Our First Day in Europe

Our flight from Pearson took off a little late, but once we were in the air we had a great flight. Some of the kids did not heed the chaperone’s advice about sleeping on the plane, and took the opportunity to watch movies and play solitaire. These travellers are pretty tired today.

We landed in Brussels at 7:40am local time, and hit the ground running. We started off our jam packed day by visiting Essex Farm. Essex Farm is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery, and the location where John McCrea, of Guelph, Ontario, was working as a field doctor when he wrote the famous Remembrance Day poem In Flanders Fields.

After Essex Farm, we hopped on the bus and drove to Ypres, where we had a brief walking tour of the town. The travellers then were able to have their first real meal in Europe, and some chose to eat food like grilled chicken sandwiches with fresh salads, whereas others chose Belgian Waffles, ice cream, and world famous Belgian chocolate. After the lunch, the travellers had the opportunity to do some free chocolate tasting from a local chocolatier.

Following lunch, we were back on the bus, and took a short ride to Passchendaele. Here we visited the Passchendaele museum, where the travellers were treated to a great deal of WWI paraphernalia, much of which was found on the battlefields, well after the war ended. The museum also had a British deep dugout, and system of trenches that travellers walked through and got a good feel for the underground existence of the Commonwealth soldiers.

After Passchendaele, we headed back to Ypres. We started off our second tour of Ypres by visiting the In Flanders Fields museum. This is a museum housed in a beautiful old, gothic style, former Cloth Hall. Following the museum, we headed to a local sports stadium - the Christmas Truce Field – where we were fed a buffet of chicken, beef, potatoes, cauliflower, shredded carrots, and a slice of cake.

After dinner, we headed to what I felt was the highlight of the day. Our group attended the daily ceremony and playing of The Last Post at the Menin Gate in Ypres. Menin Gate is a memorial with the names of almost 55,000 Commonwealth soldiers who lost their lives, and have no known grave. The most exciting part; Liam Downing, Olivia Richardson, and Clay LaPointe were selected to participate in the ceremony. These brave travellers went in front of an estimated 1000 - 1500 attendees at the ceremony, to lay a wreath to commemorate the fallen soldiers.

All in all, we had a very eventful day. At the end of the day, the travellers were able to get to the hotel, and have lights out by 9:30 local time. Stay tuned; we will keep you posted on our upcoming adventures.

(a side note: I have been having trouble uploading pictures. I will continue to try to do so. Check back regularly to see what is new).