Fiona Mackenzie Tourist Guide

01/01/2024

Wishing everyone peace and good fortune in 2024, and if you want to see Scotland together with a qualified Scottish Tourist Guide this year, get in touch. If I'm not available I can probably point you towards an STGA guide who is. Happy New Year!

20/09/2023

In the gardens of Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire yesterday, free time while guiding a lovely group of German guests from the cruise ship Vasco da Gama.
VisitAberdeenshire Crathes Castle Nicko Cruises Scottish Tourist Guides Association

07/09/2023

I got to spend the afternoon with a group of former students from Scotland who travelled on the SS Uganda on various school voyages in our youth and the amazing Scottish broadcaster Mark Stephen whose voice I have been listening to for years talking about this country and all her glories, a man as nice in real life as he sounds on the radio when he broadcasts from an open fire in the BBC car park a short walk down the road from my Mum's house in Aberdeen very early on Saturday mornings!

Neil, one of the former students and a member of Dundee Model Boat Club, has built a scale model of SS Uganda including himself on deck in double denim!

Mark Stephen posed for photos with us and the ship model. It was quite a trip down memory lane for all of us, most of whom had sailed from Dundee on our life-changing school trips.

13/09/2022

It is a strange feeling seeing the Scottish Crown on the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II lying at rest in St Giles High Kirk and reflecting that one of my ancestors made it. I am one of the many descendants of Edinburgh goldsmith John Mosman who remodelled the crown in 1540 to the design of King James V. The said John Mosman was my 14 times great-grandfather and his son's initials are on the marriage lintel of the John Knox house on the Royal Mile where he lived in the 16th Century. This beautiful crown is the oldest in the United Kingdom and the 2nd oldest in Europe. I am so glad that it survived to grace the Queen's coffin at this sad time of transition.

13/09/2022

Coming next year - the Dundee Tapestry! Some of the stitchers are pictured here with the Lord Provost of Dundee and several of the part-worked panels. Many hundreds of hours of emboidery work will go into picturing the history, themes and stories of Dundee. The tapestry should be on display from summer 2023 and stitchers are still welcome to join in.

01/01/2022

Happy New Year to all

12/09/2021

Finally got back in the jump seat yesterday on my first coach tour for 20 months with some lovely cruise ship guests from Dundee to St Andrews! Sunny day, with the Old Course preparing for the Alfred Dunhill Links golf championship at the end of the month and the Cathedral closed but still visible from beyond its walls. I also finally made it on to the West Sands, scene of the opening shots from the film 'Chariots of Fire' all those years ago. I did three walking tours of Dundee in August for groups on Rail Journey holidays - equally good fun. It is great to be working again from time to time, with all necessary distancing and safety measures in place. If you are coming to Tayside and want a professional guided tour of town, local countryside or hidden treasures that most visitors never see, please get in touch.

24/04/2021

My sister is having great fun on Ancestry. Turns out I am a 13 times great grand-daughter of John Mosman, the Edinburgh jeweller who refashioned the Scottish crown for James V and whose family is linked to the John Knox house in Edinburgh. I love history!!

01/01/2021

A new year dawning on the beautiful land of Scotland (with scenes from the Tay Valley). All the best for 2021!

01/01/2021

Wishing a wonderful New Year to everyone.

25/12/2020

Christmas dawn 2020 over the Tay Valley with the lights of the City of Discoveries - Dundee - over in the distance on the left and the Kingdom of Fife across the river. Wishing everyone a bright new day today and better things to come next year, when we hope you will be free to visit this lovely corner of Scotland again!

06/12/2020

And on the same theme, this morning....

05/12/2020

I live within sight of the beautiful river Tay, Scotland's longest river, remembered in poetry of disputed quality by the weaver poet William McGonagall as The Silvery Tay. This silveriness is something the eye often sees but the phone camera struggles to capture, so one of my lockdown projects has been to try. These are some of my efforts so far...

We also see it on bright, clear days but the camera only registers it in certain conditions. Definitely something to witness in person when the time is right!

05/07/2020

Distant summer rain over the river Tay today. Quick stop at a local farm vending machine en route to buy really fresh free-range eggs. Tay Country is looking lovely. Please enjoy responsibly!

01/06/2020

31/05/2020

It is World Outlander Day! Whether you are a fan or not, picking a favourite quote from Outlander is well nigh impossible, but here is one from early on, about the Mackenzies: advice given to Jamie in the run-up to his marriage to Claire about the advantages of her healing skills, with apologies for the sound quality and lens choice!

18/05/2020

Catch a few seconds of a series of my colleagues and a glimpse of me too, with the popular STGA Guides World Whisky Day video by Andy Middleton. Remember Scotch whisky is not just for Christmas, but please enjoy responsibly and take time to savour the landscape of its birth and the many skillful years involved in creating it 💖

16/05/2020

For World Whisky Day 2020 in lockdown, remembering a special whisky tour in 2019 and a limited edition Glenfiddich whisky that now retails online for between £500 -£700 a bottle!