Bill Hill's blog

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.

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'.

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 Edinburgh had a lunch of Cullen Skink In the Royal Macgregor. The weather was very stormy

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 . I was out of town the next time she visited, but a few days ago I received a text message asking me to go to hear her the next night and she had left 2 complimentary tickets. I duly attended and was captivated by her virtuosity and stage presence. No Wonder!

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 to see Edinburgh and took the train through from Rosyth to Edinburgh to meet with me.

I've had some super holidays this year and done some great things. I thought it might be to help you get to know me better, to begin to post some of my adventures abroad and at home. You can also find out about me on Facebook. Recently I found it was great to get to know Kim and Jerry from Indiana and we had a whale of a time when they visited Edinburgh.

My aim always is to get my friends to feel at the end of the tour that a friend has shared his home town with them and recently, that aim was achieved in spectacular fashion when in the company of Doug and his lovely wife, Daphne from El Paso, Texas.

Its been a very busy Summer so my blog has been a bit neglected of late. The Festival is over now though and the pressure is easing, so I thought it was time to tell of my latest experience of how Facebook can be used as a means of helping to get potential clients (friends) to get to know me before we meet, having booked a tour.

I've had so many great days with super friends this year, so thanks to you all (you know who you are) To cap it all, I returned from a lovely day with Kathy Kolker and friends from Indiana yesterday and discovered an E mail from a leading international travel company, advising me that they had given me a highly recommenrded award in their annual awards for excellence scheme. My web designer Jackie and I are the greatest duo since Mork and Mindy LOL

http://www.iglucruise.com/igluawards2011/categories/winners/edinburgh.htm

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has now started and there is lots to see without charge, particularly in pubs which offer free live music. One that I never miss is at the Guildford Arms with its 2 weeks of Jazz and folk music. The Folk week is hosted by friends of mine whio have a band called Yard of Ale.

For more details go to http://www.mcdougald.btinternet.co.uk/