Program 780: Miami Getaway; Scottish Icons; Robert Burns Night

While it can be an eye-opener to travel outside your "comfort zone," it also doesn't hurt to plan a trip to a place that can make you feel more comfortable.

On the next Travel with Rick Steves, Oneika [ oh NEE kah ] Raymond recommends her favorite neighborhoods for a sunny and warm getaway to Miami.

Plus, tour guides from Scotland explain how their cultural icons, and even a few tourist cliches, help to reinforce their national identity.

And singer Jim Malcolm pays tribute to Scots poet Robert Burns, just in time for "Burns Night." 

• Travel journalist Oneika Raymond
• Scottish tour guides Helen Houston and Liz Lister
• Scottish folk singer Jim Malcolm

• Oneika Raymond hosts the podcast "About the Journey" and the "Big City Little Budget" TV series on the Travel channel. She blogs from her travels at OneikaTheTraveller.com.
• The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau features seasonal events in the region on its website.
• Helen Houston specializes in tours of the historic town and castle at Stirling.
• Liz Lister provides custom walking tours and offers transportation transfers in Edinburgh.
• Liz and Helen co-host the Scottish Blethers podcast from their home bases in Fife, Scotland. They also recommended their favorite hikes and walks in Scotland on Travel with Rick Steves program #763 in August 2024.
• Information about sites associated with Robert Burns, his poems and lyrics (with English clarifications), and instructions for holding your own Robert Burns Night are on the Robert Burns organization's website.
• Jim Malcolm's website includes occasional blog entries, samples from his CDs, his video portrayal of Robert Burns called "Bard Hair Day," and his winter 2025 concert tour schedule of the US Southwest and West Coast.

• London Philharmonic Orchestra, Franz Welser-Most, cond., "Scottish Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, op. 45: I-allegro un poco agitado (Mendelssohn)," Mendelssohn Symphonies 3 & 4 / EMI Classics
• SON_SCDV_0469_02901_Miami_Meets_Rio_A_APM
• JW_JW_2182_00201_Siempre_Libre_Cuba_APM
• SON_SCD_0859_01201_Miami_Nights_A_APM
• CEZ_CEV_3043_01501_Moment_Creole_APM
• Kenny Dorham, Sabu Martinez, "Afrodisia," Roots of Afro-Cuban Jazz (collection) / Blue Note
• * Grant Green, "Mambo Inn," Roots of Afro-Cuban Jazz (collection) / Blue Note
• KPM_KPMLP_1287_01401_Cock_O_the_North_APM
• KPM_KPM_0575_02201_Scotland_The_Brave_APM
• BRU_BR_0356_03701_Scottish_Frolic_APM
• KPM_KPM_0505_02801_Highland_Games_APM
• KPM_KPMLP_1151_00201_The_Gay_Highlanders_APM
• KPM_KPM_0248_03201_Balmoral_Highlander_APM
• Donald F. Lindsay, parlor pipes, Alannah Fitzgerald, Celtic drum, "The Seagull Jig," The Emerald Isles: Music Inspired by Ireland and Scotland (collection) / Telarc
• * Morgaine Le Fay, "My Ukrainian Friend," Up She Flew / (self-released)
• Lynne Arriale Trio, "Red Is the Rose," Come Together / Motema Music
• Catherine Ann MacPhee, "Canan Nan Gaidheal," Celtic Women from Scotland: Songs of Love and Reflection (collection) / Greentrax
• Jim Malcolm performs excerpts of traditional Scots songs "Auld Lang Syne (original Burns melody)," "Tam O'Shanter," and "Robin Was a Rovin' Boy."
• Andy M. Stewart, "At It Again," A Thistle and Shamrock Christmas Ceilidh (collection) / Green Linnet
• The Tannahill Weavers, "Flashmarket Close," The Mermaid's Song / Green Linnet
• Witco Desperadoes Steel Orchestra, Trevor Valentine, cond., "Symphony in C, 4th movement - allegro vivo (Bizet)," Classical Transcriptions / Warner Classics

* Indicates filler music used during internal breaks on the broadcast

• Rick contrasts the winter chill of Toronto with "the sizzle of Miami" in the open to this week's billboard. He also mentions that January 25 is "Robert Burns Night."
• Oneika Raymond reiterates her attraction to the warmer weather of Miami, early in her segment A interview.
• At 9:31, Oneika tells Rick she just returned "yesterday" from Cancún, Mexico, on a one-hour, 25-minute flight to Miami.
• At 14:56, Oneika describes a recent campaign to deter rowdy spring break partiers from Miami. She adds that September is prime hurricane season, but that Miami seems to be spared more often from hurricanes than neighboring regions, but not from flooding.
• At 37:27, Helen notes that "we've had very dreich weather these past few weeks."
• At 57:43, Rick notes that Jim and Susie Malcolm's most recent CD is "Auld Toon Shuffle," and notes some of the cities for their next Southwest / West Coast US tour, "starting February 7th."