Ryanair has defended its policy on disabled passengers after it was criticised for ejecting nine blind and partially sighted passengers from one of its flights. The passengers, all from the UK were escorted from the aircraft minutes before take-off from London's Stansted Airport as the airline's safety rules limit the number of “disabled/mobility-impaired” passengers to four per flight. It was reported that some of the passengers, who were on their way to Italy had to wait for six hours for another flight, while others spent the night sleeping on the airport floor. One passenger said, “It was dreadful. You felt like a criminal. We were all devastated.”

Ryanair defended their decision as they say it is their policy to ensure that crew could attend to disabled passengers individually in the case of emergency evacuations. Ryanair also said that the nine passengers were asked to take a later flight because they did not, as required, notify Ryanair of their disability at the time of booking and there were already three disabled passengers on board. An official statement issued by Ryanair said, “It would have been unsafe to allow a total of 12 disabled/reduced-mobility passengers to travel on board the flight… Ryanair's number one priority at all times is the safety of its passengers and crew.” The passengers rejected Ryanair's argument saying that they could walk, had partially sighted or fully sighted guides and would be able to leave an aircraft in an emergency as quickly as anyone else.

As a result of the above case, Ryanair says it will change its policy on carrying blind and partially-sighted passengers. Any vision-impaired passenger accompanied by a sighted companion would now no longer be required to inform the airline in advance, the Irish carrier announced in what it called a “common sense change.” However, passengers travelling alone would remain part of its limit on four reduced-mobility passengers per flight.

And still on the theme of visually impaired passengers, the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) says that Ryanair appears to be offering disabled passengers a lower standard of service when they book over its website. The RNIB is investigating a complaint that blind passengers are not entitled to the same low fares as others when they book online. The RNIB cited an example of a blind man who tried to book online. The website's booking process states:

“Passengers with special needs requirements must pre-book their requirement through Ryanair Direct on the same day as your original booking”. It lists the telephone numbers of reservation centres and warns: “Failure to advise Ryanair of your requirements on the day of booking will result in the service being unavailable on your arrival to the airport and you being refused carriage.” The man called the number to make a booking, only to learn that he would not qualify for the discounts or special offers available online. This is likely to amount to discrimination, says the RNIB, because Ryanair's online booking system may be subject to the Disability Discrimination Act.

We are sorry to say that Mac is not very well, but he is still e-mailing strong and recently sent the Beetle a collection of travel reminiscences.

Scotland. Inch is Gallic for island. Firth is a mouth of a river. Brae is a hill. Haggis is in a shape of a ball but you don't kick it you eat it. It is sheep's intestines and oatmeal wrapped in a sheep's bladder. After you eat it you wish you had kicked it. It was so clear when I was in Edinburgh that I could see to Fife from the Firth of Forth or maybe it was Forth I saw from the Fife of Firth. A Firth is like a fjord only not as far. Anyway it was a clear day.

Many years ago I gave a Scottish lady some tea bags I was carrying in my backpack. The lady had been used to brewing tea in bulk and said Oh how clever they have measured out a spoonful in a container. She then ripped open tea bag and dropped the contents into the pot. (I am sure they probably have tea bags now!)

And let's move on to Irish toasts. An Irish guide toasted us with, “Here's to the best years of my life, spent in the arms of another man's wife, my Mother”. The guide in Dublin Castle told us of a hanging judge. The judge would fall asleep while hearing a case and then all of a sudden wake up, bang his gravel and shout, “Hang the Dog.” A priest at mass in Dublin one morning told this story. He said he was giving a sermon on death and remarked that everyone in the Parish would die some day. One guy had a big smile on his face and when asked why he was smiling replied, “I am not from this parish!”

One of the residents here in the Soldier's home is going to Scotland and England for a month this Fall and another friend of mine here at the home (Saigon) is interested in things Scottish so I am copying stuff down from an interesting article I found in the Travel Section Washington Times. The title of the article is The Enchanting Highlands by Corina Lothar. “Mr Owens arrives in 18th century attire and explains the history of the Scottish Kilt which dates back about 1,000 years and is related to the Roman toga and Indian Sari. He demonstrates how to pleat the eight yards of fabric and tells us that the white cockade in the cap is the symbol of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites in the 18th century Battle of Calddean. The sporran, the curious pouch hanging in the front of the kilt originally was used to carry oatmeal (I never knew that) still a staple of Scottish kitchens.

Women too wore long kilts. The warring clansmen carried a targe (shield) with spikes and a dagger in the left hand and a basket-hilted broadsword in the right. Expressions such as “going off half-cocked” and “a flash in the pan” and “sideburns” all come from clan warfare, reflecting the dangers of incorrectly cocked musket and the facial hair worn to protect the cheek from powder burns (so that is where term sideburns comes from. I never knew that. There is so much I don't know!

Kilt pins are a Victorian addition. Queen Victoria who was never easily amused, reviewed one of her Highland regiments on a windy day. Pins were soon ordered to keep the slits in the kilts closed. All of which brings us to this very old joke. A soldier wearing a kilt is asked by a young lass what is worn under the kilt. The soldier replies. “Nothing is worn. Everything is in fine shape.”

There is a Victorian mansion in Scotland built by Jardine Matheson of Hong Kong. Owner of “go-downs” as the Chinese workers first called the warehouses in that formerly British Colony (as in “Go down to collect a bale of hemp.) This is me talking now. When I was in Hong Kong I was told that the expression cumshaw (meaning asking for a tip) came from the Chinese who used to go out and meet the U.S. military ships with small boats to take the sailors ashore in their small boats away from the huge ships that could not get in any closer. They learned to say Come Shore and they would get tips for hauling them ashore. It finally got to sounding like Comshaw or whatever the expression is asking for money.

Ten percent of the whisky lost (in processing) through evaporation is called “the angels share”. Distilleries are open to the public from April through October. “The Royal Scotsman (tourist train) speeds through the wild Scottish countryside on iron, not brine through deep green forests of pine moors that turn purple in August and September when the heather is in bloom.

If you would like to contact Mac, he can be e-mailed on: macsan400@yahoo.com

The Hampton Court Estate dates back to before the 15th Century. The estate was originally formed by merging of the manors of Hampton Richard and Hampton Mappenor. It was granted by Henry IV to Sir Rowland Lenthall at the time of his marriage to Margaret Fitzalan, daughter of the Earl of Arundel and a cousin of the King. Lenthall built the original quadrangular manor house in 1427, twelve years after his knighthood at the battle of Agincourt. In 1434 he was granted a licence to crenellate the house by Henry IV. Sir Rowland was succeeded by his daughter who married the Baron of Burford and it was their grandson who sold Hampton to Sir Humphrey Coningsby in 1510. Cardinal Wolsey bought and transformed Hampton Court into a sumptuous Palace in the 1520s, but it was annexed by Henry VIII as the Cardinal fell out of favour (the official story is it was given as a gift).

Henry VIII rebuilt Hampton Court after his own tastes and entertained all six wives here, some making a brief visit, en route for the scaffold. A succession of later Kings and Queens transformed the Palace according to their tastes too, which accounts for the diverse styles. James I used Hampton Court for its excellent hunting in the park. Charles II used it for lodging his mistress(es).

After the 'Glorious Revolution' in 1689 which saw the rights of Catholics much curtailed, William III and Mary II commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to rebuild Hampton Court. Fortunately the work was not completed as they planned to demolish all of Henry VIII's additions. They did, however, build the sumptuous Kings and Queen's Apartments which are added on the back of Henry's buildings. King William Apartments are said to be amongst the finest and most important set of Baroque state apartments in the world and are still furnished with the original furniture and tapestries from 1700 when they were completed for the King. Henry's Great Hall and the Chapel Royal exist in their original form, as well as the Tudor Kitchens, which are beautifully laid out as if a feast was being prepared using all the food and utensils that would have been used in the 16th century. The Palace was eventually handed over to the Public by Queen Victoria.

Also worth seeing: the collection of renaissance paintings, including Mantegna's Triumphs of Caesar, Henry VIII's Astronomical Clock the 60 acres of gardens, including the famous Maze.

Open Summer 10:00-18:00, winter 10:00 -16:30. Full tickets, £10.50. Tel: 01568 797 777 for details or visit the website: www.hrp.org.uk )

The World’s Largest Islands

Soure: http://www.xist.org/charts/nat_island.php