Spring is a lovely time of year. It heralds the first signs of warmth in the air as buds and flowers push their way forth from the hardened soil to add a zing of colour following a cold and snowy winter. Scotland and the UK have had the most incredible winter, which has surpassed all the years I can remember. The ski resort at Glencoe was reportedly the snowiest resort in the world at the end of February. On 24th February it reported 80cm of fresh snow in 24 hours which was more than any other resort recorded by the Ski Club of Great Britain which collects data worldwide. March has seen it warm up a bit, and the Highlands remain breathtakingly beautiful with snow capping the mountains so we recommend you join us on tour soon.

Our programme of tours this year is more extensive than ever with lots of extra departures to Orkney, the Outer Hebrides, Islay, the Lake District and new tours to Yorkshire and the north of England. These tours have proved very popular and we are putting on extra departures where we can, but if you want to travel to the islands this summer we recommend you book early to avoid disappointment.  This year we are also increasing our departures from the city of Glasgow. In addition to our day tours which have been very successful, we will also be offering 2 day tours to Loch Ness, Inverness and the Highlands and 3 day tours to the Isle of Skye available from May 2010.

Giving Something Back to the Community
Rabbie’s is sponsoring a team of staff members to compete in the Barnardo’s Cairngorm Challenge on Saturday 11th September. Organised by Maximillion, and located in the Cairngorms National Park the challenge is bigger, better and longer than the previous three years and uses the familiar and favourite “dualathon” Hike and Bike combo.  There are three routes to choose from: Bronze (50km) Silver (75km) and Gold (100k), all three with relay options available. Everyone will start with a climb up Scotland’s 6th highest mountain, Cairn Gorm and then pass through the stunning estates of Rothiemurchus, Abernethy Reserve, Pityoulish and Glenmore Forests.

Maximillion are recruiting for more teams to enter so if anyone is interested in putting a team together to raise money for this hugely important children’s charity please email Barnardos@maximillion.co.uk We will be asking you to donate to this cause in our next newsletter. We hope we will have your support for what looks like a very tough challenge!

Staff News
We have a number of new people joining us as driver/guides this Summer as well as 4 new Mercedes 16 seat mini-coaches to add to our fleet to cater for increased demand.

The Greatest Scot Competition
Last year a competition was held by a well known TV network to find out who the general public in Scotland regarded as the 'greatest Scot' of all time. The list devised included well known figures from history, television, sport and the medical field, both past and present.

After much deliberation and a series of programmes highlighting each individuals greatness, telephone lines were opened up for everyone to join in and vote.

The results were as follows:

1st Position: Robert Burns - our national Bard, and who we named our company after

2nd position: Sir William Wallace - Scottish warrior and patriot

3rd position: Sir Alexander Fleming - gentleman who discovered penicillin

4th position: David Tennant - actor and Dr Who' phenomenon

5th Position: Jock Stein - football manager of Celtic football club and then the national team

I did not participate in the vote but watched the result with some interest, always believing that the great Rabbie ( Robert ) Burns would win. I'm glad he did. His legacy is so rich that there is barely a soul in Scotland that has not heard of him. His legacy stretches across the globe and his name is mentioned in all corners of it. Well done that man! I must admit though, I was a little perplexed to see that King Robert the Bruce did not make the top 5. So as a fan of the great King, I have decided to pay homage to him here.

King Robert the Bruce most famously restored Scotland’s freedom in 1314 at the battle of Bannockburn near Stirling. Folklore says that the inspiration for continuing his fight for Scotland, was due to his encounter with a spider in a cave. Imagine for a moment King Robert alone and depressed, huddled with his knees somewhere under his chin trying to keep warm whilst anxiously reflecting that all his efforts for the country were in vain. The prospect of dismal failure loomed large on the horizon. His feeling of despair was so keen that he was contemplating whether a worthwhile job in a wholly new career may be the best course of action open to him. As he gave this due thought, out of the corner of his eye he noticed a spider dangling on a silken thread trying unsuccessfully to complete its web by trapezing from one side of the cave to the other. Transfixed, he watched and calculated that the spider tried 6 times to negotiate this acrobatic flight of fancy. With the weight of the spider’s lack of success mirroring his own, he quietly made a pact with himself, and decided that if the spider could not achieve its goal at the next attempt, then he too, would relinquish his control and give up. However if the spider was somehow successful then he would fight on. Well, inspiration packs a punch and comes in many forms, as the spider on its 7th attempt was at last successful. King Robert ruefully smiled to himself for he knew now that he would not back out either.

Did you know that the biggest spider in the world is the giant bird-eating spider, which can have a leg span of 11 inches. I guess one of these wouldn't have had so much trouble straddling the cave. The smallest spider is the partu marplesi. Whatever the size we can only be grateful that one inspirational spider was enough for King Bob.

Did you know?

The spring month of April used to be the 2nd month of the year in early Roman calendars, but became the 4th month when January became the first one.

The month was originally called Aprilis- meaning 'to open' (Apt with the opening of buds and flowers).

Our natural world - the pomegranate.

The name originates from the latin word 'pomum' or  apple meaning seeded. The name grenade was given by the French to their hand thrown explosives after the seed scattered from the fruit. They are native from Iran to the Hilmalayas in Northern India.

100mls of the juice from the pomegranate provides an adult with about 16% of their daily Vitamin C intake. It is reputedly a source of Vitamin B5, Potassium and antioxidant polyphenols.

They say the juice is helpful in reducing heart disease risk disorders, drinking the juice helps with systolic blood pressure, and apparently extract of pomegranate can help with dental plaque.

Lost in the mists of time in the high lands of Greece there lived a beautiful maiden called Persephone. Persephone was an enchanting creature with long golden hair, milky skin and a smile that beamed as if plucked from the sun itself. Of all her sisters she was the most radiant, enriching all around her with her gentle and alluring charm. Flowers blossomed in her glow, and birds joyously sang as she daily wandered through the dewy sweet meadows near her home. As she knelt to touch the cool waters in the gurgling streams, fish danced to her touch, whilst fragrant buds burst forth with heady perfumes and colourful blossoms wherever she roamed.

Bubbling in the darkened depths in the bleak underworld beneath her feet lived Hades, brother of Zeus. Hades, alone in his bleak and empty world, spied the beautiful Persephone, and instantly knew that such a rare beauty should be his wife, and live with him in the deep caverns below the ground. In his black carriage drawn by six ebony chargers he drove them wildly in maddened frenzy to claim his prize. Above ground, he summoned his brother Zeus, father of Persephone and commanded that his demand be met. Zeus relented and agreed, and so it was that Persephone, without choice, was taken and forced to board the darkened carriage and was thence driven into the even darker voids of a world as bleak as she could ever have imagined.

Her mother, Demeter, the Goddess of harvests, was angered beyond reproach, and at once went into mourning. All around for mile upon mile everything began to wither and die mirroring her despair. The dewy meadows turned brown with harsh dead grass as trees stood as still as skeletons devoid of all leaves and buds, and the babblings streams, barely audible, now dried up. For months the countryside lay as a wasteland, lifeless and dull, and all the while Persephone, trapped in the underground craved to be able to return to the riches of her world above the ground. Months dragged on, as depression covered the land. Demeter and her daughters scarcely walked out anymore, and Zeus recognised the ill fate he had been party to. Unable to live with the despair of Demeter, or his other daughters any more, he called Hades before him and demanded that his daughter be returned. A great conflict erupted between the two. But, by the rule of fates, anyone that ate the food from the underworld would stay there for eternity, and Hades had already tricked Persephone into eating four seeds of the pomegranate fruit. And so it was that Persephone would return to the world above ground, but for four months each year she would return to her prison of darkness.

When Persephone lives in darkness so too, do we in the bleakness of winter. With her arrival above ground it heralds spring as all again comes to life once more. Ah Spring!

WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR TALES FROM THE TRAIL? - if any of you have some stories and tales from your travels with us we would love to hear from you. We would be happy to signpost any travel journals, photos, videos and blog posts that you contribute as well.

A pretty young woman on a flight from Switzerland was sitting next to a Priest when she turned to him and said, "Father, may I ask you a favour?" The priest smiled at the woman and replied "Of course. What can I do for you?"
"Well, I bought my mum an expensive electronic hair dryer for her birthday. It is boxed and unopened but well over the Customs limits. I'm afraid they might confiscate it. Would you consider carrying it through customs for me? Under your robes perhaps?"
"I would love to help you my dear" the priest answered "but I must alert you to the fact that I cannot lie."
"With your honest face, Father" the girl grinned "noone will question you."

When they arrived at Customs, the woman let the priest go ahead of her. The official looked at the priest and asked, "Father, do you have anything to declare?"
"From the top of my head down to my waist, I have nothing to declare" he said innocently.

The official thought this a most strange answer, so asked, "And what do you have to declare from your waist to the floor?"
"I have a marvellous instrument designed to be used on a woman, but which is, to date, unused."

Gaelic - thought for the day - Smaoin an latha

Cha bhi fios aire math an tobair gus an traigh e - The value of the well is not known until it goes dry.