Staycations

While a plan to ease out of the current lockdown in Scotland has been published the rest of Europe is experiencing the third wave of the Corona virus already. As a matter of fact Germany announced yesterday a full lockdown over Easter.

While I remain hopful that vaccinations will eventually allow us to travel the world again I do believe for the foreseeable future we will be lucky if we can have staycations this year. To be honest if I have the rare airport pick up these days leaving my 5 mile zone does feel like a wee holiday all by itself.

If you are planning a staycation in breathtaking Scotland, please be resonsible so that everyone after you can enjoy the same beauty and remoteness. Visit Scotland has created this amazing video to remind us all:

And while you are packing please also be reminded that Scotland is the place where you can have all four seasons in one day. So please pack you waterproofs alongside your sunglasses and swimming gear and ENJOY!

As Lockdown is still with us…

Realistically it will be a good wee while before I will be able to welcome international guests again.

My 2021 bookings one by one are being postponed to 2022 which is unavoidable and really sad for my clients (and me of course too).

However, at the moement the figures for Scotland are beginning to look better and what is more we are in spring: The days are getting longer and flowers begin to pop up everywhere.

While travelling for work I had the opportunity to stop off at beautiful Falkland village which has a huge history itself but has more recently been noted for serving as Inverness in Outlander. I love the series but let me show there is so much more worth visiting at Falkland:

Crocusses at Falkland village
Falkland
Visit Falkland Palace
Closed entrance to Falkland Palace
Centre of Stewardship Falkland
Falkland countryside

There is always hope

Wandering through the very empty Royal Mile in Edinburgh the other day I was reminded once again how different life during the Covid-19 pandemic has been and still is.

Do you know where this unicorn is located?

The daily COVID-19 updates in Scotland sound quite promising while elsewhere the third wave is being recorded (Italy, Finland & Germany). However, with the vaccination program making good progress and the odd notification from one or the other hotel’s or restaurant’s opening dates I do begin to get hopeful that one day in the not too distance future there will be travelling again.

The Royalmile during lockdown

I do not believe that we will see international travelers return in 2021 but perhaps staycations can be done in a safe manner and also some art, music and sport events could take place.

Certainly spring on the door step lifts my mood and also shows just how gorgeous Scotland is, not just as a holiday location but much more so as an amazing place to live. Keep in mind I am not a native Scot (sadly!)

Early crocus at Falkland

So while we wait for a little more freedom do enjoy these few images of Edinburgh’s heart, the Royal Mile full of emptyness for now:

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh impressions

I was taking clients to Edinburgh (Covid- compliant), had to wait on them and therefore ended up with some extra time to spare.

I have always stated that walking is by far the best way to investigate this beautiful city and since it was not raining I escaped to King Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh second vulcano right in the city centre.

View towards Carlton Hill
Between Salisbury Crags (left) and King Arthur’s Seat
Path to the top
Holyrood Palace & Abbey
Keep on walking..
Edinburgh Castle
Holyrood Palaca with Carlton Hill and the newest addition tothe skyline: the Ribbons Hotel (on the left)
St Anthony’s cathedral

Edinburgh is always worth a visit and you certainly do not need to go hiking to enjoy it.

Once restrictions ease we can show you Ediinburgh again:

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Oidhche na Bliadhn ‘Ùire – Hogmanay- Happy New Year

Edinburgh 31st December 2019

Last year we very busy chauffering customers across the country and in the evening I had the pleasure to take some of our regular clients to the big Hogmanay party in Edinburgh. Despite working and being stone-sober I throughly enjoyed the amazing athmosphere Edinburgh always has when there is a party on.

Those customers have meanwhile left this gorgeous country perhaps because of the pandemic or Brexit, or both?

The company who has been responsible for organisation of the Hagmonay is Underbelly. This year there will be no party so they created these amazing videos on their Edinburgh Hogmanay website.

As you all know I am terribly in love with this country and these films touch my heart.

Take a look:

Oidhche na Bliadhn ‘Ùire

One of my favourite places…

If you love what you do you are always trying to expand on that experience. Three years ago I was lucky enough to be accepted as volunteer at Kellie Castle, a property in the care of the NTS. There is a team of amazing volunteers at the castle, most of them put a lot more time into it then I and each single one of them plus the staff at the castle are a never ending source of knowledge and stories. Due to Covid-19 sadly none of us was able to provide advice as room guide or guided tours throughout the castle. Hopefully this will change again in 2021 and meanwhile the NTS produced thsi fantastic video so we all will not forget about Kellie Castle.

If you wish to support the trust you can opt to buy some Xmas presents here:

https://www.nts.org.uk/shop/collections/shop-winter-offers.html

Also, you can still visit the amazing garden and take a walk to Kellie Law

Whisky & ghosts

Last week a good whisky buddy of mine confronted me with this lovely label of “That Bontique Y Whisky Company” and asked if I could figure out from which undisclosed Speyside whisky distillery it came from. I failed badly…

What I love about Scotland in general is the fact that whatever draws your attention there is always more to it. So, this whisky label now leads us from whisky to ghosts and to a wee bit of story telling.

The above label we believe depict from left to right:

The GlenDronach -> The Spanish Lady

Bowmore -> The headless horseman

Glenrothes -> Biawa ‘Byeway’ Makalanga

Glenmorangie -> The White Lady

Jura -> two ghosts

Ghost stories involving the white and the Spanish lady are not exclusive to Glenmorangie, GlenDronach or even Scotland. You can find stories involving these two ladies all over the world. In Glenmorangie the white lady is haunting the now decommissioned malting floors. She allegedly removed wall paper without a tear. In the days when malting was still done at the distillery one sleepy shoveller could ruin the day’s maltings so the threat of the ghostly white lady might have helped to keep everyone awake.

The Spanish lady arrived at Glendronach in an Oloroso cask. Glendronach is famous for its sherried whisky after all. She did not appreciate the cold climate and was desperately lonely. She discovered a hidden tunnel to Glen House and ever after enjoyed the human company there, settling in the room named appropriately Glendronach.

The headless rider of Bowmore was spotted by crofter Lachlan Ban when returning home in a stormynight. Lachlan found the door of his croft ajar, an opened whisky bottle on the table and the fire had gone out. The un-ghostly explanation to this story was provided by Lachlan’s brother who arrived on horseback to share a dram with his brother, found the door open (blown open by the wind) so he walked in, had a dram but could not wait. When riding home he put the collar of his cloak up to keep the wind out, which must have been when Lachlan spotted him as the headless rider.

Biawa ‘Byeway’ Makalanga was a real person. He was found orphaned and hungry by Major James Grant (the than owner of Glen Grant) in South Africa. He took him to Scotland, where he became his servant, served during the first world war and even scored a goal for the Scottish football team. Biawa ‘Byeway’ Makalanga was only spotted twice in the neighbouring distillery Glenrothes during the installation of two new stills which after investigation had disturbed some leyline. Since setting this right Biawa ‘Byeway’ Makalanga ‘s ghost never re-appeared.

The whisky distillery on Jura can even claim two ghosts. In 1781 Laird Archibald Campbell banned distilling on the island only to be awoken 29 years later by an angry old lady who scared him to the extent that he opened a new disitllery in 1810. More recently, in 2010, the resident cat “Elvis” captured a spirit on his webcam which was identified as the ghost of the island’s school teacher Elisabeth. To honour this there is even a ghostly dram available.

Coming back to the craft label which depicts five ghosts sharing a dram, only one of them is from Speyside which is what the labe indicates, stating “Single malt Scotch whisky, Speyside, 8 years old” so it has to be a Glenrothes.

Map from the Scotch Advocate

There are more whisky related ghost stories and one of which can be found at GlenScotia of Campbeltown

Do you know more ghost stories? If so do leave us a comment below.

Is travelling on your mind?

With the secon wave of Corona in full swing the future of travelling becomes more and more insecure. We just do not know when travelling will be possible again.

Mainwhile here in the UK much of the accommodation is booked right into 2021 by UK residents who have already opted for a staycation.

If you dream about Scotland but are unsure if you will be able to travel on the date you had in mind do seek our advice and expertise.

Together we can dream up your bespoke tour once booked you can always change dates. Because we are a very small operator we do not require deposits. You can dream and hope and you do not need to invest anything but your imagination till such time you can put your feet on Scottish soil.

Contact

Or call Kirstin on 0044 7446112672

Click below for some tour examples

Family Fun at Stirling Castle

Mary Queen of Scots

Winter Tours

Less touring….

With the new restrictions put in place we could still go on a tour across Scotland but pretty much only with up to six people of one household.

So for sightseeing 2020 looks a little like a total write off. However, not all is bleak.

I foster a lifelong fascination for flying and think in general that it is a good idea to provide you, my customers, with more unusal activities which you could add on to future tours (potentially in 2021). Already in 2019 we added on the possibilitly to combine a tour with an airexperience at the Scottish Gliding Centre at Portmoak in Fife or to go flying with the Loch Lomond Seaplanes.

My own airexperience resulted in me aiming to one day fly solo in a glider. On the way there I had the opportunity to take these photographs below. Enjoy!!!

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