Highlights 2010/2011

Author: Ivan Sharpe - Tenor

Over the last twelve months Caledon has enjoyed return visits to some of our favourite places:

Berlin

In May we returned for what was probably our last visit (...never say never...) to our favourite venue of all, Berlin’s Tipi, Zelt am Kanzleramt. We were greeted with such warmth and delight by our German fans that it was with a fair degree of sadness that we closed the final show of the run. A change of management and artistic direction there has decreed that, for now, our Tipi years are at an end but hopefully we can secure an alternative Berlin venue to keep our love affair with Berlin alive.

New York

After several years in the fashion wilderness Caledon was recalled to modelling duty at the Scottish Fashion Show, Dressed to Kilt in New York this Spring. Once again our rendition of 500 Miles added some life to (...some might even say came to the rescue of...) proceedings. However it was good to see some of Scotland’s Greatest present: Billy Connolly, Robbie Coltrane, Richie Gray, and Brian Cox to name a few.

We also got our photo taken with “24” star, Kiefer Sutherland who we could have hidden in a sporran...it’s true, T.V definitely makes people bigger. The show closed with Cox, Sutherland and company mooning the audience, possibly the only moment to challenge our Proclaimers hit for memorability!

Houston, Texas

RBS Houston had us back once again in January this year to perform, and compere this time, at their annual Burn’s Supper, always a magnificent affair. Joining forces with St.Thomas’ Episcopal Pipe Band for Highland Cathedraland Amazing Grace never loses its thrill and once again Kevin Howard O.B.E spiced up the evening with his Toast to the Lassies, punctuated with what he felt were his ten most successful fruity jokes of the last decade!

Perhaps the only disappointment of the evening was that, unlike our 2009 visit, not one of the lassies saw fit to invade the stage while we were singing and lie on their backs to “sneak a peak”....ah well, God bless America!

Mexico

Another wonderful visit to Mexico City last September had us doubling our collection of cowboy boots, gasping the thin air whilst climbing the mighty pyramids of Teotihuacan, an ancient city of Mayan and Aztec influence, and enjoying the hospitality of the British Ambassador for a second time...Empire!

Oh yes, we did some singing too, including a marvellous open air concert with Mexico’s only pipe band, Banda de Gaitas del Batallon de San Patricio, where we also provided backing vocals for a stunning arrangement of Over the hills and far away for the pipe major’s daughter, Denise Gutierrez, a rising Mexican pop folk star.

Berlin - 2009

Scottish Tour - 2007

Author: Alan Beck - Tenor

Diary: Well folks, another Caledon Scottish Tour has finally come to an end and so I thought I'd write a wee note to all of you who were able to attend one (or several - thanks Janice and Debbie) of the concerts... and also give a little resume of said Tour for those of you who were unable to.

Firstly, the Tour was a tremendous success with regard to the increased number of gigs, the increased audiences at every town where we were making a return visit and the increased merchandise sales. We began the Tour way back in March making our debut at The Carnegie Hall !!!! (in Clashmore - north of Inverness) immediately upon our return from Berlin. Clashmore, you see, is the tiny village where Andrew Carnegie built his great Scottish Highland estate, Skibo Castle (where we also played a private function for Royal Bank of Scotland the evening following the concert).

The audience, which must have been the entire population of Clashmore, was jammed into this little hall (which, I think it's fair to say, is somewhat smaller than its NYC big sister). However, the atmosphere created by the locals and the reception given by them to our show, was surely just as warm as anything that Manhattan has to offer.

The following evening at Skibo was fabulous. Not only had RBS given us board and lodgings at the estate, but our favourite Englanders (it's not their fault) Kevin and Susan Howard, along with their lovely daughters Joanne and Jennifer, invited us to dine with them the evening afterwards in the fabulous private dining room of the castle (I know, I know, it was a tough job, but someone had to do it!). Those of you who regularly read Caledon's newsletters will recognise Kevin's name - he runs RBS's Texas office and also gives the funniest 'Toast to the Lassies' we've ever heard.

The Scottish Tour had just begun when we so rudely interrupted it to go to Canada for Tartan Day. Now for those of you who don't know, Tartan Day is April 6th (the date of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath) and celebrates Scotland's great influence on the rest of the world.

This short trip consisted of a great concert with the Regina Symphony Orchestra, a thrilling concert with the Pipes and Drums of the 48th Regiment of Canada (The Black Watch) and a freezing concert in the open air outside Toronto City Hall! Toronto really is a great city, but we often think to ourselves, "Why couldn't the signatories of the Declaration of Arbroath have done it in July!?!"

North America - 2006

Author: Alan Beck - Tenor

Well, another tour of North America has come to an end and, like previous visits it promises to yield a bigger and better tour next year.

Having previously shipped over hundreds of copies of our new album, Live ! ... n' Kickin', November 8th saw us jet-out to Newark from Edinburgh on Continental Airlines (one of the sponsors of our tour). The flight was uneventful apart from the sad fact that we didn't manage a bump-up this time around (sadly, no lovely Morag - the Continental international concierge from Glasgow airport - to sweet-talk us up to Business First).

Once landed stateside, we immediately installed ourselves in our digs and called Caledon supporter Ronan Tynan, who wanted to meet us for a famous NY breakfast. Over the last few visits to the US I have found it very difficult to ignore the indelibly etched words of my mother which were drummed

into me at every meal time, "Make sure you eat it all up - you may not leave the table until you do !" and so now I do the unthinkable - I simply order less food. In any case the portions are so large that to finish them becomes a disaster for the waistline. This is not Ronan's motto, however and he put us all to shame by ordering big and finishing it too !

The first concert of the tour took place in Port Washington on Long Island courtesy of Robert Berens. Bob has become a great Caledon supporter over the last few months since he heard our programme On A Beautiful Scottish Evening on PBS. Not only did he invite us to sing at his summer concert at Sands Point Preserve, but he planned and promoted our concert at the Landmark Theatre in Port Washington so brilliantly that it was a sell-out (the first of many on this tour). Bob put us up in the sumptuous surroundings of The Mansion House Club on the grounds of the Preserve (that reminds me, I must mail the room key back to them) and wined and dined us in the way that Americans specialise - fabulously ! Thanks Bob !

After performing a corporate evening in Manhattan for the Royal Bank of Scotland, we were chauffeured by limousine to a new destination for Caledon : New Hampshire. In fact Portsmouth to be precise. Here we were the guests of The State of New Hampshire and its new Scottish Business liaison, Bob Creighton. Bob has been a great help to Caledon over the years as there is probably no-one in the American - Scottish community with so much experience ... and so many contacts.

The concert in Portsmouth took place in an historic church wherein the late Dr. Martin Luther King had preached and it was indeed an honour for us to be addressing an audience from the same stage where the great Dr. King had stood. The concert was a great success and in fact we ran out of merchandising stock after the show and had to send a number of the audience home without a Caledon momento. However, the sad news of missing

merchandising sales was tempered by a great offer at the meal afterwards. One of the concert sponsors, The Smutty-Nose Brewery, was so delighted that they not only offered to entirely sponsor a concert next year in the Portsmouth Music Hall, but they also want to honour us by having our picture on their new Scotch Ale; due to be released in 2007 - it doesn't get any better folks (unless of course you have a single malt whisky named after you).

From NH it was a short plane journey to Caledon's second home - Michigan, where the lovely Peg and Bill Dunlop (our US Mom and Dad) were having their Thanksgiving Dinner early in our honour. Peg had also arranged a Tuesday concert in Fraser High School auditorium, but not before arranging for us to work with the pupils of the Fraser Choir for a couple of hours on the Monday afternoon. What a great experience that was - not for the kids, but for us ! It was so refreshing for us to work with such talent and enthusiasm and the pupils were such an enormous credit to their superb Vocal Studies head, Pasquale (Pat) Pascaretti. Well done Pat and you should know that as I write this, I am wearing my Fraser Choir sweat-shirt !

From MI, it was over the border into Canada where our Canadian agency, Concert Showcase International had managed to secure a couple of high profile concerts in Manitoba and British Columbia. Both Sandy and Natasha from CSI in Toronto met us in Brandon where we were delighted to see a sell-out audience of nearly 1,000 people brave the Manitoban ice and snow to turn out for Caledon. Both girls then joined us the next morning for the long flight to Vancouver.

Now, not to put down any other city on our touring schedule but, Vancouver is one beautiful city. The scenery is breath-taking with the mountains, the islands and the ocean all in such close proximity : why it could almost be Scotland ! Mike Paul from the Scottish Studies Centre in Vancouver had promoted the concert for us and once again it was a sell-out; once again we had the offer of a return concert and once again we sold-out our merchandise. Of course, the fact that we had appeared earlier that morning on the Shaw TV Breakfast Show probably did us no harm at all. Neither did the fact that the previous day we had done another school choir session, this time with Dr Shirley Perry and the boys' choir of Mulgrave School. The parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles really turned out in numbers again !

The hours following on from the concert were spent in our hotel rooms, watching TV trying not to fall asleep as the limo was arriving to take us to the airport at ... 3.15am ! Yes, that was indeed ... 3.15am, so you can imagine that by the time we returned to Detroit we were somewhat exhausted. Why did we return to Detroit I hear you ask? Well, apart from Peg's fabulous home-baked cheesecake, Bill Baker's challenge to a game of Bocci and a night-out to see the new 007 movie, Casino Royale, there was the small matter of a concert in Port Huron to fulfil. The concert took place in the 1st Presbyterian Church and once again, it was a complete sell-out in both tickets and merchandise, and has already yielded a return invitation.

After a couple of days unwinding at Peg and Bill's and also at the home of Bill and Susy Baker, we took the 8th flight of our trip from Detroit to the Lone Star State where we landed in Houston. It was the second time this year for us in Houston : the first time was in February for RBS but this time it was for the British American Business Council, who were putting on a dinner to raise money for their ambitious scholarship programme. This programme was recently responsible for bringing Scottish students over to gain work experience in the US and in fact some of the lucky ones

gained this experience by working at NASA of all places - they must have been over the Moon ! (yes, I know, it's a tired old joke, but keeping in the great Caledon tradition). Let me just say right now that we do lots and lots of corporate events, but this one was by far and away the best and this was largely to do with the organisational skills of the lovely Susan Howard, whose husband Kevin happens to be president of the organisation and also numero uno in RBS in Texas (and whose daughters Joanne and Jennifer happen to be absolutely delightful - thankfully they have taken their looks from their Mum : sorry Kevin but at least they did get their sense of humour from you).

What with the British Consul's fabulous reception the night before the dinner and the BABC's marvellous lunch the afternoon after the dinner, the dinner itself could have been a bit of a let-down. Not a bit of it !

The audience loved the Scottish pop medley we gave them and then rushed the stage for 500 Miles, forcing us to do it twice.

And so it was back home to Blighty on a real high after Houston. Laden with Christmas presents, which we had decided to buy in the US (since the dollar exchange rate was so abysmal), we were met by our families who had missed us for nearly four weeks.

And now we look forward to next year with a number of visits to Germany, Canada and the US on the cards, it looks like another busy year for Caledon. May we take this opportunity to thank all of our loyal fans for your incredible support to date and to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Scottish Tour - 2006

Author: Alan Beck - Tenor

29 May 7.30pm Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh £12.50, £10.00 (conc) 0131 665 2240

1 Jun 7.30pm Eastgate Theatre & Arts Centre, Peebles. £12.00, £11.00 (conc) 01721 725777

9 Jun 7.30pm Victoria Halls, Helensburgh £12.00, £10.00 (conc) TBC

10 Jun 7.30pm Wellbank Hall, Wellbank by Dundee £13.00 01382 350250

11 Jun 7.30pm Music Hall, Aberdeen www.musichallaberdeen.com £15.50, £13.50(+ booking fee) 01224 641122

18 Jun 8.00pm Festival Theatre, Pitlochry www.pitlochry.org.uk £15.00 01796 484626

24 Jun 7.30pm Arts Guild Theatre, Greenock £12.50, £10.00 01475 723038

27 Jun 8.30pm The Marquee, Tain Links Tain. £10.00 01862 892521

29 Jun 7.30pm Corran Halls, Oban £10.00, £8.00 (conc) 01631 567333

30 Jun 8.00pm Queen's Hall, Dunoon £10.00, £8.00 (conc) 01369 702800

26 Aug 7.30pm Langholm Parish Church £12.00 01387 380666 (from 7 July )

15 Sep 7.30pm Palace Theatre, Kilmarnock www.palacetheatre.biz £12.50, £10.50 01563 554900

16 Sep 7.30pm The Town House, Hamilton £11.00, £9.00 01698 452299

20 Sep 7.30pm Ryan Centre Theatre, Stranraer £12.00, £10.50 (conc) 01776 703535

30 Sep 8.00pm City Hall, Glasgow www.glasgowcityhalls.com £12.50(+50p booking fee) 0141 353 8000

Ontario - 2006

Berlin - 2006

New York Tartan Week - 2005

Author: Alan Beck - Tenor

Diary: FRIDAY APRIL 1ST

19.30 BST - Concert in Albert Halls, Stirling. Great concert, great atmosphere, but we really are April Fools for arranging a concert the night before Tartan Day as our schedule is very tight.

23.20 BST - Leave Albert Halls for Jamie's house where I'm going to stay the night as it is closer to Edinburgh Airport than Greenock.

SATURDAY APRIL 2ND

00.10 BST - Arrive in Jamie's, quick cup of tea and pack cases, transferring Stirling concert gear into case.

00. 45 BST - Bed (at last!)

03.45 BST - Get up, get shower and get to airport.

05.00 BST - Check-in at Edinburgh Airport for flight to London.

06.30 BST - Board on time, but plane sits at the side of the runway for 55 minutes because of London air traffic control.

08.40 BST - Plane finally lands in London. Ground staff make heroic efforts to help us make the 09.30 connection to JFK, but to no avail : we miss the flight and are put on standby for the next one. It looks almost certain that we will miss the Tartan Day parade where we are supposed to be singing!

11.30 BST - Finally take-off for New York, and, to make up for the disappointment of missing the Tartan Day parade, we get an upgrade. Michael weeps with unadulterated joy !

12.00 EST - Land at JFK. Approximately 1,500 people at US immigration - we will never make the 1pm parade without a miracle.

12.15 EST - Jamie performs a miracle by blagging an immigration official to take us right to the front of the queue.

12.30 EST - Having just gone up a ladder by jumping the immigration queue, we slide back down a snake because they have lost Ivan's case ! This delays us by around 40 minutes.

13.10 EST - Finally in a big yellow taxi, we head for Manhattan Island and the junction of 6th Ave and 57th where our double decker bus is waiting for us, along with most of Scotland's Lord Provosts and Provosts, Neil Ross our REL Records producer (with his video camera which he is using to make a Caledon documentary) and our North American stalwarts, the fabulous Peg and Bill Dunlop (who followed us last year all the way to the Sydney Opera House and the Edinburgh Festival).

14.15 EST - Clutching our luggage and dodging the police cordons, we finally reach the parade bus, and jump on as we are being announced over the PA system. One minute after arriving on the bus we are rocking NY with I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), much to the delight of the Rt. Hon Liz Cameron, Lord Provost of Glasgow who does a Caledon-inspired jig in the middle of the avenue !

14.30 EST - End of the parade and we head to our hotel on 43rd and 3rd to check-in and have a shower and forty winks before heading out to Grand Central Station for our next gig.

17.30 EST - Walk to Grand Central to perform in the Scottish Village, Vanderbilt Hall at a reception given by the Provosts and Lord Provosts of Scotland. Here we meet up with some old Caledon friends, including Liz Cameron (Lord Provost of Glasgow), Colin O'Brien (Provost of Stirling), Fiona Kennedy (founder of Tartan TV) and her delightful daughter Hannah, Gus Noble (President of the St Andrew Society of Illinois, where we are honorary members) and Alan J Bain (President of the American Scottish Foundation). Not for the first time, the sound engineers are disastrous and my microphone is NOT on ! Dagnabbit ! I am not pleased, to say the least, but at least the food is good ! In any case, we steal the show with 500 Miles and make LOTS of new contacts.

19.30 EST - Head back to hotel for some well-earned rest and try to re-adjust our body clocks in preparation for tomorrow's concert, and (more importantly) tomorrow's visit to the Comfort Diner for a real NY breakfast!

SUNDAY APRIL 3RD

09.30 EST - Caledon stride out as one in the company of Peg, Bill, Neil and Irish Tenor Ronan Tynan, for a real American breakfast at NY's famous Comfort Diner. There is no messing as Neil and I go straight for the "Gutbustin', Lumberjack Special" : 8oz steak; 2 eggs, over easy; 2 sausages; 4 strips of crispy bacon; fried potatoes; 4 American blueberry pancakes with maple syrup; 4 slices of white toast; one glass of orange juice and several cups of tea. The others content themselves with much of the same (minus the pancakes) and 90 minutes later we stagger back to the hotel to prepare for our train journey to Connecticut.

12.00 EST - We walk the short distance to Grand Central and board the train for the 50 minute journey.

13.30 EST - Arrive in Redding, CT. where the lovely Luanne Stoner, who has organised our concert, meets us in the big, black Cherokee. The concert is a first for us as we have never played to a non-Scots audience : even though we have played many concerts abroad, they have normally been for audiences full of people who wish to celebrate their Scottish roots ; this is not the case here as they are mostly of English extraction !!!!!

16.00 EST - Concert in Redding Centre begins with The Star Spangled Banner. Audience goes crazy for our blockbusting arrangement and it sets the tone for the rest of the concert - quite frankly, they LOVE us! Great friends from Greenock, Tom and Betty Glancy are in the audience along with their daughter

Lisa. Also in the audience are my brother-in-law and his wife, Dr. and Mrs. Laurence Kirwan with their daughters (my nieces Felicity and Lilibet) and my sister-in-law Fenella Pearson.

20.00 EST - Back on the train to Manhattan and then with Ivan to Ronan's flat where we promised to come and hear his new album which is number two in the crossover charts. Ronan has played me tracks from the album a number of times down the phone, but this is the first time I've heard it in the flesh, and it sounds fabulous. The Universal guys have really captured his sound and done a great mixing job - Neil Ross take note for our new album in September !

MONDAY APRIL 4TH

01.30 EST - Too late and too tired to go back to the hotel, we crash at Ronan's pad.

09.30 EST - Breakfast at the Comfort Diner but this time we content ourselves with just 4 strips of bacon; 2 eggs over easy; 2 sausages; fried potatoes; 4 white toast; orange juice and tea - no room for pancakes today !

12.00 EST - Reception hosted by Caledon buddy Colin O'Brien, the Provost of Stirling, where we perform Scots Wha' Hae Wi' Wallace Bled : very suitable since the reception has been organised to introduce the American people to William Wallace's

sword, brought over from the Wallace Monument and its first time outside Scotland for more than 800 years. Many dignitaries are in attendance from both Scotland and the US, including many well-known (although, not by me) NY politicians from the Mayor's office. Voice feels a little tired - a mixture of jet-lag, yesterday's concert and late night malt whisky drinking with Ronan ! Silly boy ; when will I ever learn?

14.00 EST - Back to hotel for a siesta in preparation for the very exhausting evening ahead - no singing ; just eating. We are to pay a visit to the world-famous Grand Central Station Oyster Bar. I've been once before, and I am so looking forward to it. In fact it's one of the reasons I had such a small breakfast this morning !

19.00 EST - We walk the short distance from our hotel to the Oyster Bar and have a fabulous evening. As an aperitif we order Gins and Tonic all round and peruse the magnificent menu. I plump for half a dozen oysters followed by the special - a huge seafood platter. We create a bit of a disturbance by being unable to control our laughter at Michael's (now) legendary comment : normally kosher (although Michael lives by the maxim D.C.O.T. - Doesn't Count On Tour) Michael has plumped for some soft shell crabs. He informs us, with a perplexed look, "I'm not quite convinced that I'm eating all the correct bits". It transpires he has eaten every last bit of the crabs, including shells and claws !

22.00 EST - We stagger back to the hotel. Silly boy; when will I ever learn?

TUESDAY APRIL 5TH

09.00 EST - Comfort Diner : you can guess the rest !

11.00 EST - Jamie and Neil visit Radio City Music Hall and have a meeting with the management. Neil would love to put on a show starring Scotland's most famous tenors in this, NY's most famous theatre. Ivan, Michael and I visit Ronan's manager with the big man himself also in attendance.

15.00 EST - Back to the hotel to get ready for tonight's performance at the Waldorf Astoria : The Icons of Scotland Awards Dinner.

18.30 EST - Presented by Caledon fan Fred McCauley the Icon Awards are being given to various famous Scots including Alan Cumming and Nicola Benedetti. Nicola can't be there (shame as we have performed at a lot of functions together and she is a lovely girl and a great laugh) but both Alan and Fred record little messages for our documentary saying how fabulous we are and various other downright lies - they'll do anything for a pint ! Most exciting for Michael and me is that we are sharing the bill (and our table) with our heroines, Fascinating Aida. Both Michael and I have their recordings at home and we think they rock ! Dilly Kean, who is the founder of "the old bag" (her term for F.A.) is a complete riot, and immediately informs us, "You would be huge in Berlin cabaret, darling!" and she will call her friend Lutz, who runs the Tipi-das-Zelt, (Berlin's top cabaret venue) and tell him to book us. To be honest, so much alcohol has been drunk (silly boy :

when will I ever learn?) that I take Dilly's comment with a pinch of salt. In any case, in the words of Fred McCauley, Caledon rocked yet again !

23.30 EST - Return to the hotel via Roxy's delicatessen on Broadway, where Caledon devour the world's largest sandwiches. Michael's is so huge that when the sandwich has beaten him into submission, it looks exactly the same size as it was when it was brought to the table ! This optical illusion confuses us so much that we forget to order cheesecake ! Surely I can't come to NY and leave without having had cheesecake, can I?

THURSDAY APRIL 6TH

08.30 EST - Need you ask?

09.30 EST - Taxi to Hanover Square which used to lie in the shadow of the World Trade Centre. This, for me, is the most important event of our week. The British Memorial Garden in the square is being created by the UK as a gift to the good people of New York. It is a garden of remembrance and reflection in honour of the British victims of 9/11, of which there were many. The garden will consist of materials brought from all over the British Isles, and today the first Scottish materials are to be presented to the B.M.G. by The Earl of Caithness. Caithness Stone will be piped into the garden and we will sing some suitable music - quite an honour, we feel, as it is the first of Scotland's many contributions to the project and we have been invited to contribute in our small way. Hundreds of people gather in the square, mostly in kilts, but

also many ordinary New Yorkers are there. The local construction workers, who are making the usual building noise, down tools for the duration of the ceremony in honour of the event and the atmosphere has a wonderful sense of togetherness. A great day !

13.00 EST - Taxi to the Copacabana Club for a sound check for tonight's Dressed to Kilt event. An honest mix-up with the organiser Geoffrey Carroll about our choice of repertoire makes the atmosphere tense, but we persuade Geoffrey to agree (reluctantly) to our choice of song : we know from experience that it is the right one.

15.00 EST - Back to hotel to change.

17.00 EST - Taxi to the Upper East Side where we are to sing at a reception for Sir Phillip Thomas, at the British Consulate in NY. Everybody who is anybody is there, including Scots Parliament Presiding Officer, George Reid, First Secretary of Scottish Affairs at the British Embassy in Washington DC, Susan Stewart, former Scotland and British Lions star Scott Hastings and Lady Connery (sans 007). Even if I say so myself, we sing magnificently ! Caledon unplugged, no mics, just Michael at a Steinway baby grand and our voices, and boy, we really make a statement with Burns' hymn to the common man, A Man's A Man For A' That. There are more than a few tears in the eyes of the audience, and I must confess to a degree of dampness in the old eye department myself. However, no time to waste - we must say our farewells and hail yet another cab, back to the Copacabana for the fashion show.

19.00 EST - Dressed to Kilt is a crazy idea : a fashion show, full of the beautiful people, based only on kilts. We wear our wacky, orange, luminescent, lion rampant kilts, but we are made to look very pedestrian by some of the creations on display, including a polythene, see-through kilt that leaves nothing to the imagination, and positively cries out for more condensation to help cover the modesty of the "true Scotsman" who is wearing it ! Our turn comes and the backing-track for 500 Miles pumps out loudly from the house speakers. We parade up and down the cat-walk and D.T.K. judge Fred McCauley stuffs a dollar bill down my sock. Sorry Fred, I'm not that cheap ! Fellow judge, Micheline Connery is going crazy for our performance and gives us full marks. And, guess what - our choice of repertoire is proven right as Caledon win Best Live Act 2005 (and the crate of Johnnie Walker Gold Label that goes with it) !

FRIDAY APRIL 7TH

01.30 EST - Staggering into yet another cab (silly boys - when will we ever learn?) we head back to the hotel and our beds, covered in glory and lipstick (and that was just from the male models !), but disaster strikes as I realise I am deficient in the kilt department to the tune of one ! My Scottish National tartan kilt has been packed away with the other creations (including the sweaty polythene one, no doubt). I'll have to sort that out when I get back to Scotland.

09.00 EST - We say a fond farewell to the Comfort Diner with one last huge breakfast and check out of our hotel. Ronan has kindly invited us to chill out at his apartment as our flight won't leave until around 8pm and so we head uptown in yet another cab.

13.00 EST - Ronan takes us for lunch to his "local" a fabulous bar / restaurant named Bobby Vans, where Sinatra and the Rat Pack used to hang out. An Irish friend of Ronan's owns the place, and we are made to feel very welcome by a number of his poker playing pals, and introduced to some very interesting cocktails (silly boy... etc.).

17.00 EST - The final cab of our Tartan Week trip arrives to take us back to JFK and we board the London flight, gutted at the lack of an upgrade. Yes folks, it's sardine class once again, but at least the plane is not busy and on the flight back I always try to sleep. I find a whole empty row and the back of the plane and stretch out, with my ear plugs in, for a nice long snooze.

08.30 BST - Touch-down in Heathrow and connection back to Edinburgh. It's good to be home. I look forward, more than anything after a trip away to getting into my own bed : there really is nothing like it ! All, in all a very enjoyable and successful trip which will, I'm sure lead to lots of possibilities. Now it's back to reality again and possibly Weightwatchers and Alcoholics Anonymous !

Alan

P.S. When I eventually, get to check my e-mails, I find that there is one from a guy called Lutz from Berlin.