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This is Cringletie House between Eddleston and Peebles in the Beautiful Scottish Borders. I had the privelege to spend a week there in the company of my dear friends, Tony and Jessica for the celebration of their marriage. The company was great and I was welcomed as a member of the family. There were a…

Off in a little while to Cringletie House, Peebles to spend 5 days with dear friends Tony and Jessica. They will be married on Tuesday and I’m so honoured that they invited me. They are an example of how former clients can become lifelong friends

Yesterday I spent a very sunny morning in the company of 17 wonderful students and 3 staff from Landau University, Germany. I have been with groups like this many times and from many countries. These young people were very special. Polite, attentive throughout, enthusiastic, constantly smiling and very happy to be in Edinburgh with me. Maybe its because they are spending a week on a course on Scottish History. It was so good the beable to mention events and characters without the need to answer questions. They were already very knowledgable. I hope to receive pics from them when they get back so I’ll have some to post here and on my blog. Watch this space.

Yesterday, I was with Karl and Maria, Hans and Gertrude, Willi and Helene, six jovial Austrians and what a time we had. We dodged the rain, although it was chilly in the North Easterly wind. Lots of pictures and a video were taken so expect to see them when I get them During the course of the day, Karl told me that he had booked a weeks visit to Scotland through a one man tour company called Schottland Individuell. Karl asked about a guide in Edinburgh and was advised to get in touch with me. It turns out the guy who runs the company has been on a tour with me and was glowing in hes recommendation. It gave me a real warm feeling inside. Here’s a wee reminder, my friends of a great time together http://youtu.be/JD72AZ5JqNE What a lovely…

I spent two wet but wonderful days last week in the company of Julia, a young lawyer from Moscow. Enthusiasm is a great motivator for me and she had enthusiasm in spades. She also had a great sense of humour and excellent English. We were like 2 old friends spending time together. Haste ye back, Julia

Saturday saw a return to clear, dry weather and I met my party of 8 Dutch members of the Round Table of the Netherlands. We had a fine Breakfast in the Rutland Hotel before setting off. In one of my previous existences, as a professional entertainer I had lots of bookings from branches of The Round Table. They were always rollicking affairs involving young men out to enjoy themselves. In fact it was Round Tablers who introduced me to the hilarious McGonagall suppers. From the word go the craic and laughter were unremitting. We set off through the Grassmarket to the Castle and then took route 1 to the Guildford Arms for a great lung and the first drinks of the day. To my delight, the lovely Aston, was duty waitress in the Gallery Restaurant. She’s a pretty Cockney with…

This week I’ve been on an assignment for Irish Rugby Tours, my first engagement from this company. The job was to guide the men and women of Colgate University RFC from New York State. There were 52 in the group under the leadership of Head Coach, Tim, Womens Coach, Anne Marie and the head of…

I’ve posted about this wonderful couple before. They were with me last year and I bumped into them the next day at the Wallace Monument. They are coming back to Scotland to be Married in the summer and I have been invited to their wedding at Cringletie House in Peebles. Anyway, they decided to come…

A few weeks ago, my lovely young Swiss friend, Miriam (Mimi) came to stay with her dad, Bob. Bob was born in Australia but has lived so long in Switzerland that he has practically forgotten how to speak English, to such an extent that his family tease him by saying he speaks,Bobbish, which is a mix of Swerman (Swiss German) and English. He retains his wonderful down to Earth Ozzyism by even calling his daughter ‘mate’. Mimi was researching Mary, Queen of Scots, for an essay she was doing for university and we had a wonderful week exploring castles, palaces and abbeys connected with this romantic, but tragic figure.

Nicolette and Janneke came to visit me for a long weekend, stayed in my house and we had the best time ever! Day one was a walking tour of Edinburgh on a cold, wet and windy November day and in the evening they took me Salsa dancing. Day one and we took a tour of…

I often meet friends who are on cruises and it is always a pleasure and a challenge. This is because the cruise companies seem to think that a day is enough to see Edinburgh in. I had nevertheless a wonderful experience in September with John and Jan Bazos from the USA. They were very keen…

Earlier this year, I was at a Burns supper and found myself sitting beside a charming and elegant Italian lady called Luisa. We shared warm conversation and during this I learned that she was a concert flautist. She said she would like me to come and hear her play when next she was in Edinburgh…