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In this podcast, we're back in Scotland again exploring the culture and the country through the stories, opinions and voice of a Scotsman. With Britain's Royal family all over the news these days with new babies and upcoming weddings, this short podcast episode is about the Royal Family from a different view. Through story and opinion, hear a Scotsman share about how he thinks Queen Elizabeth is a great lady... and why Prince Harry is his favorite. Along the way, you get to hear a story about a dinner party and a finger bowl, plus thoughts on how overbearing it could feel for the royal family to have to live their lives open to public visibility and scrutiny. With Britain's Royal Family all over the news these days, sending quick congratulations from our little podcast to out to Prince William and Kate Middleton for their newest family addition and to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for their upcoming wedding. May every one of you enjoy love and happiness together...

Hear a Scotsman share about Scottish culture and Scottish Gaelic translation. More specifically about the historic divide and differences between mainland Scotland culture and history knowledge and the more remote Scottish Highland and Hebrides Islands where things like Scottish Gaelic language has remained woven into daily life and regional culture. This travel podcast episode is a is a rare treat that combines a personal story and also a brief audio lesson in Scottish Gaelic translation. For the Scottish Gaelic audio lesson, you’ll hear specific examples going back to city names in Scotland that were named originally in Gaelic and have certain meaning, but in today’s English speaking world we just think of that as the name of that city, without realizing the Gaelic roots and significance of why the city has that name. By personal story, you will hear a Scotsman's concern over the loss of Gaelic in Scotland over time, coming from a person who grew up speaking Scottish Gaelic. …QUOTES:“So, I do worry about the loss of certain things within the language.”“As the language changes, people just think it’s the name of something rather than having a meaning.” “Inver, in the Gaelic language means, at the end of water.” “So, it was a way of not just naming places, but giving them a description so that when people were traveling they could see it and they would find it.”“I worry that, through that, we'll lose, forget, why things were named and what they were called.”“Portree… it's called Port, as in harbor, and Ree as in the old Gaelic for king.”“I don't want them to be forgotten for that.For more detailed show note transcription of this travel podcast episode, please visit www.amidlifetraveler.com #travel, #travelpodcast, #visitscotland, #gaelic, #scottishgaelic, #scottishhistory, #scotland, #scotlandculture, #inverness, #portree, #alnwick, #learnaboutscotland

The TripAdvisor Effect: Should we trust all online reviews we read? And are the famous Fairy Pools in Scotland a made up story from tour guides? TripAdvisor has been in the news this week with breaking story across media sites about how one London man managed to get his garden shed listed on TripAdvisor as a restaurant then through a series of fake photos and reviews earned the coveted #1 ranking for best restaurant in London. If you haven’t heard the story, there are four articles at our website www.amidlifetraveler.com that you can get the details of, and it’s a good story. But what is the after-affect of this? Will it make people question or wonder more about the accuracy of online travel planning websites with ratings and reviews, such as TripAdvisor?3 TAKEAWAYS(1)Tourists have Monkey-See / Monkey-Do habits Tourists tend to follow other tourists. While it can start at vacation planning by choosing destinations, hotels, and activities based on ratings of others, it continues into the vacation often with mindless tourist photo safari mentality that has so many people taking pretty much the exact same photos.(2) The internet is drastically shaping travel and setting expectations of tourists.  Travel booking sites with robust ratings and reviews are hugely influential for travelers for travel planning, for better or for worse.  (3) “The Fairy Pools” on Isle of Skye was a story made up by tour guidesAccording to this pioneer tour guide who has led tours to the area for more than 10 years, there was not a place in the Isle of Skye named the Fairy Pools, until guides started to call it that. What began years ago as a story to share with groups of backpackers, has today evolved into a place topping many ‘must see’ lists for Scotland. For show notes and more information please visit www.amidlifetraveler.com #visitscotland, #travel, #travelpodcast, #FairyPools, #IsleofSkye, #Scotland, #scotlandtravel, #vacationplanning #tripadvisor

Did you know Edinburgh is one of the most haunted cities in the world? Neither did we. Hear about this gem, plus get the inside scoop on the ultimate vacation plan tool: Get Your Guide (GYG). Barely known to US travelers (but big in Europe!) GYG is a treasure chest of things to do worldwide from big attractions to small local authentic tours... like ghost tours, and whiskey tours, brewery tours, food tours, history tours, beach tours, hiking tours, walking tours....and on.

Viking tours are kinda cool, and the Viking Coast & Alnwick Castle day tour out of Edinburgh Scotland is no exception. As a follow on the previous Viking episodes, this one features the place... Lindisfarne. And the historic significance and story of Lindisfarne and St. Cuthbert which pre-dates it's later fame as the first known landing point of Norse Vikings in Europe.

Did early Vikings attack Christian churches to grab their wealth, or destroy the religion? An interesting perspective explaining how the multi-God beliefs of the Norse faith enabled their acceptance of Christianity as Norse Vikings both raided and settled across Europe.

Going viking? Or being a viking? Dirty pirates? Or noblemen?A short perspective on vikings as viewed from within their own time, and how today's modern history may remember them wrong. Recorded during a walk with a Scotsman at Lindisfarne UK, the first known landing point of Norse vikings in Europe.

What's the fascination about a man in choosing to wear a kilt. One of the first topics the podcast host was asked about when I returned home from a trip to Scotland was kilts. And in particular, what do they wear under them? Here to satisfy your curiosity are two very different replies from two authentic Scotsmen.

A Scotsman from the Highlands shares how he grew up wearing the kilt as normal part of life, plus the story of an awesome fashion-forward company, 21st Century Kilts.

Hear from a Scottish Highlander the continued importance of the Clan structure in Highland Islands area of Scotland, plus the honor and importance of being selected to compete in The Gathering of the Clans.

Hear a Highlander Scotsman's heartfelt opinions and experiences about The Highland Games and it's origins as The Gathering of The Clans in Scotland.

A humorous story of how one Scotsman first learned about Brexit... opinions on Brexit being a shambles and some challenges should Brexit happen. An episode on modern UK culture from the A Midlife Traveler season 1; Scotland.

After comedian Trevor Noah visited Scotland for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, he shared his interesting experiences and observations in a show that you can find on Netflix. In this short podcast, listen to a Scotsman named James as he talks the truths embedded in Trevor Noah's observations... particularly on how the Scots have replace the word 'little with the word 'wee' in order to make things sound innocent. So what's the difference between "Going for a wee drink" and "Going for a pint"? Listen and find out.

From a farm in Scotland and a boy's first taste of whisky, to a mom's advice and witty observations, this short story just might make you smile.

Attention single malt whiskey drinkers; a shortage is coming in 2019/2020... and it's predicted that the Scots won't take it well.

Advice for tourists and travelers on how to embarrass yourself in Scotland if you decide to order single malt whiskey in a bar in Scotland.

Hear a Scotsman (who is passionate about his whiskey) explain why he and other Scots are heartbroken over Scottish distilleries selling out to global beverage companies. Learn the story one acquired whiskey brand that has lost a 140 year old market of drinkers in Scotland as a result.   Plus... Hello Asia ! So Japan won the whiskey in the world competition? What's up with that?From this episode:"We're a little bit heartbroken that some of these distilleries sold themselves out, really, you know?""We can only produce with how much barley we have, and we can only produce what the traditional methods will allow.""In order to be classed a single malt Scottish whisky company, all the ingredients must be grown in Scotland.""In February of last year I could have bought a bottle of McCallen's 10 year standard for about 35 pounds a bottle. By the June the same year, it was 230 pounds a bottle, because they had flooded the foreign market with this whisky.""So if McCallen's don't do well on the foreign market, they've lost their customer base in Scotland. 'Cause we felt that was quite, well, quite rude.""Any time very expensive, private bottles of whisky went to auction, it's also been Japan that's bought them. So they've been perfecting their techniques in making single malt whisky.""The rules of the best single malt whisky in the world competition is a bit silly. You can only ever win it once. Which means, unfortunately, that at some point in time, the worst whisky in the world is going to win the best whisky in the world award."

Listen to our Scottish friend James explain whiskey aging and bottling dates, why bottling dates are precisely tracked and what the "Angel's Share" of whiskey is. Learn why it is such a big risk it is for whiskey distillers to go for that prized, high-value 50-year single malt whiskey. From this episode: "..the Government official can then take the count of the literage that went through that day and then count the bottles. If they don't add up, that whisky does not leave the distillery until they find the missing whisky." A 10 year cask will lose a third of the contents of the barrel to evaporation. We refer to that as the Angel's Share. It's quite nice. Hopefully I've lived a good enough life, I'll become a whisky angel. "If they unearth a 50 year and it tests below 39.5% alcohol it will not be classed as a neat spirit, therefore it cannot be classed as single malt and you've just wasted 50 years." "So it can be, you know, quite a skill, quite an art to make the whisky."

It does work. Whiskey is like a little time machine... just look at the bottling date and reminisce on your past about what you were doing at that time in your life. Then, the more that you drink, the more powerful the emotions will feel from that day. If you get to the very, very bottom of the bottle, whoa, the time machine is so powerful that you will have regressed right back to very early childhood. It's absolutely amazing, quite a romantic drink.

What is this podcast about? Who is this for? Why are we doing this? What will you hear? And WHY Scotland? A quick intro to these burning questions and more, in this short but awkward first podcast episode 000...