“This fragment, which is part of the eastern frieze of the Parthenon, depicts a foot and a part of the peplos (dress) of Artemis, and was acquired in 1816, by the British consul in Sicily, Robert Fagan…the fragment is now displayed in a glass case [on the top floor of the Acropolis Museum], within its place in the reconstruction and also to the actual historical site.”

In honouring Women’s History Month, I have chosen a woman I never had the chance to meet. Her images have always captivated me and grace the walls of my home, and I have heard countless stories of her from my dad and his siblings.

Like most Americans, I did not learn to speak a foreign language until I was a teenager. My first attempt, German, was a disaster. I managed to somehow eke out a passing grade during my two years of German, and can confidently count to twenty, say ja und nein, please, and thank you. I can also order a beer, but that was not part of our middle school curriculum: I learned to do that while traveling in my 20s.

February means Valentine’s Day, and that makes it an ideal opportunity to  talk about love—or at least about love-related issues—in the Basque Country.

Here is an update on travelling through London Heathrow to Edinburgh (current as of Februrary 11, 2022 and at time of publication. Travel guidelines and restrictions are subject to change; be sure to check with existing national and local government agencies as well as your airline for the most up-to-date information for your travels)

When it comes to weather, Scotland is douce (sedate) in temperament.  The water surrounding the British Isles generally protects us from the extremes experienced in other parts of the world. Although we may be a nation obsessed with the weather, the talk is rain or shine, wind or cloud—not loss of power and communications, damage to property, and even threat to life. But the first month of 2022 seems to have changed that.

The New Year is often when we try a new hobby, get into a new habit, or set goals for the spin around the sun. So why not get into some new music too? Crossing lines of time, languages, and genre, together, these songs make a great playlist for the year—twelve songs for twelve months of 2022.

A major environmental downside to travel is the carbon footprint it leaves but there are movements underway and things we can do individually to minimize this impact. One of the biggest polluters are airlines, which emit 3.5% of the world’s carbon emissions. While that might not seem like a big percentage, reducing emissions in this field is important, and sustainable aviation fuels are key.

Hey, travel friends! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and Guide Collective wants to be your Valentine!

In the 1920s, Dr. Rudolf Steiner was a major contributor to what we know as biodynamic farming. This type of farming practice is based on creating a balanced environment for the crop while always keeping in mind holistic, ethical, and ecological elements that surround it. However, many are skeptical because of its cosmic and mystical considerations.

Tour guide Lisa Anderson helps uncover some special New Year’s traditions.

Scottish Blue Badge guide Susan Brown [Eyes on Scotland and Eyes on Bermuda] spends her winters in sunny Bermuda (lucky lady!), and this year, she’s giving us a photographic tour of the the island’s town of St. George all decked out in holiday lights.

For my third installment on the theme of artists and artisans, I’m introducing some of  my favourite artists whom I have been following on social media for a few years now. They range across a variety of media, but perhaps unsurprisingly for a Scottish Blue Badge guide, all of these artists are Scottish. Indeed they are all based on the west coast of Scotland—two in the county of Argyll and two on the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides. 

Sam McDonald is fascinated by the beams of light that penetrate the water and illuminate aspects of the fish who seem to be oblivious to his presence. It is this regular interaction with the marine environment which has given Sam the insight to create such beautiful pieces by mixing resin and traditional metal working techniques, patination, and pewter, gold leaf, brass, and other metals. 

The founders of MASS ended up taking what they learned at Harvard and melded that with what they learned working with locals in Rwanda. It prompted them to develop an ethos for all their projects: design beautiful buildings, help as many local people as possible, source local materials and labor, and provide smart, natural air flow for a healthier environment.

Living on an island means that local raw materials are finite, and part of wood craftsman Alex’s ethos is to reuse and repurpose discarded wood, whether it be windfall, landscaping waste, ocean flotsam and jetsam or off-cut wood. Chris, a designer of rope art, believes in sustainability wherever possible and repurposes discarded ropes that he finds in the ocean, as well as working with new ropes.

If there is a fungus that deserves to be in all history books, it should be the Truffle. We have records from the Mesopotamian Empire (3000 BCE) where the Sumerians would eat truffles. In Egypt, there are hieroglyphs the depict the offering truffles to the deities. Greeks and Romans loved them—Emperor Nero said “Truffles are a delicacy of gods.''

Until last week, I understood over-tourism to be an urban problem, limited to cities like Edinburgh, Rome, Paris, New York, Sydney, or Barcelona. I was forced to re-evaluate in the most unlikely of locations—a beautiful beach on the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, about as far away from the likes of a global metropolis as you could possibly imagine.