interesting. And, yes, if you go to Pennsylvania, and pronounce the name of the city Pittsboro, you will be laughed at, too.
I was living in the Canongate when the movie was being made many many years ago. It was very exciting. Some of the children the street were in the movie as urchins. Ppl were quite poor and the children didn’t need costumes they just wore their normal cloths. Now the area is quite posh. Not tenements anymore.
I know exactly what you mean, Tony! Being from Denmark, we have a few similarities... The name of our capital, is Co-pen-HĀ-gen, not Co-pen-HAHH-gen DO NOT climb onto the Little Mermaid DO NOT run between the changing of the guard! and no they will not speak to you, but they might shoot you!! - there are many other things, but these are Danes' pet-peeves 🤣😵💫 hello to the family, from Denmark 🌸
we had a hard time finding souvenirs in general in Edinburgh - i hate buying from the big tourist shops anywhere bc theyre almost always owned by big companies. we LOVED scotland and want to go back soon! any recommendations for souvenirs? preferably from shops run by locals lol. love your videos, they were fantastic help for our trip!
The stuff on The Royal Mile is nearly all ‘tartan tat’. It’s not made in Scotland and a high proportion of the shops located on that street are owned by one firm who certainly aren’t Scottish.
I would think someone would be smart enough to tell the Council to raise Bobby's statue higher than the height it is so that people can't rub it. They can also be restored, but if they do restore it, they should also raise it. I agree on the pronunciation of "Edin-burg" it drives me crazy too. I will say that I learned at the age of 10 how to say it correctly, and that's not something most Americans have in their experience. Most people pronounce "Miami, OK" incorrectly as well. On the cheap souvenir thing - - well, you know, to each their own. If you want an authentic kilt, you should have one made. If you're trying to be sexy for a night when you get back home and just want to party -- the mini-skirt may be a better choice. Just sayin'.
I have zero patience with people touching the Boaby. I will bark loudly at anyone I see touching the Boaby when I am near him and I am almost 2 meters tall and over 100kg, so dinae touch the Boaby or you might have me to answer to! Most of my life the wee dug had a lovely black patina nose and in the last 20 years its been ruined by people touching it. Big thanks to Tony for having this bug bear too and educating a wider audience than my mad rants around the statue will ever have ;)
@@markshrimpton3138 From what I have been able to find out, this was started by one irresponsible tour guide in the early 2000s, it gradually grew as tourists seen people do it and the damage started to appear around 2005 and has gotten worse since. The statue survived 125 years before being damaged. My philosophy when visiting other peoples cities is look, don't touch! But when you tell us superstitious humans something will give you 'good luck' there little chance in hell people aren't going to do it!
The hat and wig combo just seems a bit demeaning... I feel like me wearing one is mocking people. I totally understand why locals don't love them. burg, burgh and borough... they share roots obviously. But always say a city name as the locals do when you can. Just respectful. I visited Sarajevo in 2012, and found that I said it with one more syllable than most locals and I adjusted. Sar-aye-vo rather than Sara-yay-vo... it was actually something sort of in between the two, but you get the idea.
Tony... You're pronouncing it, Edin-bur-a? Yet an old Edinburgh Gentleman (Aged 91) & his elderly Friends. Told me it was pronounced... EDIN-BURR. The G & H were silent? As in High, Nigh etc.
That’s how I pronounce it but roll the two ‘Rs’ at the end. So many Scots have lost the ability to roll their Rs. The same is happening with ‘ch’ as in ‘loch’. My wife is a teacher in Lochee, which is part of Dundee, and she tells me that kids now mispronounce it as a ‘Lock-ee’.
It drives me nuts when Edinburgh is mispronounced . I lose it 🤦🏼♀️. Btw there is a new show on Netflix called One Day and Edinburgh looks magnificent in it ❤
I do not say Edinburgh like Pittsburgh. We do have an Edinburg in South Texas that is pronounced like Pittsburgh. Also, I feel your angst, because non-Texans especially those people on TV who don't take the time to learn how to pronounce names of cities and rivers in Texas. Ugh!
Thank you for all your videos! Love them all! Planning a trip there eventually. I always appreciate advice so I don’t stand out like a jackass monkey .
Tony Tony Tony! You must know that the only way a "Jimmy Hat" is bought let alone worn involves alcohol. As an American I have heard "Edin-berg" and it makes me cringe Touch Not The Bobby!
