By Mike Kroeker, tour leader Hello from Newfoundland! The weather looked a little ugly this morning but the sun decided to come out! We woke up in Cow Head this morning, after spending the night at the Shallow […]
By Mark Evans, tour leader On Wednesday we left Szczecin early and sailed across a big lake to the Usedom area, landing in the port of Kamminke. We then got on our bikes and headed out exploring the […]
By Mark Evans, Tour Leader Today we left Schwedt at 9am to ride to Mascherin, a shorter day for riding as we had to sail on to Schwerin. The ride was more adventurous as we had to detour off […]
By Mark Evans, tour leader Saturday the group met at our hotel and then walked to the subway to take it to Spandau. We had a surprise when we got off as the doors closed prior to everyone getting […]
Adieu Iceland This land is continually being born: it ever brings forth new marvels, new vistas, new possibilities. It sings of change, and the power of play. I feel this playful change seeping into me, calling for a molten […]
The last day of the tour! This morning we went to central Innsbruck, where Jacob Hutter was executed. We also saw the golden roof which Maximilian I had constructed to look out over the square, and then had time […]
Today we travelled to our last country of the tour, Austria! But our route happened to take us through the tiny country of Liechtenstein for a brief while, so we can say we’ve actually been in 6 countries in […]
Today we spent much of the day within the city of Bern where we’ve been for the last two nights. In the morning, despite the possible threat of rain, we went on a walking tour of the city centre […]
Last night was spent in Borgarfjarðarhreppur, which derives its name from Álfaborg, meaning “town of elves.” Ancient legend has it that this part of Iceland is ripe with elves, and there is a fairly substantive hill overlooking this quaint […]
Today was spent in the area of the Emmental, which contains a great deal of Amish history. Although we could not enter it, we saw Thun castle, where Anabaptists were imprisoned at the top. In Steffisburg, we visited a […]
Zurich is an important city for Anabaptist history, as this is where it all began! We started our day today with a walking tour of the centre of town to see various sites related to Anabaptist history, including the […]
On our last full day of planned activity our TourMagination tour went to Peterhof in the early morning. This is justly claimed as one of the great Summer Palaces of Europe. Beautifully situated on a cliffbank overlooking the Gulf […]
Greetings friends! Here is a poetic reflection on our Iceland adventures thus far. These Rocks Ringing Lapping waves have their own sagas. Deep in their memories drift tales of mer creatures, and Behemoth, and Jonah, and water learning to […]
The Schleitheim monument commemorates the first effort between Anabaptists to create an agreement about beliefs they all shared in common, in order to create greater unity within the movement. The agreement dates back to 1527, just two years after […]
Memories of St. Petersburg Russia is a country that many expect that they won’t like. That always seems to be the case on tours we’ve lead, in large part because of the negative press that a post Cold War […]
We changed countries again today, moving on to France! Our first stop was an out of the way place up a long winding road: the Salm peace oak. This tree was planted by Mennonites in gratitude for being granted […]
Truth is that I’ve been somewhat under the weather the past few days. It started on the Moscow subway, and though it hasn’t stopped me from being a co-leader in the group (thanks to Mary especially as co-leader!). But […]
An interesting bit of trivia, the Bistro is usually associated with either Italian or French but is actually from a Russian word for immediate. During the Napoleon war, the Russian military didn’t travel with kitchens to feed the men […]
Today is Trinity Sunday and the resident priest Irma Sjöfn Óskardóttir both preached and presided. The service included special guests in the form of a choir from the Dómkirkjan (Cathedral Church) of Reykjavik. They crafted a service that was […]
Today’s Sunday, which I noticed right away because the bells from the nearby Worms Cathedral woke me up early! Historic cathedrals may be magnificent to visit but I think I’m glad I don’t live near one. John Sharp managed […]
This morning we said goodbye to our driver Mark and welcomed JP, who will be our driver for the rest of the tour. This is JP’s 101st tour driving for TourMagination! Then we headed towards the Rhine River to […]
As we headed further into Germany today, I loved watching the landscape change from flat fields reminiscent of the Netherlands to a much more up-and-down experience–large hills or perhaps small mountains, all covered in tall evergreen trees. We were […]
This morning on the bus it was great to hear stories from various people's homestay experiences. There were some good connections made! Being able to spend time on a personal level with local people allows you to really make [...]
Our first stop yesterday was the Aalsmeer flower auction, where millions of flowers are bought and sold internationally every day. I was surprised to discover how fascinating I found it! As someone who does administrative work on a much […]
So an amazing encounter just now in Moscow. We were toward the end of our day-tour. We were on our own after a rich morning in the famed Tretyakov Art Gallery, after earlier stops at the impressive Christ the […]
There is a “hold onto your hats” element to every TourMagination tour that Mary and I have been privileged to be part of, and that is certainly the case with this Russia tour. It began yesterday as we all […]
Last night in Odessa and what a busy day we had. This morning we had a city tour and then lunch by the shore of the Black Sea. The buildings in Odessa are so varied, from Greek style, pre-soviet […]
Reflections from Tour Participant Horst Wohlgemut: Before we embarked on the Prague and Poland tour, I was aware that at least five generations of Wohlgemut(h)s had lived in the Deutsch Wymysle area. To actually see where they lived, worshipped and […]
This morning it was time to leave Zaporozhye and head for Odessa. When Len said the road was bad he wasn’t kidding. There are some spots where we are having to slow to a crawl so we don’t break […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Don’t believe this blog(!). At least don’t believe that we all did whatever is included here. You see, today was a free day in Zaporozhye, one without any schedule. It was a welcome break after […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader We started our day today at Eichenfeld, now Dubovka, the sight of a terrible massacre in 1919 by Makhno’s anarchist peasant army. We stopped on the side of a field where a moving monument […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader We were in Chortitza today, the so-called Mother Settlement for Mennonites in southern Ukraine. Of course we saw the big buildings that mark this area for Mennonites (and it helps that our guide Olga […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader So as not to be a romantic, let me start by saying why a person should maybe not go to the former Mennonite colony of Molotschna on a day like this: -it was hot […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Where was I? Oh yes, we had our evening at the opera yesterday, in a most historic opera house. This morning was a bit more unstructured. I know that our group rode the Metro, […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader TourMagination’s Ukraine Heritage Tour is up and running for 2019. We actually met for the first time yesterday evening, almost that is. “Almost” because two people in our group were actually away all day […]
By John Sharp, tour leader Today was classic TourMagination. To accommodate our travellers’ interest, we changed our route between Prague and Krakow. To make plans, I had phone conversations with John Ruth, Leonard Gross, and Gary Waltner. Armed with […]
Today a heavy rain drenched Prague and us while visiting the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. (My photos of Old Town Square are from Monday.) Most of us took our tired and […]
Rotterdam & Gouda, Netherlands. We were the 3rd of 3 ships lined up. So cross over to get to land. Nancy & Harry Showalter leaving the ship/boat. Town hall in town square which is actually triangle shaped in this [...]
Views from our ship as we sail along the IJssel River. We went to cemetery for 1754 soldiers who died during Market Garden, a goal to take control of some bridges in Arnhem area, Netherlands, from the Germans but [...]
Arriving in Kampen, bridge raised using pulley system to let us under. Old City Gate in Kampen from 14th century List of Jews taken to Concentration Camp during WWII. A narrow street in Kampen Two local area ladies hosting [...]
We got to walk among the tulips at a tulip farm. No fence around them so people walking or biking along the field came into the field also to look & take pictures. The couple who owned the farm [...]
By Len Friesen, tour leader So it has come to this, as it does with all trips and all good things. We have reached the end of our time together. We head for the airport in Milan in about […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader In the Aftermath of the Notre Dame fire: The fire that devastated Notre Dame yesterday is a reminder of how fragile our supposedly “timeless treasures” are. Beautiful structures can last a thousand years, then […]
by Len Friesen, Tour Leader Our hotel here in Monterosso al Mare in Cinque Terre is like a vertical palazzo. I am writing this on the 7th floor or so, which allows me to look over most of the […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader We have shaped the tour thus far around a key premise: “Rome, Assisi, and Florence may be Italian cities but they are really world cities. They are part of all of our heritage.” But […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader We were out the door early this morning as we visited the Academia Gallery. There we saw Michelangelo’s “David” as we told the story of this remarkable monument. But we also saw the 4 […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader What is the shape and measure of a beautiful woman? What are they for a man? And of the society in which men and women live? These might seem like rather odd observations with […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader So we’re waiting at the Assisi train station, which really isn’t in Assisi. We’re waiting for the train that will take us to Florence for the next stop on our most excellent journey. People […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader I missed a day of blogging and feel as if I am a month behind… so much happens on a trip like this. But yesterday we said good-bye to Rome, a city packed more […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Today was set aside for “Catholic” Rome. This meant an early morning start as we made our way (by city bus, then a walk) to St. Peter’s Basilica. We got there early enough to […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader This has been the kind of day (as often happens on TourMagination tours actually) when I’m going to find it hard to write a blog. It won’t be easy because the day has been […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader So we have arrived and our group is now fully engaged. We gathered in Rome early today from the east coast of Canada to the west of both Canada and the US, and some […]
By Len Friesen, tour leader So this is the first blog entry for TourMagination’s “Bella Terra” Italy trip for 2019. That’s perhaps odd as the trip hasn’t started yet(!). In fact, we only head for the airport later this […]
By Katie Steckly Here’s a look at what we did today! From butterflies to chocolate we took in so much of the natural beauty of Ecuador 🦋 Make sure you’re following us on Instagram to see more of these […]
By Katie Steckly Our first full day on the Natural & Cultural Encounters in the Amazon tour has been a huge success! The group has ventured from Quito to Tena, where our guide Jerrell has already taught us so […]
By Leonard & Mary Friesen, South Africa Tour Leaders It’s no surprise that South Africa is on many people’s bucket lists. Where else can you take in two oceans, two world-famous Nobel Prize winners, Africa’s majestic “Big 5” […]
by Jack Suderman, tour leader January 24 We’ve had a very good, more relaxing day. We spent some time in the morning roving the pedestrian-only streets of Cienfuegos, with lots of vendors of all kinds. The group really appreciated […]
by Jack Suderman, tour leader Thursday, January 17, and Friday, January 18 After getting settled into our rooms, we had a nice supper together at a modest local restaurant, and everyone was in good spirits. It is 28 […]
By Len Friesen, tour leader I vividly recall the first time Mary and I were in Assisi. We arrived in the late-afternoon as the sun had begun to settle over the Umbrian plain. It was a cool evening in […]
Enjoying a luxurious cruise down the Danube. Enjoying a luxurious cruise down the Danube. Docking at Dürnstein, Austria for multiple tour options from cycling along the river, a stroll through the beautiful village of Dürnstein or a steep hike [...]
A beautiful day for cycling through Passau Germany. Historic Passau near the junction of the Inn, the Ilz rivers. For hundreds of years Passau has dealt with the surge of flood waters from the Danube River and in 2013 [...]
Greg and Terri chatting with Audrey before tour of Linz, Austria. Standing outside the balcony in Linz where Hitler addressed the crowds in 1938 during Anschluss (annexation of Austria...) Touring the quaint old city center of Strasbourg which has [...]
Dining room in the Klosterneuburg Abbey located in the Vienna woods. Len, Terry, Sue and Carol on the upper deck as the Amacerto passes through 1 of 18 locks we will enter during our cruise. A visit to the [...]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Thursday, 4 October 2018. A final blog entry for TourMagination’s Russia and Ukraine Tours, 2018 I’m writing this from my home, which means that the wonderful Russia-extension to the equally wonderful Ukraine 2018 trip is at […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader I was in the Kremlin with our group today on the Russia extension. While there I kept seeing rather large groups of tourists come and go, often in numbers of 50 and more. I […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Our last full day. I’ve been reading a verse or four from the Bible for each of our days in Ukraine and Russia. Each portion has been chosen to speak to that particular day, […]
Memories of Menno-ville, September 23, 2018 Here are some reflections from travellers on the Ukraine tour: I wanted to thank a woman for opening a church building for us, stumbling into Spanish, French, German before I remembered the words […]
Saturday, September 22 ,2018 Today was our “Zaporozhe and Khortitsa day”, which gave us the opportunity to visit the earliest of the Mennonite colonies in Ukraine. It is now set within a city (Zaporozhe itself) that was a Stalinist showpiece, and winner of both […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Quick, what’s this a listing of? Lesser Kestrel, Ring-necked pheasant, Rock Pigeon and White Wagtail. How about Eurasian Collared Dove, Eurasian Magpie and the Eurasian Jay? Answer? Well, these are just a few of […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Here’s the short course on what we did today: we spent the day touring one half of the former Molotschna colony, an area of about 20 by 30 miles, in southern Ukraine. But that sort […]
By Rod Zook, Tour Leader And we’re off! Everyone made it safely to the “starting line” in Bingen. Then we started by sitting together for several hours before and during dinner getting acquainted and getting ready to experience the […]
By Irene Suderman, Tour Leader Powerful, powerful day today. Varied, heart-tearing, inspirational, encouraging, marvelling, wondering, listening, learning and much more….. The day started with a visit to a penitentiary. Built for 1,000, it now houses 4,500 people. No photos […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Here is when the full weight of this trip hit home for us as a group. We had left Kiev very early this morning via train for Dnipro, arriving at about noon today. After a […]
The day started out very misty at our first stop Grianan Aileach, an ancient fort (or a place of sun worship?) so the view of 2 lakes far below was a wall of fog! “We viewed the mist and [...]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Wow. What an evening it has been. Before we knew it we saw the true Prince of Darkness visit Moscow and drive that city into pure mayhem. There was confusion all about, as if all morality […]
The cliffs of Slieve League - the highest cliffs in Ireland Glencolmcille was a place of sanctuary for St. Columba and it is a significant pilgrimage site. There are 15 stations for prayer and reflection. Some of the group [...]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader What a day! We started it with a tour of the very heart of Kiev (actually we started it with breakfast, and that’s not to be silly; it is more to comment on how […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader So our trip is up and running, even if one final couple is still scheduled to join us later today in Kiev. Here’s what is already clear from this group of TourMaginationites: We’ve gathered […]
Croagh Patrick 11 hearty souls attempted the pilgrimage up Croagh Patrick remembering the many pilgrims who climbed over these same rocks over thousands of years. It was treacherous and slippery due to occasional drizzle. 5 completed the pilgrimage while [...]
Clonmacnoise: an ancient Monastic site found by St Ciarán in 544. No original buildings. Cathedral dates to about 950 and the Round Tower to about 1150. Recently restored double arches at Clonmacnoise Friar’s river and Galway Abbey Tour leaders [...]