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Hear Bill talking about Greyfriars Bobby for the BBC – the real story.  

During this summer, I’ve had to pass on jobs which I’ve been too busy to take on. Usually I use Cammy but Tattoo duties keep him busy in August. I asked my good friend, Charlie Milne to take on on for me and I’m delighted that he in turn delighted my clients. Here’s what they had to say “Bill, I said I’d get back to you about our experience with Charlie Milne. In one word, he was “fabulous”! He was professional, friendly, knowledgeable, interesting and loved his city. I feel very fortunate that he was our guide in Edinburgh. Do not hesitate to send him business in the future! I would have emailed you sooner (I had calendared a reminder), but we’ve been in France at a language immersion school since we left England and we’ve been really busy. As…

Yesterday I spent a delightful afternoon in an Edinburgh bathed in Mediterranean sunshine. I was escorting Staf Wouters and Mentje, his beautiful wife from Belgium. It was their first visit to Edinburgh and were spending 2 days before going to the Football international at Hampden tomorrow. I had imagined them to be young , but both were enjoying a very rich and energetic retirement They were a delightful couple , elegant and sophisticated and I really enjoyed our conversation. It was a leisurely walk around the Old Town with a couple of stops for refreshment and people watching. Mentje wanted to buy a snow ball for her grand daughter so we stopped at the Christmas Shop in the Canongate. She is also an avid fan of Ian Rankin’s novels about Inspector Rebus, so where better to finish the tour but…

Here is an excerpt from a blog maintained by a friend of mine, Paul Iancono. It concerns 4 clients of his who experienced difficulties whilst on holiday in Scotland and how those of us who care about visitors will try to help them overcome their difficulties “Thursday, August 22, 2013 Just Had THE BEST Testimonial From a Client! “Imagine this. It is approaching midnight. You and 3 buddies are in Scotland, thousands of miles from home. Roughly 8 hours earlier your rental car blew a tire in the middle of nowhere. It took AA (the Scotch equivalent of AAA) about 4 hours to show up with a tow truck. They are towing you for several hours toward the Glasgow airport, in the exact opposite direction of the small town where you have reserved rooms for the night. There is no…

Yesterday was spent in the company of Stephen and Cathy Smith from Los Angeles California. They had the laid back courtesy that I have come to expect of California and and they were very game for a laugh. The weather was cool and very good for walking in, especially in full highland dress. The atmosphere…

I recently spent a day with Jeff and Sylvie Mendelsohn,from Toronto, Canada. Jeff is a surgeon originally from Capetown, South Africa and Sylvie described herself as “retired”. Both are Jewish, so I had a lot to work with in terms of connections. All the Canadian links, including the spot on the castle esplanade where Jamie Saxt gave the sassines to the Earl of Stirling to found the province of Nova Scotia, East Lothian, the birthplace of Lord Balfour, whose Balfour Declaration founded the state of Israel and the many links to the medical history of Edinburgh. But best of all was the link with their name. I had discovered this on a visit with my fellow members of the Crochallan Fencibles to Lodge Canongate, Kilwinning, the oldest masonic temple in the world and which houses a remarkable bellows organ. Friends…

Just over a week ago I had the pleasure of spending a day in the company of Blake and Becky Arnold from Saint George, Utah. I had never had friends visit from Utah and so I consulted the bible which I use to research the part played by Scots in America “Tam Blake and Co,…

Not that I get much but I went to my blog today and found several random ads posing as comments. Here’s a wee word of advice, Don’t bother, nothing gets past me unless it is genuine comment.

Subject: Monthly Ceilidh Dances in Edinburgh Norloch Ceilidh Band’s – Monthly Public Ceilidh Dances in 2013 are being held on Friday evenings.The band include a 5 piece line up,with a fiddle led dance caller to call and demonstrate all the ceilidh dances prior to each dance commencing. Why don’t you come along with your friends,family or any tourist groups you are trying to organise to this month’s Ceilidh on Friday the 24/5,at Old St. Paul’s Church,39,Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DH [ the venue is located right behind Waverly Train Station,so very central !!!] Ceilidh Times:-7.30PM -11.30PM. Tickets at the door are £8 & £6 [concessions] Family/Group discounts are available on request!!! [All Welcome!!!] No Bar available – so its a “Bring Your Own Booze”!!! A list of all the dates/ dances on http://www.norloch.net So please spread the word about the…

I had a super tour yesterday with a party of 21 Dutch students. I have said here before how much I enjoy working with people from the Netherlands and this was a truly wonderful group of young people. The interaction was just as if the group had been much smaller. Lots of questions and discussion, plenty of smiles and laughter and a final drink in the Guildford Arms. Best of all was the delightful Dutch custom of parting with three kisses on the cheeks from so many really pretty girls. I was so sorry to say goodbye.

Yesterday’s tour went well. Intelligent respectful, enthusiastic and enquiring students from Stanford University, California. The weather was perfect and eninburgh was bathed in beautiful late Winter sunshine. Cammy and I split the group and we took different routes through the Old town, finishing at the Castle. I really love working with foreign students because, despite the fact that the groups are large, the tours are always highly interactive.

I was out today with a group of German Students from the Main-Taunus -Schule in Hoffheim. They are in their last year before setting out for universities and theit own career paths. I have mentiooned before how much I love working with young people from mainland Europe and these young Germans didn’t disappoint me. Enthusiastic, intelligent, polite and respectful, but most of all having great English and a keen sense of humour. I asked one of the staff what the purpose of the trip was and it was partly to let them practice their English and be entertained. The staff were difficult to tell from the kids, such was the atmosphere so I tried to be at my most entertaining and we had lots of laughs. One of the girls asked me if I spoke with my usual dialect or…