America Archives - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

America, Central America, Countries, Sport

A healthy attitude to altitude

5th July 20265th July 2026 funtime65

And ahead of a certain football game in Mexicoo City here’s how to build a healthy attitude to altitude.

Courtesy of our friends from Denver, the Mile High City.

Where the first piece of advice we were given was around booze.

And that visitors need drink only half as much to get twice as drunk.

And twice as much water as you would at home.

Not easy when you’re at an international travel fair and are being wined and dined around town.

Even when you’re breakfasting at the institution that is The Milk Market.

Food for thought

Breakfast of champions: And that’s OJ, honestly

It turns out too that I should have been side swerving all those lovely sugary treats the Americans do so well.

And rather seeking out the broccoli, bananas, avocado, cantaloupe, celery, greens, bran, chocolate, granola, dates, dried fruit, potatoes and tomatoes.

Which all help you replenish electrolytes by balancing salt intake.

Dressed to chill

Got it covered: Keep cool and your head protected

Now we expect that the England football fans are all dressed in their best retro tops and ready to go.

But maybe those lion and crusader costumes might chafe a bit in the heat and thin air.

Better too having extra protection against the sun which is naturally closer higher up.

A different hat: But maybe not in the heat

Because there’s 25% less protection from the sun up in the air.

So sunscreen is a must.

With Denver receiving more than 300 days of sunshine each year (more than Miami).

So bring sunglasses, sunscreen and lip balm.

Take it easy

The welfare of the people who take the pitch, of course, will dictate the mood.

Of the fans who have followed them out and up to Mexico City.

Our altitude advisers tell us that the effects of exercise are more intense at altitude.

Bandanaman: And the Bandanettes at Coors Field

So if you normally run ten miles a day at home.

Then you’re best to try six miles at altitude until you build up the red blood cells.

The Mile and a Half City

Which, of course, England manager has been reminding us he hasn’t had the luxury to do with his players.

Getting his excuses in early.

He might want to try this one too should his attackers balloon the ball over or if the Mexicans hit their target.

And bear in mind too all of you at the footie or plans to take in magical Mexico City.

The Mile and a Half City.

Which we found a sample deal with £1,032 round trip from Edinburgh with KLM, through Amsterdam and back through Paris with Air France.

America, Countries

Bismarck, the state capital you never knew

4th July 20264th July 2026 funtime65

And on this day of days, the USA’s 250th anniversary, a shout-out to Bismarck, the state capital you never knew.

Because while the powerhouses of New York, Boston, Philly, DC, Chicago, Miami, Vegas, San Francisco and LA will hold the biggest parties.

America is bound by its Capitol motto E pluribus unum… out of the many few.

Which means that the lesser-known Bismarck is just as important as any of the 49 others and the District of Colombia’s colossus.

And on my radar ever since my American History tutor Ted Ranson put me back in my box.

When I berated the Americans I’d met on my first trip to New York for not knowing Edinburgh was the capital of Scotland.

The awesome Ted

So Ted challenged me to name the capital of North Dakota.

Which since 1873 so near enough 150 years ago has been known as Bismarck.

Renamed from Edwintom for the-then German Iron Chancellor, whose career I also tracked as a history major.

By the Northern Pacific Railway to attract German investment and European immigrants to the developing Dakota Territory.

Consigning Edwin Ferry Johnson, the railroad’s engineer-in-chief, to a note in history.

And his brother by a different mother

So because nowhere else will you find the 250th July 4th focus on Bismarck, North Dakota, we will.

And we heard it straight from the horse’s mouth when we met up with adopted North Dakotan Teddy Roosevelt.

When we reminisced over his treks with Scots Father of the National Parks John Muir.

And the totemic Teddy waxed lyrical about the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library slated for this very day.

In Medora, 155 miles, or two hours’ drive, along Interstate 94 West.

Read all about it

Teddy’s library covers eight chapters of his storied life.

Beginning with his childhood in New York City, followed by his early adulthood.

Including his formative time ranching and hunting in the Little Missouri Badlands in the 1880s.

Which puts us in this place at this time in North Dakota.

Dakota makes you feel like the one

Now the first pit stop for anyone wanting to know what is happening today, even if virtually from abroad is the America250 site.

So you can enjoy Mandan Rodeo Days, the North Border Bronco Rally in Walhalla.

The Turtle Mountain Chief Little Shell Memorial Powwow in Dunseith.

And bringing it back to Teddy as always must the Broadway hit (and we love a Broadway show) Teddy & Alice: An American Musical.

Now wherever he is now my old hippie Americanophile tutor Ted will be proud.

That I have explored many of the places and faces he enthused us with back in those heady student days in Aberdeen.

Like his hero and namesake Ted you were our Man in the Arena.

Now door to door my American odyssey would be a 16-hour marathon through the Eastern seaboard or Chicago.

America, Countries, UK

Glasgow and Boston now sisters by a different mister

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And where better to mark their new bond than The Haven… Glasgow and Boston now sisters by a different mister.

In this the 250th anniversary of the USA the cradle of the revolution was overrun by familiar old faces.

A friendly invasion by the Tartan Army, the legendary foot soldiers who follow their national team around the world and at this World Cup.

Cone yersel: With Scotland’s biggest fan

And put traffic cones on statues.

In the manner of the iconic one of the Duke of Wellington in the Merchant City back in Scotland’s biggest city.

All of which came to the attention of Michelle Wu, the Mayor of Beantown.

Boston with pride

Cone but not forgotten: With Mum at the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow

Mayor Michelle chose Boston’s Scottish pub The Haven, to sign a letter of intent to sister the cities.

To be formalised next April during Tartan Week.

The Sisterhood

And so Boston joins a sisterhood which was kicked off in a spirit of war reconciliation by Nuremberg in Germany in 1985.

Following a student exchange programme in the Fifties.

And closely followed by Rostov-on-Don in Russia, which is currently suspended.

Dalian in China was next up with Havana in Cuba hot on its heels and then Turin joining the party.

Lahore in Pakistan was next with Marseille joining the fun in 2006.

Before Bethlehem, and Mykolaiv in Ukraine got in on the act.

Haverin’ about The Haven

And what of Boston’s Scottish pub, The Haven.

An oasis in an island of Irish Boston bars?

And where was it when I worked for a summer after university in the Black Rose and had The Black Velvet Band whirling round my head?

Well, Jason Waddleton was off doing his own thing in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire.

When this Aberdeen Uni alumnus was off in Boston.

But he got there in the end and opened up his Scottish ‘Cheers’ in 1998, the last time Scotland made the World Cup, in France.

Of course, he was full of beans when Scotland got drawn in his adopted city to play two games and win one, against Haiti.

All of which means The Haven is the pub to go to when you’re in Boston.

It’s where everybody knows your name and your clan.

America, Countries, Flying

All over for Uber with LA’s driverless cars

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They’re something to be said for cutting out the muddleman and in La La Land they’re gearing up for it being all over for Uber with LA‘s driverless cars.

And at the risk of getting blacklisted by the car ride behemoth and getting stranded somewhere unfriendly.

I’ve decided to get on board the driverless revolution.

Which transforms your holiday from. the moment you land at LAX.

Flying by the seat of your pants

From standing around jet-lagged after your luggage has been waylaid and you’re looking out tired for a car-reg to take you Downtown.

When you could have taken the train, explored the historic station and original Spanish settlement which I did on the way back.

Or if you just want to get to your destination after your weary journey then LAX will cut out that muddleman.

You know the Uber driver who is new to the country and doesn’t know their way around and drives you around in a circle.

OK that was in Santa Monica and then before that in Washington DC but you get the picture, which they didn’t.

Tech it in your stride

The Tech Tourism experience begins the moment visitors land at Los Angeles International Airport.

Where one of the world’s largest multi-billion dollar airport modernisation projects is creating a faster, smarter and more seamless journey.

Which gets you out on your trip quicker because of facial recognition and biometric screening to automated check-in and faster immigration processing via the Mobile Passport Control (MPC) app.

LAX is embracing a future of frictionless travel.

Electric trickery

The result is shorter queues, fewer document checks and a faster journey through one of the world’s busiest airports.

Then there’s the SkyLink, which opened this year.

The new automated people mover, a driverless electric train system which will connect terminals.

As well as the consolidated rent-a-car facility and Metro services.

Allowing visitors to bypass road traffic and move through one of the world’s busiest airports with unprecedented ease.

Right that’s your in-airport experience sorted.

Herbie and the driverless fleet

Now to get you out there and explore the City of Angels.

Without having to worry about your drivers, what they tell you is wrong with the country.

And whether you’ll get to your destination.

Wheno Waymo‘s autonomous vehicles will sort out your sensors and real-time mapping.

With Herbie, and wasn’t he the first, navigating the city’s busy streets .

Visitors can simply book a ride through an app.

And experience firsthand a technology that is redefining urban mobility.

Countries, Cruising, South America

Plain sailing for Brazil

26th June 2026 funtime65

Of course it was plain sailing for Brazil with the Samba Boys all but eliminating Scotland from the World Cup… but the plain sailing we’re more interested in is around their coast.

Particularly as Scottish fans will have money in their pockets still which we’d saved for another month in the USA, Mexico or Canada.

It’s many years now since my first cruise on the high seas, well, the Med, when the Brazilian hospitality manager told us of his homeland’s many charms and how it was always nuts on that cruise.

That cruise company has long sailed off into history but we’ve met new friends along the way and are always delighted when Swan Hellenic come visiting.

Particularly when they’re teasing us with packages such as their Soul Samba and Sea: A Luxury Cultural Cruise through Coastal Brazil –and with a £1,900 saving too.

The Joys from Brazil

You’ll embark on your luxury cruise in Salvador de Bahia, a city rich in Afro-Brazilian culture and finish off in the streets of Rio de Janeiro.

The itinerary takes you through Brazil’s mix of lively cities and relaxed beach towns, each offering unique experiences along the way.

Explore the historic Pelourinho in Salvador, renowned for its lively atmosphere and colonial architecture.

In Itacaré, enjoy the rhythms of local capoeira dancers.

Relax in Trancoso’s boho-chic setting, with its quadrado surrounded by rainforest.

Venture to the Abrolhos Archipelago, where guests can witness the marine life and biodiversity.

And as you travel, you’ll engage with local cultures and partake in diverse activities.

Dive into the clear waters of natural pools in Abrolhos while snorkelling, or simply enjoy the ship’s observation decks.

Absorb expert insights during onboard lectures or refine photography skills.

With guidance from professional snappers.

Delight in the nightlife in Buzios and Rio, savouring caipirinha cocktails and the carnival vibe.

Samba time

Get your feet wet: And soak in the atmosphere

A six-night Soul, Samba and-Sea Journey to the Heart of Brazil, departs on October 25, on board the SH Vega costing £2,750pp.

With an added bonus of Gold wi-fi package and $300 on board ship credit (was £4,675pp, saving £1,925pp).

On a cruise only price which includes an ocean-view stateroom, all meals onboard, plus selected drinks.

A 24-hour room service, self-service laundry, lecture programmes by experienced expedition team and guest speakers.

One selected shore excursion per port of call, standard wi-fi, and onboard gratuities and port taxes.

So now that the World Cup has lost its interest with Scotland out.

Then maybe it’s time to Swan off somewhere exotic and my Brazilian hospitality manager of old would point us.

To his homeland where they open their arms to visitors.

Countries, South America, Sport, UK

How Scotland brought goals to Brazil

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And for the World Cup day that’s in it… how Scotland brought goals to Brazil.

And the story of a true pioneer of the Beautiful Game, who you would probably have never heard of here in Scotland.

Unless, of course, you live in the village of Busby, south of Glasgow, where there is a small bust to the great man.

Sprouting Thomas

We are, of course, name checking dye maker Thomas Donohoe here.

For it was he who organised the first informal football match in Brazil near Rio in 1894.

And is as is so often the way is celebrated more here than in his own homeland.

With the five-time world champion Brazilians erecting a 5m statue of Thomas outside the Bangu Shopping Centre.

In the Bangu neighborhood, home to the textile mill where Donohoe worked.

Miller’s tale

Proper Charlie: Father of Brazilian football

Where Thomas led other Scots followed with Charles Miller, the son of a Scottish engineer and Brazilian mother credited.

As the Father of Brazilian Football.

Who established the Paulista League, the country’s first organised football competition.

Of course just introducing a ball, boots and posts to a country doesn’t guarantee that they can turn that into a fine art.

Our Beautiful Game

And this is where Archie McLean emerges next in the story of Brazilian football.

The Paisley mechanic arriving in São Paulo in 1912 and founding the Scottish Wanderers.

And introducing the Scottish short-passing style known in Brazil as A Tabelhinha (the rhythm).

Which in the passing, as it were, we gave to our English neighbours decades before.

And you’re welcome, even if you don’t give us the credit.

Brazilians had until then played a kick-and-rush style.

A nod here too to Ayr footballer Jock Hamilton who the Scottish Football Museum credit as the first professional football coach in Brazil.

And we gave them Pele, Ronaldo and Vini

A sliding doors moment which meant that Brazil would cultivate.

The Garrinchas, Peles, Zicos, Romarios, Ronaldos, Ronaldinhos, Neymars and Vini Jnrs.

Rather than, well, the workmanlike types who will try to shake up the world tonight when Scotland face Brazil in Miami.

Hoping to make history by progressing past the group stages of the World Cup finals at the eighth time of asking.

Where do you want your statue?

Of course, all of this adulation and worship of false idols will escalate to a whole new level.

Should Scotland do the unthinkable and get the right result to qualify for the last 32.

And Super John McGinn do the business off the back of his moon-sized backside.

When we will gladly tear down the statue of slave apologist James Dundas, atop the 150ft Melville Monument in Edinburgh.

And replace him with Bravearse.

America, Countries, Sport, UK

Jock Tamson’s bairns on tour in America

20th June 2026 funtime65

And here’s a fun game for Jock Tamson’s bairns on tour in America… mark off all the Robert Burns statues in the States.

Scotland’s Tartan Army have been taking in the sights and sounds and bars of Boston.

And paying homage to Scotland’s Second Most Famous Scot.

Come down the road: Bandanaman and his Mum

Who they stumbled upon on their way to the iconic Fenway Park for the Red Sox’ Scottish Day.

And naturally put a traffic cone on his head.

On a podium

Not that they, or you, should be surprised.

As the Ploughman Poet pops up all round the world.

Bettered only as a dedicated non-religious icon only by Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus.

Burns popularity derives, of course, from his poetry and his songs.

But also his rags to riches story, his everyman message and his rock’n’roll life.

And his legend and suppers which the Scots diaspora brought with them all around the world.

Miami nice

Bostonians will say a sad farewell to the Scots who are moving on to Miami for their final group game with Brazil.

Alas, the Miamians are yet to honour Rabbie although they could still.

Particularly with a certain half-Scots Commander in Chief living just up the road in Mar a Lago.

Now to my shame and I’ll no doubt have my Scottish citizenship reexamined on the back of this big reveal.

Of Yanks and Men

But I missed the Burns statue in my summer working in Beantown after university or return 35 years later.

While I was also too busy at the John Lennon Memorial in visits to New York to notice Burns’s place in Central Park.

Or the bronze figure in Garfield Park in Da Pope town, Chicago, commissioned and cast in Edinburgh in 1906.

And the bronze Burns in City Park, Denver, gifted by the city’s Scots Caledonian Club in 1904.

Burns Cottage industry

Drink up: With Tam and Johnnie in Alloway

Now Burns’s popularity is shared by all stripes of American, North, South, East and West.

And across the globe with Rabbie popping up in more than 60 guises.

And to see just where they all are a bronze plate of the world with mini-Rabbies then go back to where it all began.

In the little village of Alloway on the west coast of Scotland.

America, Countries, Music

Pour another cup of ambition in Dolly’s Tennessee

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And because we never restrict ourselves to 9 to 5 on our travels… we invite you to pour another cup of ambition in Dolly’s Tennessee.

And tell us that you’re surprised that Dolly Parton has dotted new song references all around the Volunteer State.

We are namechecking, of course, the brand-new travel stop opening in Cornersville on Wednesday.

Stretch and try to come to life

Located off Interstate 65, the flagship destination offers weary travellers a chance to refuel and recharge.

And sup a Dolly’s Cup of Ambition Coffee and barbecue.

To the backdrop of live music and a genuine Southern welcome.

While you can channel your inner Country star by hopping on a tour bus inspired by Dolly’s own years on the road.

Check out her Life of Many Colors

We will always love you: A younger Dolly

The opening is just one chapter in what’s shaping up to be the Year of Dolly.

In Nashville, the new SongTeller Hotel and Life of Many Colors Museum will soon welcome guests.

For an immersive celebration of her music, stories and career.

There’s nowhere though that is celebrating Dolly’s 80th year more or louder than Dollywood in Pigeon Forge.

As it should be.

Making a splash

And visitors can look forward to the park’s biggest-ever ride investment at NightFlight Expedition.

The groundbreaking attraction invites us to soar, splash and travel from here to the moon and back in true Dolly style.

So for all that she’s given us we should give back by marking her eight decades with a visit.

And fly out with Aer Lingus from your pre-clearance European airport in Dublin with Aer Lingus.

For a sample week in July from €947.35.

Indulge the song-dropping

And indulge the song-dropping.

And this pitch.

From Jolene to journeying down every open road, from her Coat of Many Colors to a whole state stitched together with new attractions.

Dolly is once again proving she’s the one calling the tune and making all the right moves.

America, Countries, Europe, Food & Wine, UK

Irish bar flagging up Ivorian green, white and gold

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And as Scotland basks in World Cup glory let’s include our Celtic cousins too and the Irish bar flagging up Ivorian Green, white and gold.

Now we’ve been here ourselves, and too often, with the world champions in waiting (that’s us) outside looking in for 28 years.

And in that decade and a half trying to immerse ourselves in the tourney through clever tie-ins.

Like adopting whichever team is playing England with some smart word play in the marketing merch.

Although worryingly one in ten Scots want England to do well, including Royalist Roy next door.

The Green, White and Verde

It is the birthright, of course, of all Celts that you get to support Ireland or Wales too if your own country miss out.

And in Ireland’s case anybody with any tangental connection.

Such as Cape Verde’s Roberto “Pico” Lopes, a Shamrock Rovers defender the Africans tapped up on LinkedIn.

After discovering he qualified through his father.

Now Ireland and the diaspora have lent their support to Cape Verde.

With the Honey Fitz bar in Astoria, New York adopting the archipelago as their team for the tourney.

And we dare say that the old family bar, the iconic Irish Cottage, in Queens too would have done the same was it still here now.

Men in the mirror

For us living in the country of the world champion heir apparents there is another Irish link, for when Scotland aren’t playing.

In the shape of Cote D’Ivoire, or the Ivory Coast, because their flag is the mirror image of Ireland’s.

Ireland’s green, white and orange represented green Irish catholicism, orange Northern protestantism and white for peace.

And the Cote D’Ivoire’s green for its grasslands, orange for its forests and white, er, for peace again.

Edinburgh and Ivory

Your best Biddy: Channeling the Ivorians

Biddy Mulligan’s in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket has gone full Ivorian.

With all Irish flags, which feature the same tricolour as the Ivory Coast in a different order, will be flipped to represent the African nation.

While Ivory Coast tunes will be played before and after matches.

And Biddy’s has also partnered with an Ivory Coast snacks company to bring food to customers ‘straight from the source’.

And have even bought in hundreds of bottle of African Guinness. with the stout selling more in Africa than any other continent.

America, Countries, Sport

Coming down the road in our football tops

13th June 2026 funtime65

We’ll be coming down the road in our football tops in the early hours for the World Cup.

Alas, at the Law bar lock-in in North Berwickety, here east of Edinburgh, rather than our old stomping ground of Boston.

The World Cup, of course, is prime time for the sale of football tops with outlets greedy to inflate prices.

For shirts with the distributors often changing just the date on the shirt and change every 18 months.

Cry for us Argentina

One solution is replica shirts with this Scotland Tartan Army foot soldier donning his iconic retro top.

From Scotland’s ill-fated (aren’t they all?) Argentina 1978 misadventure.

With the No.15 on it in a nod to Scotland’s only shining light then, Archie Gemmill.

Back then, whisper it, the England Admiral football top was considered the height of football fashion.

So much so that some Scottish schoolboys put aside their loyalties and followed each other on their choice of shirts.

Gift that keeps on giving

Quite what red-blooded Scottish parents thought of that we can only imagine.

Of course football tops were always a safe bet to get your football-mad child for Christmas.

Even if it was the Argentina jersey instead of the vibrant orange shirt of the Netherlands team he’d adopted.

Which might explain the grumpy look in that Christmas’s photographs.

Moroccans on a roll

When it came time to make up our own decisions in life and we had the money.

We’d pick up tops on our travels… Fenerbahce and Besiktas for dad and lad in Turkey.

And the Morocco national top from a chaotic trip to Marrakech which has come out of the drawer.

Now that the African champions are in Scotland’s group along with Haiti and Brazil.

Although, naturally, it won’t be getting an outing when Scotland play Morocco in their second game in Beantown.

It’s just that sticking it back on takes me back to haggling with a Moroccan trader in Jemaa el-Fnaa square.

The Tartan Army Boys

Before everything went Pete Tong… a bit like Scotland’s World Cup story.

It’s true what they say, it’s the hope that kills you.

Still we’ll keep the faith.

So when you hear the noise of the Tartan Army Boys we’ll be coming down the road.