It's Reunion Year : Scotland '09 !

Hard to believe it is almost here but 2009 is reunion year in Scotland , my other homeland . I am a McMillan on me mum's side ! Next year all the clans will converge and celebrate with many festivities starting in June . If you plan to go , and I hope you will , start planning now because hotels are already filling up fast in reunion HQ Edinburgh . This city put the cos in cosmopolitan . Standing high above the city Edinburgh castle gives visitors dramatic views . Both medieval and Georgian styles abound and of course Edinburgh is home to the greatest arts festival in the world bar none . Coming down from your perch at The Castle you will walk The Royal Mile the city's medieval heart . Coming off this road are many lanes , cobbled and storied by Burns and others . At one end of The Mile you will visit Holyroodhouse , a Renaissance palace once home to Mary , Queen of Scots and the Scottish home to the English Royal family . In August the famous Arts Festival gets cranking . You will also visit the New Scottish Parliament building . Scotland now has its first Parliament since The Act of Union disolved it in 1707 . Check out http://www.cometoscotland.com/ for more on what to see and do in Edinburgh .
Like to shop ? Then go to Scotland's largest city Glasgow . Be sure to see Charles Rennie MacKintosh's tour de force , The Glasgow School of Art . This city must be Britain's greatest Victorian city though through MacKintosh Glasgow also became the center of Art Nouveau .Go to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and MacKintosh's own house at the Hunterian Art Gallery and you will see why this Glasgow architect is so revered today . Only London can compare to Glasgow for shoppers . A must is Princes Square and Sauchiehall Street . Next , finish at the Merchant City District . Support your addiction by buying casmere , Celtic jewellry , tartan scarves , shortbread , and whisky , without an "e" please as Irish Whiskey has the "e" . Glasgow nightlife , in my opinion has no equal . Diverse is the word for food and eateries and please go to some noodle bars which were converted from banks and other public buildings . Finally , go to the Highlands . My favs are , Armadale Castle , Museum of the Isles on Skye , Dunrobin Castle , and as me eyes tear up , the beautiful Loch Lomand , and yes , the banks are indeed "bonnie" ! The heart of Loch country is the 720 sq. mile Trossachs National Park made up of loch , hill , forest , and moor . Go to Lomand Shores and the Gateway Center at Balloch which will introduce you to the Park and loch . Everyone asks me , " What whisky distillery shall I visit ? " Easy ! Strathila Distillery at Keith . So , come and walk the ways your ancestors did . You will feel your spine tingle with excitement and a tear in your eye when you do . Check out http://www.ancestralscotland.com/ . These and all adventures can be found on my website at mpage.paradisenetwork.com/welcome/ . Mike Page is certified by VisitScotland and by The National Tourist Office of Scotland as a SCOTS Destination Specialist . Keep those traveling shoes on !

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art

Now that tourist season is upon us I must take the opportunity to write about what has to be the greatest man made treasure here in Sarasota , our own Ringling Museum , The State Art Museum of Florida . A most wonderful legacy of circus magnate of John Ringling and wife Mable , left to the state of Florida at his death in 1936 , the museum houses works by Titian , Veronese , Rubens , Hals , and Velazquez as well as numerous antiquities . Now the museum displays American , European , and Asian works as well as stunning Baroque period paintings . Ringling contracted John Phillips in 1925 to build a Renaissance/Baroque palace and courtyard . Cultural disaster was averted in 2000 when , short on funds and threatening to close this treasure , the state of Florida gave stewardship of The Ringling Mueum and estate to The Florida State University thus creating one of the largest museum and university complexes in the world ! Today , more than 300,000 visitors come to see works of art , circus museum , Historic Asolo Theatre , and the Ringling mansion known as Ca d' Zan or House of John . Today a one time admitance charge will allow one to tour the art museum , grounds , circus museum , the Tibbles Center , a newer addition depicting in miniature a typical circus grounds of the 1930s , Historic Asolo Theatre , and of course the mansion itself . If you desire a private hour long tour of the mansion tickets can be purchased separately . The mansion is a must see for it represents a true Venetian Gothic palace . Completed in 1926 it soon became the hub of a who's who of American society notables that had come out of America's Gilded Age . The Palmers , Fields , and others were frequent guests . In the early 1950s The Ringling purchased The Historic Asolo Theatre , a 1798 Asolo , Italy theatre . Restored in 2006 , the theatre remains a center of Sarasota's famous art culture . The newest treasure is The Tibbals Learning Center showing the brainchild of Mr . Tibbals , a circus in miniature ! Also new is Treviso , a fine Italian restaurant found in the Visitors Center . The Ringling Museum can be found off North Trail at 5401 Bay Shore Rd . Telephone 941.358.3180 or on the web at www.ringling.org . Until October 26 see Ringling Retro : Modern and Contemporary Art . Until Jan . 4 , 09 see Modern Masters of Japanese Print and until Jan . 11 , 09 check out To Live Forever : Egyptian Treasures from The Brooklyn Museum . My traveling editor gave this one a " WOW " . So , if you are visiting Sarasota you must go to The Ringling and stay the day or , if you live here and haven't gone in a while get up and go ! Memberships are available for as little as $ 75.00 USD per year ! For these and all other traveling adventures go to my website at mpage.paradisenetwork.com/welcome/ and keep those traveling shoes on !