Hi David,
I thought I would throw in my experiences for this summer too.
I returned about two weeks ago from a trip to Europe also. I take my junior and senior students to Europe every other year. This summer, we started off our trip with a cruise up and down the Rhine River in Germany. The castles are wonderful and it was such a relaxing way to start our “Amazing Race”. Tom and I call it that because we are on the run the whole time in order to see everything we’ve signed up to see. Afterwards, we boarded a bus to see the Cologne Cathedral. This is huge!
We finished our day by arriving in Amsterdam. Our group consisted of 14 students, Tom, myself and groups from Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. We walked through the heart of Amsterdam, visited the Anne Frank house, took a canal cruise and visited a diamond factory. We also took side trips to Volendam and Schaans Zwaans (however that is spelled) which were so Dutch and so nice. The kids saw wooden shoes being made and many bought some to bring home. What a lovely sight in the airports as they decided to wear them home.
We stopped in Brussels to see the Royal Palace, Manneken Pis and the Grande Place. While in the Grande Place, my brother, from my host family from when I was an exchange student, surprised me with a visit. It was short but sweet.
We then went to Paris. The kids had a chance to try out their French. We saw all the sights there that the normal tourist sees. When we left Paris, we boarded the Eurostar to go through the Chunnel on our way to London. We were in all those tube stations that were later tragically bombed. We saw all the sights and even took the kids to Abbey Road to sign the wall and cross Abbey Road like the Beatles did for their album cover.
We finished up our trip in Scotland. We saw castles, the lochs and Trossachs, lots of kilts and went to the Falkirk Wheel Experience which is a boat lift from one canal to another. It was a wonderful trip.
I’m so thankful that we weren’t in London during the bombings. I can’t imagine what it would have been like dealing with 14 teenagers who were scared plus having to call the parents to reassure them that all was well. The students have really been stunned by the bombings often remarking, “we were just there”. We were lucky.
Have a wonderful summer!
Sue