Author: Kirstin Uhlenbrock

I have always loved travelling. As a child it was my dad who instilled this never ending curiosity in me by taking me to many countries in the days when flying was a novelty. He always stated: “Try everything at least once to be able to have an opinion about it”. He encouraged me to speak English even before I hit primary school.

At 21 I moved to Scotland (which really is a story I should write down some day), when I could afford it I continued to go on holidays and a little later in life I had a job which took me all around Europe. I was flying somewhere at least once a week.

Today, taking you on bespoke tours throughout Scotland is what buttered my bread prior to Covid 19. But even before this pandemic I was doubting the way tourism was evolving. Going places to take exactly the same picture someone else had taken to then share it on social media was something I never did. Don’t get me wrong I am a vivid user of social media and love photography, but I always liked to seek out the uncommon places, pathes others seldom trotted on.

In 2009 we went on a trip across Europe for a month (yes, we could do that back than) in that van pictured above. What made the trip were not Italian beaches but travelling through Albania, meeting her people, tracing post-communism empty factories and being utterly overwhelmed by the generosity and genuity of her people. We experienced similars insights into history through the people of Croatia. We loved it! Today, we cannot even leave our houses for now….

The cottage I am living in currently still feels after six years of living here like living in your own holiday home. It sits above the river Tay at the end of a dirt track and the only person coming down this track regularily is our postie. There is no traffic and apart from owls, other birds and deer no noise. There is no artificial light and you can see the most phantastic night sky. Especially at this moment it really is a refuge as despite self isolation we have a plentiful amount of unspoilt nature surrounding us.

When I am taking you, my customers, around Scotland I have always tried to listen what you would like to see and experience here. There is really unlimited number of things to do in Scotland- even if it does rain!

I have been quite rude at times to point out -for instance- that Edinburgh is a town you better walk through then drive. I would would walk with you and fetch the minibus should you get tired.

I have been known to bypass the view points at Glencoe and Glen Finnan, because I could not bear the thought of getting out of the car and joining busloads of tourists taking the same pictures. I would drive on a little and find you a spot where we would be on our own enjoying the emptiness of the Highlands. There are still places in Scotland we you can travel for days and not meet anyone.

I very much enjoy winter travels in Scotland. It never really gets that cold here and you have the countryside to yourself.

More recently I have designed tours around walking tours. I have participated as a German translater in a biking tour (which did terrify me a little as part of it happened to be on a main road). I have thought on an electric vehicle which could work these days but sadly they are not yet available as 8-seaters. Besides we have just invested and two Vianos, which if they survive this Corona -crisis will have to last for a wee bit.

There is the Mountain Bothy Associating: You can stay for free in a shepard’s cottage often in place you will need to walk to. This also has become quite popular.

Adding bicycles or canoes to a trip could be done and going hiking is also always an option.

I believe that travelling will change if we get over this Covid 19 crisis and I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

What do you think of suistainable travel?

How should this look like?

Would you love to escape into empty spaces?

What about Air B&B?

Do you think city escapes will still be popular?

Will sport events and festivals fully recover? Should they change? Like the Fringe for instance?

What are your thoughts?

Are you dying to get going abroad as soon as it is over?

Do you still love the thought of going on a cruise?

Are you researching your family history? Is there a link to a Scottish clan?

Do you love Outlander?

What about Scottish history?

Would you love to follow the foot steps of Queen Mary of the Scots?

Will you just simply travel from your own sofa? Virtually?

Please leave your comments!

It is 11 days ago that I last posted here. So, how is everybody?

As a jobless taxi driver/tour guide I filled a few days with some temporary work which will help a little to get us through this period of no income. Quite some time was spend on researching what help is available to us and starting the process to get it, concluding with a conference call with our acountants today. All of this is rather tiresome. As if all of that was not enough the server where this website is hosted on crashed and took a while to be rebooted. Last but not least I applied for a few jobs though I am wondering how even the application process will work. Comment here if you have experience/advise, please.

So besides some stock-taking as to how to survive financially for whatever time it will take I heavily invested in the things I love. There is daily horse riding on the agenda (Yes, I know I could fall off and block other people’s access to A&E but rest assured that could also happen while I slip on the mud around the house). I thoroughly enjoy that I do not have to rush. You should never rush when training horses but in daily madness it happens and the lack of it is just fabulous-> endless time!!

I also call myself extremely lucky to live where I do as I can go out exercising without being in the danger of meeting anyone and I can assure you it is amazingly beautiful around me. Take a look:

So apart from enjoying spring despite Covid 19 I am also blessed to be able to continue my yoga session thanks to Heartspace in Dundee who stream all their classes online (Sign up here: https://www.heart-space.yoga/)

Even though looking at the front of our house still feels very odd: Starfishes grounded till Corona blows over…. if it does

So, we continue to work from the home office and gladly we have a number of furry helpers:

Stay positive & healthy!

By nature I am a very optimistic person and my glas is always half full. In the recent days, however, even I have cried at the sight of a devasted shop worker at Aldi’s.

However, I believe the current crisis is not just terribly frightening and possibly deadly it also might be a gigantic opportunity. We are trying against our will to work from home. Suddenly there is no rushhour. People are walking on the beach instead of being in an office or being stuck in a traffic jam. We make clima change happen as there is hardly any airtravel.

I live from tourism mostly and I enjoy travelling myself but maybe this forced break helps us to stop and re-think how we go about life. Travelling to places to take pictures everybody else has taken of the same spot might be a nice sport but misses what travelling is about: taking a break, having the freedom to decide on your speed or rather lack of it and engage with the locals, their landscapes, their food, their way of life.

We want to return refreshed and enriched and understanding more about others and ourselves

Most of us are so busy in our daily life that we fail completely to stop and reflect, because there never seems to be any time for it. Now, we have been given the precious present of time and all we do is fight it because it was not our decision (strangely most things are not in any case) and we are also so worried and anxious about this virius which may or may not get us or our loved ones. We are all stuck in this together. The medical profession does their very best to treat people and keep the NHS running for everybody else. The rest of us could at least be thankful and try to make the best of it.

The business I have lived on has completely crumbled away within the space of a week. It does not feed me anymore. I do feel a little betrayed for all the work I have put into it and there seems to be little support forthcoming from the government.

I have applied for a job in a local supermarket, because that is where people are still needed I have also offered my help locally.

Apart from that I try to my best ability to look after myself, exercise, read, eat healthy, basically spoil myself and write silly blogs.

Stay healthy & sane!

Today would have been the start of a now cancelled 4-day Highland tour. My clients are from abroad and wisely cancelled their tour in the light of the coronavirus. As a matter of fact for the past weeks all we did was receiving cancellations and refund them where prepayment had been made. Usually at this time of the year we fill our diaries with bookings for the year.

It is not easy to keep up your spirits and of course I am not alone. So is what I did the past two days:

Yesterday I had routine visit of my farrier to trim my horses’ feet and in all this madness it was lovely to do something I have pretty much done every six to eight weeks all my life. Since the weather was nice I did ride the horses, seeded some vegetables, attempted to fix my bike and then went to see a dear friend for a lovely dinner. On the way there I managed the above shot.

I forgot to add that cuddling the Phantom is part of routine life and truly enhanced now since we are more at home.

Today I started my day with online yoga (yes, at 6.30 am as I was awake in any case). Heart Space or also known as Kilted Yoga closed their studios but maintain livestream online classes which are truly fabulous.

Find out more https://www.heart-space.yoga

Next I ventured out on my homebred horse “Me & My Monkey” to trail around the estate. There was frost on the ground but with the lovely sunshine it turned into a soul-saving retreat. Join me for it in pictures while I am heading out into the sunshine again. Keep sane, eat well and stay healthy!

I had an early start this morning as some students were making their way home. There is no face-to-face teaching at the University of St Andrews in the near future. After that I went back to the South Street taxi rank and for the first time in my taxi driver life I managed to run the battery flat by simply charging my phone, listening to the radio and being static for way to long. It was about 11 am by that time.

I got rescue by my boy friend thankfully.

Next I dropped off an envelop with money for someone in need- just to give the car a run. After that I ventured into the hell of shopping to get my hands on some flour and a thermometer. At both I failed badly and gave up.

Fed up as I was I entertained myself with a walk on West Sands and managed to reach the taxi before the rain came on again. Still sitting in the rank now. Waiting for another run just before 16 hrs and will head home therafter.

Keep positive and healthy!

The above headline is not quite strictly true yet. We will serve our customers at Starfish Travel as long as we can and I have just this morning brought some clients to the station. However, not many people do travel and quite rightly so.

For the foreseeable future I will have more time on hand than I have had for years. To stay healthy I am planing to do some nice things- an action I would advise everybody else to do too. I know these are worrying times but worrying as such just does not help.

So my goal is to explore my surroundings in different ways. Yesterday I went to meet a very dear friend of mine and since I had the time I used my old bike

I walked all the way over to Lindores Abbey Distillery when my partner got in touch to say that he was on his way home. I would have had another 2 hours walking ahead of me and he offered to pick me up. As it was raining a rather good idea.

To conclude it was lovely being outdoors and you do not need to go far to truly find peace. It counteracts anxiety well and it is lovely to share with all of you.

Keep healthy and look after yourselves!

All taxis in Scotland are regulated by the local council. All vehicles used for Starfish Travel are fully licensed and insured taxis. Once a year these vehicles require additionally to the MOT a taxi test. This one below has just today (10/03/2020) passed its taxi test and it therefore allowed display a so called called yellow plate.

I spent two days away from the news though we did bring some regular clients to the airport for the last time, which was very sad. Worse still the deaths in Scotland have gone up from 2 to 6 in only three days. There is quite an increase in comfirmed cases but reassuringly the test have also almost doubled. If you look at the table below you really wish you lived in the Highland ( source: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/)

Figures for the UK are as follows:

As of 9am on 20 March 2020, 66,976 people have been tested in the UK, of which 62,993 were confirmed negative and 3,983 were confirmed positive.

As of 1pm, 177 patients in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) have died.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Scottish test numbers: 20 March 2020

A total of 7550 Scottish tests have concluded. Of these:

• 7228 tests were confirmed negative
• 322 tests were positive
• 6 patients who tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) have died

Health board	Positive cases
Ayrshire and Arran	16
Borders	9
Dumfries and Galloway	10
Fife	12
Forth Valley	23
Grampian	19
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	91
Highland	6
Lanarkshire	41
Lothian	40
Shetland	24
Tayside	31

*Please note some cases from Grampian have been reassigned to Shetland as more information on cases became available.

Last updated on 20 March 2020. The latest numbers will publish at 2pm each day.

Stay positive, look after yourselves physically and mentally!

Second update 17/03/2020 Scotland has now 2 deaths and 195 recorded Coronavirus cases.

17/03/2020 A total of 4,895 tests have taken place of which 171 were tested positive in Scotland. Everybody is avised to not socialise and self isolate if you have any symptoms persistent cough and/or a fever. Stay safe, stay positive!

15/03/2020 Today’s Covet 19 figures for Scotland are 153 confirmed cases of which seven are in Fife. For the rest of the UK the deaths have climbed to 35 and 1140 confirmed cases. It appears that many flights are cancelled, a number of shops are or will be closed and fewer people are out on the street.

Starfish Travel and Starfish Taxis remain open for as long as we all remain healthy.

Stay healthy!!!

14/03/2020 If we felt some impact till now it is really impacting all aspects of life as of today. Shops announce closures, the elderly in nursing homes and sick in hospitals may not be visited. Thankfully the number of deaths (1) and recorded cases (121) have not drastically increased in Scotland though a newborn was diagnosed.

For up to date info: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/#_blank

13/03/2020 Today we had the first death caused by Covet 19/Corona virus in Scotland. I am not sure if the number of recorded cases are still reported. Unconfirmed I have heard that St Andrews has one to three cases.

Yesterday we only had 36 confirmed cases. Sadly today (12/03/2020) cases have almost doubled and stand at 60. UK-wide we have 590 cases. There is a travel ban for EU countries to to the US starting at the weekend lasting a month. UK & Ireland are excluded from this.

Stay healthy!!!

Update on 9th of March 2020 Scotland has now 23 cases all of which can be traced to travel into affected areas. We are still in containment for now.

Today, 8th of March 2020 the UK has 206 people suffereing from the Corona virus. In Scotland the number of cases are 16. So, generally speaking still quite low.

As of today 4th of March 2020 there are 6 known cases of the virus in Scotland. The United Kingdom has 90 in total. As the virus is expected to spread there are likely to be more cases in future.

We do understand that people are worried about travelling in the face of this virus and we would strongly advise against travelling should you feel unwell or if you had know contact with people who are infected. However, there is no epidemic in Scotland or the UK for this moment.

We will update when further information emerges.

Whisky is one of the things Scotland is famous for. If you have never tried it do it here.

Mostly Scottish whiskies are divided by six regions:
Speyside

Lowlands

Highlands
Islands
Campeltown
Islay

Lowland and Speyside whiskies are usually quite smooth the further north you go the smokier the palette will become and westwards you get ‘peatiness’, especially on Islay. Islay being an island of only 25 miles length but with eight whisky distilleries: true whisky lovers heaven!

We have divided our whisky tours by whisky region and added on a Fife Tour due to the fact that Starfish Travel is based in St Andrews, Fife- the Kingdom of Fife to be precise.

 

Fife traditionally had a high number of distilleries, most of them did not survive. Currently, there are a number of new distilleries, some of which I would like to specially name:

Daftmill Distillery close to Cupar, founded by two farming brothers and so exquisite that so far it has been almost impossible to buy their first proper Whisky.

Lindores Distillery only started whisky production in 2017 but after a break of 523 years. The first record of distilling was in 1494!!!

 

There is also Kingsbarns Distillery founded in 2014 and now owned by the Wemyss family but brain child of of a local caddie Douglas Clement. The Wemyss also moved the production of their famous “Darnley’s View” gin from London to Kingsbarns. The name referring to the second husband of Queen Mary of the Scots. She allegedly laid eyes on him for the first time at the family’s home in Wemyss.

Aberlour Distillery

Balvenie Distillery

BenRiach Distillery

Benromach Distillery

Cardhu Distillery

Cragganmore Distillery

Dallas Dhu Distillery

Glen Grant Distillery

Glen Moray Disitillery

Glenfarclas Distillery

Glenfiddich Distillery

Glenlivet Distillery

Macallan Distillery

Speyside Cooperage

Strathisla Distillery

With the shorter days in winter taking lengthy drives into the heartland of the highlands become less joyful. Whereas in summer the sky literally is your limit (17.30 hrs daylight) by end of October we have 9 hour day deminishing to only 7 hours in December.

However, that should not stop you from visiting the amazing landscapes and people of Scotland.

We have therefore created some examples of a winter tour which will allow you to enjoy sunrise and sunset at equally amazing locations:

Castle Tour

Enjoy sunrise in the beautiful village of Falkland which was depicted in Outlander as Inverness.

Take an hours drive within stunning settings to Glamis Castle and explore the Royal family links to this impressive castle. Have lunch here or somewhere on the way (your driver can advise on locations and book tables accordingly).

Arrive for sunset at the unique setting of Dunnottar castle ruin

Take the joyful dawn atmosphere on a comfortable drive of an hour and a half back to St Andrews

View in google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/cbUCj3nrpQ62

List of other attractions:

Museums:

Meigle pictish stones

Castles, Churches, historic buildings & attractions:

Dunkeld Cathedral
House of Dun
Discovery
Unicorn

BOOK IT HERE

Edinburgh Christmas Market Tour:

Enjoy a scenic drive along the costal route to Edinburgh centre and visit the Christmas Market, take a leisurely walk across the city centre, exploring
Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh Castle, The Royal Mile and New Town.
Enjoy a delightful lunch or dinner in one of Edinburgh’s many exquisite restaurants and return comfortably to St Andrews.

BOOK IT HERE