As we flew home, I reflected on our whirlwind tour of Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France and, for some, England. Lots of memories keep flashing through my mind…

• Kacy was our sleepy girl with wild curls. She has a talent for being able to sleep on a bus very quickly. I’m thinking starting the trip on medication didn’t help, but she was a trooper. The Eiffel Tower perked her up though.

• Dean looking like he fit in perfectly in Germany. His style made him blend into the background that sometime we had to count twice before feeling secure moving to the next activity. His easy smile always greeted my worried and uneasy eyes when I miscounted. He may have not even realized that he looked like a German youth.
• Preston with his calm, relaxed gait sauntering down the streets of Paris looking as relaxed as when he walks down the hallway at school. I also loved it when he shyly told me for whom he was buying souvenirs.
• Marshall’s easy smile with his incredibly polite questions all the time. If Marshall has a tired, nasty side, I have never seen it. I have seen how fast he can move when I need to knock on his door when he is a little late. Wow. Those legs can go fast!
• Walker with his eagle eyes. He could spot people and objects we needed to see way before my older eyes could focus. He was very useful in spotting Jens and signs.
• Landon is a sweetie. There was an instance when we came out of a museum and a small child had spilled a pail of legos and toys in the parking lots. Totally voluntarily, Landon went over to help him pick up his mess.
• Andrew was very patient with his aunt when we were playing with optical illusions pictures at the Louvre. He may have been tired from the miles of walking, but was still willing to play along with the pictures.
• Mia was our quiet addition from Weyburn. I loved her happy eyes when we sang happy birthday to her! I consider her quite brave as I’m sure she had reservations about coming with us. Good for you!
• Bradie was our friendly one who was always ready to chat. I believe she was the first one of our group to reach out to our traveling mates from Quebec to get to know them. That skill will serve her well as she graduates.
• Torri loving the history lessons and her eyes shining after each new lesson. She genuinely seemed to be trying to soak in every ounce of Europe that she could.
• Taylor loved crawling around on the HMS Belfast. I loved it when she told me that it was her favourite museum. She also surprised us all by creating a poem at at John McCrea’s site of Flanders Fields. Wow!

Jordyn’s face beaming when she shyly showed her pin collection to me. She had bought a souvenir pin from certain areas. They are a beautiful collection.

Bryanna is the best packer! She had the smallest suitcase and she never complained about anything. She may have been tired, but never complained. Our London guide may have felt a little sorry for her as Bryanna had the bus-sleep-itis for that city tour.

The parents that came along, Felecia, Kathy, Pam, Donna, and Robyn, made the experience that much better as our friendships deepened with so much laughter. We weren’t called the giggling mommies for nothing.

The thirteen students are the real reason that Leah and I planned this trip. The “happy mommies” were a bonus but our “kids” are the reason that we love EF tours. We both love to travel and if we can share that affection just a little, we have completed our mission this year. We will see where 2021 takes us! Perhaps back to Europe for an eastern swing. Stay tuned 😊

Other memorable moments:

• Getting up ridiculously early to leave
• Getting into trouble with security at Canada Olympic park as our kids wanted to play in the snow and we missed the “don’t play in the snow” sign
• The naked guy protesting something in Berlin
• Horrifying stories of the Berlin Wall and what people were willing to do to get out of there
• ALL of the group pictures that we all took. I’m sure the kids were ready to strangle their technological inept parents and teachers. Use AirDrop!🙄
• Elevator buttons having E for earth or ground floor. Maybe this is true or maybe this was one of Jens’ stories. 🙄 We coined a new phrase for when he “Jens”sing us.
• The train where we almost had some adults carry on without the rest of us. 🙄
• So many funny memories, but also so many solemn ones when visiting cemeteries and war memorials and beaches. So many Canadians gave their lives so we can live the rich free lives that we do. The sacrifices made are more real when visiting these sites. Many a tear has been shed on this trip, especially seeing our young Canadian students absorb and understand the meaning. It truly was a beautiful moment.
• Windmills. Windmills. Windmills. Who knew they could be as popular as Disney World??
• The cheese and clog demonstration and Kathy being called “happy mommy woman”
• So close yet so far away from the fields of tulips
• The house that was wide as young man’s arm span (Landon and Marshall proved it)
• Our bus driver Thomas or Tomas. So interesting, so kind, and so hilarious. Telling us about his romance with his wife. 🥰
• So many beautiful poppy pins, scarves, pictures and more that were brought home
• The man who met us at Tyne Cot Cemetery as he had a connection with Audrey Wilkinson
• Dean finding the tombstone of a relative in Tyne Cot Cemetery.
• The awesome edger machine that all of the moms want to use in their yards

• The Last Post Ceremony and how inspiring it is. It is difficult to comprehend that they do it every day. Every day. Still in 2019.
• Jens and his silliness whether it be popping wheelies on a scooter, playing the Hunchback of Notre Dame, singing duddy duddy due, standing waving to us as we left and we did a circle in the parking lot. “Look kids. Big Jens!” He was a treasure to find and truly made the trip better.
• The carousel in Paris
• We saw the London Marathon running and the man who ran with Big Ben on his head before he got clocked!
• The subway in Paris. We were travellers and adapting to the situation. We did great!!
• Mind the gap. Mind your head. Mind your own business
• Way out. Way out. Way out.
• Jack the Ripper Tour where the tour guide was scarier than the content. 🙄. We were wishing Jens had come with us for that one.

• Robyn being the voice on the subway announcing stops. Jens loved it!
• Animals were everywhere. Europeans are going to think that Canadians are scared of birds as we always had someone shrieking over birds diving at us. We had a multitude of creatures with mice in the cheese farm, serpents at cemeteries, swans on the river, and, of course, momma cows, poppa cows and baby cows! (Another Jens saying)
• In total, we walked 180,000!or 130km. We should have bought new shoes in Germany
• So many more, but these were the highlight reel.

Our wake up call came at 340 and we stumbled downstairs to find a smiling Jens. It was a bittersweet departure as we have grown fond of our tour director but we also are excited to be home.

Our flight to Toronto was early and now we await our flight to Regina. See ya’ at home!

Our last day of touring! 😢

We toured London on a big coach with a new twist. The London Marathon was happening as we toured so we were manoeuvring around the blocked streets. It actually was a blessing in disguise as many things were closed due to it being Sunday and with the marathon, the streets were quite empty.

• Lion and unicorn symbol of Scotland joined with Northern Ireland joining the UK
• Drove by Hyde Park and saw some “bloke” standing on a pedestal jabbering to a group of people. We were told this happens on a weekend basis.
• Oxford Street is a mile and half long. Longest shopping street. Crosses with Regent Street. We were here shopping yesterday.
• Museums were made free to educate the public because not everyone could get to school.

After finishing our tour, we had lunch at the Tower of London and crossed the Tower Bridge where the marathoners were running. Crazy busy but so inspiring listening to the all the cheering.

We toured the HMS Belfast which was a British war ship. You could listen to the audio guide or just explore. Taylor said it was her favourite museum of the whole trip! The physical aspects of it were quite good instead of just listening or reading.

We took the tube to Covent Garden where we found just a few more treasures to squeeze into our overloaded suitcases.

Our last tour supper was a tradition fish and chips meal.

For our last activity, we went on the London Eye. It was a beautiful way to end our adventure!

Jens Koberstein was our tour director. He was fabulous!

Our wake up call is to come at 340 AM tomorrow. We should be in Regina about 330 pm. Good night!

Good bye to Leah’s group as they departed early!

We traveled to the train station this morning in pouring rains. The Eurostar took us from Paris into London in about 2.5 hours. It was a pretty quiet trip as we all caught a little nap. Upon arriving, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed to Westminster Abbey. After being amazed by the poppies around the tomb of the unknown soldier and of the nameplates for Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking and Isaac Newton, Jens took us for a walking tour of Downing Atreet, Trafalgar Square and down to Piccadilly Circus for a little shopping.

Our tour director, Jens Koberstein, has made this trip incredibly memorable. His professionalism for his job is very evident as he is always organized and efficient, but his true strength comes from his personality. We have got to know him fairly well and we have achieved a comfortable balance where we can tell when he is full of BS. 🙄 he enjoyed teasing the kids and acting silly by pantomiming that he was the Hunchback of Notre Dame. He is a truly a treat to have as a tour director as he is so fun.

A delicious meal of chicken pot pie and mashed potatoes rivalled the lasagna and beef meal from earlier this week.

We enjoyed a Jack the Ripper tour tonight. Whoever did the crimes was a gruesome, sick person.

We took a double decker bus back to our new and last hotel of this tour. The bed will feel good tonight. We had another adventure getting to the right train. Jens told us that our sprint across the train station was “spectacular”! We may be a little delirious with tiredness at this point. Our train ride is long to the hotel. Robyn became the new voice for train announcing each station.

Overall, a great day but we are missing our travel mates from YG who we hear have arrived safely in Calgary.

Over 25000 steps today or 17km.

Our last day together as a group started with a beautifully sunny, but cool day.

We toured the city on a giant bus seeing many sites. After a quick lunch of crepes and rare burgers, we went on a walking tour that included the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, the carousel, the Champ Élysées, Place de la Concord, Obselisk, and the Latin Quarter. Notre Dame Cathedral was witnessed from across the river. Tonight we went on river cruise of the Seine. What a fabulous way to finish this leg of our journey for some and to finish the entire trip of touring for some! Leah’s non-extension group leaves for home tomorrow with a wake up call of 430 am and they are scheduled to be in Regina at 531 pm Saturday afternoon. Pam’s extension group is off to London on the Eurostar with a wake up call at 540 am. Good night!

We have clocked a lot of steps today of 23000 or 17km.

Andrew: I really liked seeing the bunkers and trenches and being able to go in them.

Walker: The farmer in the Netherlands who made cheese and clogs and called Kathleen happy mommy lady.

Marshall: I liked touring around Amsterdam. I also enjoyed going to Juno Beach.

Dean: I enjoyed going to see and experience Juno Beach, as well as touring Amsterdam.

Preston: I’d say for me my favourite part of the trip was either Amsterdam or Vimy Ridge. In Amsterdam there are so many amazing views, and architecture, and such a change of culture for us. With Vimy it was surreal with the views and just realization of how without victories like Vimy wouldn’t have all this freedom and peace we have today.

Landon: All Of Amsterdam

Bradie: walking down the streets of Amsterdam singing “Old McDonald” with Jens

Mia:Spending my birthday in three different countries

Bryanna: my favourite memory was shopping in Amsterdam

Jordyn: My favourite moment was basically everything in Amsterdam, definitely my favourite place so far.

Kacy: collecting seashells on Juno beach

Torri: My favourite part so far was the visit we had to the Anne Frank House.

Taylor: My favourite part was getting my clogs in Amsterdam. I also liked looking at the beautiful landscapes and architecture within the country.

Robyn: 2 favorites, The Anne Frank House and Vimy Ridge.

Donna: I would have to say the Anne Frank House .. having read the book it was great to be able to go in the house. Having a story told from a young girl’s perspective, of what her and her family had to got through during this time brings tears to my eyes. I also have really enjoyed all of the architecture.. especially the cathedral, and seeing how it was almost demolished after the attack and how they have rebuilt it without any tools we have today. Truly amazing!! Fantastic trip so far

Pam Jr: My favourite part so far is the time we spent in and near Ypres, Belgium for the In Flanders Field Museum, the architecture of the town, the character, the Last Post ceremony they have every night there. A place I’d like to return to.

Felecia: a favourite memory for me was the Last Post Ceremony in the beautiful Ypres. It felt like all we had learned and all the emotions of the trip were incorporated in the ceremony – mourning the losses, always remembered, and hope for the future.

Kathy or Happy Mommy: If I have to choose one, I’d have to say all of Amsterdam and Vimy Ridge. I do however appreciate the fact that every cemetery or monument we went to had such respect for the Canadian soldiers even to this day.

Leah: Berlin! Our tours and discussions covered less than the last 100 years. This city has so many stories to tell!

Pam Sr: I love it all! I love traveling with family, friends and my students! I love seeing the look of understanding, feeling the joy of learning something new, and hearing the laughter of people having fun! The Anne Frank Museum, Vimy Ridge and Juno Beach were pretty awesome!

We are off to Juno Beach and Paris today!

First stop was Beny-sur-mer: (Benny by the sea) a Canadian Cemetery commemorating victims of Juno Beach. The Gardens are immaculate and there is always someone working on them.

Second stop of the morning was Juno Beach. We had another detailed history lesson of the offensive launched by the Allies and the trials they faced they stormed the beaches at Normandy along with the British and Americans. It reenforced the sacrifices given by so many for the freedom that we enjoy today. It also was highlighted by the number of young people in our group as many would have been the same age as the soldiers were then. This was a beautiful and moving spot.

As part of our fees to EF, a plaque was made available to us to show remembrance at Juno. Because we are technically two groups, we had two plaques made which will be left forever at Juno.

We stopped for lunch at Arromanches which is right along the beach. Truly beautiful and without sounding crazy, it was as if you could see the events from years ago in the water and beaches.

We have a student who found a tombstone of a great-uncle. This truly made the experience more personal for all of us, but especially Dean.

We drove 3-4 hours to Paris. When we arrived we made a surprise stop at Versailles Palace! Our bus driver and tour director surprised us by letting us have a peek at it and get a few pictures. This was quite incredible and a great surprise as we were not scheduled to go there. The kids loved it!

We said goodbye to our wonderful bus driver today as he, Tomas Cook, was in his way back to the Netherlands. He did some amazing driving down little streets!

We had a delicious dinner of turkey cordon bleu with fries and salad. Hmm hmm hmm mmmm

We then walked to Sacred Ceour where we had the chance to climb a gazillion steps to see a beautiful church or do a little souvenir shopping. A little of all was done.

Our bus didn’t show up after our shopping so we jumped on the subway for a good time. It took a little longer, but it was an adventure!

Steps: just shy of 20000 today or over 14km!

We woke up in France this morning to another beautiful day!

I forgot to mention yesterday that our Saskatchewan kids are again so awesome! Our bus driver helped us when he didn’t have to by giving us a ride on the bus to get home our last night in Amsterdam. He was off duty but came back and picked us up when we were to use public transport. The kids made him a thank you card, drew a picture in it and googled thank you in Dutch. He was genuinely touched when the kids gave it to him and put it on display in the bus.

Vimy Ridge Memorial. This is an incredible site that marks where Canada fought together as a unit and pushed back the Germans. The French have given a parcel of this land to Canada as a thank you and that is why the Canadian flag flies proudly here.

We have enjoyed our counterparts on our tour from an English-speaking school from Quebec. We thought it was fitting to get a group shot of our entire group of 38 in front of the Vimy Ridge Memorial. We also took a YG Travellers pic as well in our rider great! Ridernation was represented at Vimy Ridge!

We had a fairly long bus day as we drove to Caen. We drove across a couple giant bridges that interesting.

We enjoyed a ham and potato dinner with chocolate cake for dessert. It was so delicious this was the only pic I could get. I may also be just a little tired and have forgot.

Another good day. Tomorrow we are at Juno Beach.

Happy 18th birthday to Mia, our Weyburn friend from WCS, who came with us on tour!

Today was filled with bus travel, cemeteries and showing respect.

• Welcome to Belgium. This little country is famous for inventing the saxophone, birth control, Smurf’s, tin-tin, mannequin piss statue,

• Best Belgium food: truffles

Started touring Canadian graveyards in Belgium.

Passendale (That’s how it was spelled on the sign in Belgium but we usually spell it Paschendale.). We stopped at the Canada Gate which is a memorial for Canadians lost.

• Next stop was Tyne Cot Cemetery. A commonwealth cemetery housing thousands of soldiers from across the commonwealth. We met up with a man who has done research on fallen soldiers. A Yellow Grass resident had studied her uncle’s journey and shared her info with this man. With her material, he was able to identify two more soldiers who previously were unidentified. He came and had his picture taken with us.

• St Julian Passendaele Memorial. The memorial about giving respect to soldiers who suffered from deadly gas. Heads bowed and eyes downcast were the sign of respect. We were there at the memorial on 104th anniversary of the gas being used for the first time in WW1.

• Essex Farm Cemetery at Flanders Fields. This is where John McCrea wrote the poem “In Flander’s Field” when he was working as a field doctor. He wondered at the senseless of it all. The cemetery crosses are scattered. Maybe a sign of the senselessness of war. The students were told by our tour director to reflect on what they had observed during the day. Taylor came back to the bus and shared a poem she had written while reflecting. It brought tears and applause when she read it to the bus on the microphone.
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• Ypres (sounds like eeper). We entered the city that saw a lot of fighting and also the rise of the Canadian spirit. We visited the In Flanders Field Museum which is very detailed about war experiences.
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• We went for a delicious lasagna supper at “The Trumpet”. I think it is the best meal I have had on an EF tour.
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• We were in attendance at the Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate at 8pm which occurs EVERY night as the Ypres community shows their respect for what soldiers did many many years ago. They will not be forgotten.
• We jumped back on the bus and headed to Vimy, France for our only night there. Belgium was a whirlwind. We had just enough spare time to buy a few chocolates, waffles and truffles. Delicious!
• This may have been the best day so far, but maybe I’m biased as I’ve said this everyday!
• We have had our share of laughs on the trip. The wooden clogs may have caused one of our girls to take up dancing!
• short walking day of only 9 km.
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This morning we awoke to another beautiful weather day! The sun is shining and we have happy and rested travellers.

We visited a cheese and wooden shoe farm this morning. Roel was an entertaining man who showed us how he makes it all. Dana may not get Kathy back as Roel enjoyed Kathy as his assistant. He kept calling her “happy mommy woman” to the crowd’s amusement. The demonstrations were pretty interesting. There are a few wooden shoes and Gouda cheese wheels coming home to Canada.

We then visited a windmill farm which was very similar to Disney World at Christmas – total tourist trap with many, many people.

We had lunch at a little seaside village where about a gazillion other people happened to visit at the same time as us. Some of the boys found some fries to try yuppie sauce with. The sauce is made of mayo and curry. They seemed to enjoy it!

Canals are hand-dug ditches. When water isn’t salt-water, it is called sweet water.

We had a tour guide for the city of Amsterdam. She brought us a Dutch treat “street waffle” which were little wafer cookies. Pretty tasty! There may be a few samples coming home.

• May 4 Remembrance Service

• May 5 Liberation Day

The Anne Frank Museum was significant and meaningful for all. Everyone was extra attentive and listened to every component in the audio section. Touring the rooms where the family hid for the soul reason that they Jewish makes one develop new hate for Adolf Hilter.

Amsterdam home owners used to pay taxes on the width of their house. Note the picture of Landon and Marshall. That house didn’t have high taxes as the boys could each touch the far edge of the house on both sides and stand in the middle.

Supper or dinner had us having chicken kabobs with peanut sauce. Quite delicious!

The entire group has been incredibly busy being toured and educated so the free time in Amsterdam tonight was quite enjoyable. They all had stories to share! We had 3 basic rules that the kids had to follow. You can ask them what they were! 🤪

Tomorrow is another busy travel day as we leave the Netherlands and head towards Belgium on our way to Paris. All kids have been asked and they say they are having a good time.

Today, the Fitbit counted 11km of walking.