By John Schroeder, Tour Leader The adventure begins. Soufflé appetizers. Soufflé main course. Soufflé deserts drowned in chocolate, Grand Marnier or Calvados. I think I’m gonna like this trip!! Good thing we do 4 hours of walking tomorrow […]
by Sandra Reimer Here we are at Christ Church in Dublin on our first day of the tour. Our guide Antoinette told us that the cathedral was built in 1029. It has been a functioning church for almost 1000 […]
Tour leader Allan Rudy Froese on the Rhine Cruise with our youngest tour member Sam. Happy Birthday Sue! Way to keep it healthy. Sam relaxing with his grandparents Keith and Judy on an afternoon cruise along the Rhine in [...]
by Bob and Margaret Nally “Help me to journey beyond the familiar and into the unknown. Give me the faith to leave old ways and break fresh ground with you.” (prayer to St. Brendan the Navigator). We have […]
by Wilmer Martin, tour leader On Thursday morning we traveled to Torgau. This city in Germany was important during the Reformation as it allowed the first Protestant designated worship space. We visited the Castle Chapel and sang a song […]
by Wilmer Martin, tour leader On Monday after a driving tour of the Nazi sites of Nuremberg, we traveled to Bamberg. We enjoyed visiting the Romanesque Cathedral, dating to 11th century. The Monastery Church was closed for renovations; however, […]
by Len Friesen, tour leader I have just returned from a long walk through the heart of St. Petersburg, a city that has played such a powerful role in my life over many years. My TourMagination group has […]
by Hart Wiens, tour participant This trip has been one of those “bucket list” activities for Ginny and me. We had long talked about visiting the country where our parents and several generations before them lived. Friends kept […]
by Len Friesen, tour leader It is our second morning in St. Petersburg, and it is striking how quickly members of our group have gotten a feel for this majestic city of canals, rivers, and palaces. Typical of […]
By Wilmer Martin, tour leader TourMagination’s Celebrating 500 Years of the Reformation & Life of Martin Luther began in Frankfurt on Friday. At our welcome dinner at the Mercure Hotel the conversation around our three tables was intense as our tour […]
By Len Friesen, tour leader We had a bit of a bus city tour on Friday morning: from the Kremlin to the Bolshoi Theatre to St. Basil’s. We then toured the Kremlin itself, that great fortress at the […]
by Len Friesen, tour leader It’s been a magical if slightly sleep-deprived 36 hours or so. I’ll summarize in three snapshots: 1. The first snapshot: Our final banquet in Zaporozhe seems to have barely happened, but it was […]
by Len Friesen, tour leader What a couple of days it has been. We returned to the vast Molotschna settlement yesterday but for a very different day. First off was a small village where people invited us in to […]
by Len Friesen, tour leader Prelude: Our Ukraine/Russia tour for 2017 is off to a flying start. We came to Zaporozhzhe by many paths, such that yesterday was our first real meeting time: but one and all should […]
We are staying in a lovely hotel, The North Star, from the 1890’s that is beautifully restored. The breakfast was wonderful, and abundant with fresh Irish breads. Within walking distance of Trinity College, Dublin Castle , the River Liffey […]
Bob and Margaret Nally, tour leaders for our upcoming Sights, Sounds, and Sacred Spaces of Ireland tour in September, have just left to spend a month traveling in Ireland. During their travels they’re reviewing the route for the tour […]
We are on a tour of discovery of Dutch culture, tulips and hyacinths, and Menno Simons. Our first engagement was with the very warm and hospitable Pieter and Martha Postma. They invited us for tea to their traditional Dutch […]
“The Spirit is always reforming us and that shows up in our art, in our paintings, in our sculptures, and in our architecture” says Allan Rudy-Froese, Assistant Professor of Christian Proclamation at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. He also says […]
Our first night at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney was a welcome rest and like the majority of hotels throughout the tour it was an ideal central location which allowed for plenty of quality eating establishments and great […]
What is Celtic Spirituality? by Margaret Nally Celtic Spirituality draws its inspiration from the earliest manifestations of Christianity in the wild western edges of Europe. Its prayers and practices were also motivated by the wisdom of an older understanding […]
Saturday morning began with a short walk from our hotel to the wharf where we were welcomed on-board a Reef Magic Catamaran Cruiser and once we completed the safety briefing and departed the wharf it took about 1 ½ […]
We loaded the bus in Melbourne Wednesday morning and headed for the airport. There was some anxiety when we got stuck in a traffic jam on the highway but it didn’t hold us back too much in the end. […]
Our guide Fay met us in the hotel lobby to take us on the city tour of Melbourne. It made sense to start later in the morning so we didn’t have to contend with the typical morning traffic, especially […]
Our last full day in New Zealand was a welcome free day to take in the sights in and around Queenstown, NZ. Some of the group joined a tour to some film locations of movies like Lord of the […]
We had arrived to Mount Cook late on Wednesday but caught a glimpse of the impressive Alps of New Zealand (NZ) amongst the broken clouds. Following a delicious buffet dinner at the Hermitage Hotel we were looking forward to […]
It was an early start to the day as we had many sights to take in around Rotorua, NZ. Our first stop was Rainbow Springs where Rainbow Trout are hatched and raised for seeding lakes and streams around Northern […]
Touring Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve in Te Puia, near Rotorua, New Zealand. The group stopped on a bridge while enjoying a fascinating private tour that included steaming geysers and bubbling mud pools.
The long flight from San Francisco to New Zealand was very manageable as the Air New Zealand crew provided a very good service and most of the group were able to catch some sleep before our arrival. We landed […]
We enjoyed a beautiful day in the Viñales region. It is largely a tobacco growing region because the soil conditions are ideal for tobacco. We stopped at a lookout to see the Viñales valley, an absolutely beautiful view. […]
On Sunday we worshiped with a Brethren in Christ church about 30 minutes outside of Havana. It was a small congregation that meets in the pastor’s home, but this Sunday knowing that we were coming, another congregation from a […]
Our first two days in Cuba were full of so much learning. We landed in Varadero to sunny skies and to everyone’s delight we immediately saw some of the iconic classic cars of Cuba. On our way to Havana […]
by Kelly Schroeder I’ve fallen in love with vegetables, or more specifically, vegetable gardening. I have loved vegetables for a long time already. On a trip to South Africa in 2014, my husband John and I visited an […]
Friday morning we visited the War Remnants Museum. This was a very moving experience for each one in the group. The museum speaks for itself, recording the impact of the war in different regions of Vietnam, as well as […]
On Monday we arrived in the garden city of Da Lat, located in the mountains of central Vietnam. As we walked the Da Lat flower garden by the lake, we enjoyed the beautiful flowers. We visited the Cao Dai […]
Friday evening after returning from Ha Long Bay our tour group went to the Nha Hat Lon Ha Noi Opera House in Hanoi. We went to see the Vietnam National Opera & Ballet. It was a very special evening […]
The TourMagination Vietnam and Singapore tour members arrived safely in Hanoi on Wednesday, November 23. David Byler mentioned that we lost Tuesday, having left North America on Monday evening. We were all thankful for safe travel and healthy bodies that allow us to […]
by Prof. Robert Kelly On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted a list of 95 theses for debate on the topic of indulgences on the side door to the Church of All Saints (the “Castle Church”) in Wittenberg, the […]
by Prof. Robert Kelly 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation Celebrations with Co-operative Prayer Service. October 31, 2017, is the day we mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Protestants have been celebrating anniversaries of the Reformation for […]
The last five days of this amazing trip to Spain and Portugal start at the eastern mouth of the Douro River, in the city of Porto. Most well-known for the storage and aging of Port wine, Porto offered plenty […]
On Friday we woke up to a bright and warm day. The group headed out on three separate excursions which included local Port Winery tours (and wine tasting), a picnic, and a tour of an 18th century Catholic church. […]
The past two days have gone very quickly as the weather has been beautiful as we have traversed down the Douro River through the world famous Port Wine region of Portugal. The scenery has been breathtaking and a camera […]
16 months ago Lorne Smith talked with me about planning a TourMagination tour in partnership with the Pennsylvania German Folklore Society of Ontario to Ohio and Indiana. The majority of the tour participants live in southern Ontario, with a […]
Our final two days in Spain included an excursion to Toledo, known as the city of three faiths, which included an informative guided tour through very narrow streets of this ancient city. It was fascinating to find signs and […]
It was wonderful to arrive at the Westin Hotel in Madrid after a night of traveling and once we were settled into our rooms we ventured off in different directions taking in the sights and sounds of this impressive […]
The TM Russia/Ukraine trip is at an end, and our lovely group has begun to scatter across European airports. Before we parted I asked participants to briefly type out personal highlights. They summarize what was a remarkably rich time […]
Well, it is so strange how trips draw to a close. In this case we’ve enjoyed a Sunday of a relatively relaxed pace, one that has seen us spread out all over the city and region. Some went to […]
It’s difficult to summarize this day, just as with all the others. What might I highlight? It could be the emotional joy it gives all of us see one in our group find the home of their parents or […]
As spectacular as Moscow and St. Petersburg are there is something very special about the Zaporozhye area. This morning after a brief night and following a true travel day we were ready to explore Chortitza. Spirits were high as […]
Well, this was a day for plane travel as the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has made it almost impossible to travel between the two countries. So we made our way very early this morning from Moscow to Munich to […]
I think that there’s something about TourMagination that is very special, and it’s the way that it creates moving communities. It’s happened before (and I’m delighted to see that Donna is one of many past fellow-travelers who is following […]
After two relaxing days on the Rocky Mountaineer we completed our trip with two days in Vancouver, BC. Yesterday, our driver-guide Chris picked us up at the Holiday Inn & Suites. We headed north to get the ferry for […]
Red Square. The Kremlin. St. Basil’s Cathedral. Ivan the Terrible. Lenin. Stalin. It’s hard to grasp how many places and names are directly associated with this great city. We’ve returned from a busy day in which we say both […]
We awoke this morning in St. Petersburg for our final morning there. So many of the participants commented on how they had come to feel quite safe to go out on their own in St. Petersburg; so many had […]
The Rocky Mountaineer train pulled out of the station in Jasper at exactly 8:30 Sunday morning, headed west and south for Kamloops as the two day train adventure began. Preceding that, we had several eventful days as we headed […]
Saturday: A Day of Sharp Contrasts We started the day by taking the Hydrofoil from the Winter Square Palace Embankment out to Peterhof on the Gulf of Finland. This great summer palace of the Tsars was created on the […]
Another fine day is in the books. It started with a mini-tour of St. Petersburg, an imperial city that defies any quick tour. Our hotel is ideally situated to see this potpourri of castles, canals and rivers. The famed Winter […]
The Russia Ukraine tour is underway! We met up over the past two days at various places: Toronto, Vienna, the St. Petersburg airport and even one person (Caroline) who was waiting for us at our hotel in this great city […]
The adventure has begun and what a day it was. After a restful night at the Calgary Tower International Hotel in downtown Calgary, we headed west on the Trans Canadian Highway for Banff. What a contrast, as we left […]
On a hot Thursday morning in Galilee we crossed Jezreel Valley to visit an area where biblical battles happened–Gideon’s defeat of the Midianites, Saul’s and Jonathan’s deaths in a struggle with the Philistines, and the death of Jezebel and […]
With ruins of ancient Caesarea as backdrop, our group paused for this picture on the promontory where Herod the Great built his palace on the Mediterranean coastline. Pontius Pilate also stayed in the buildings that once graced this part […]
Monday was a day for getting wet! We started somberly and ended with hilarity. The baptismal site of Jesus next to the Jordan River was our morning. We walked in silent pilgrimage style on a path through the swamps […]
With three full days of touring behind us, the Jordan-Palestine-Israel pilgrim band is starting to feel at home in this part of the world. Our stops so far have included the best-preserved provincial Roman city anywhere (Jerash), the citadel-city […]
On Friday we visited Trier, the oldest city in Germany. Trier became a meeting point for the Celtic, German and Latin cultures (15 BC) which evolved to form a western civilization. It was the first city north of the […]
Saturday morning in Erlenbach we visited the parish church where Jacob Amman would have been baptized as a child. The walls of the Swiss Reformed Church today are covered with frescos which date back to the Middle Ages. John […]
Tuesday was a special day for Sam Stoltzfus as we visited the Ringweilerhof near Zweibrucken. It was at this farm that Nicholas Stoltzfus worked before he immigrated to America. The farmers were very busy as they were harvesting wheat. […]
Last Friday we left Amsterdam for North Holland to visit the Cavaletti Horse Farm at Tuitjenhorn. The owner/operator was very excited about our coming. He has been selling horses to the Amish in Indiana for more than 10 years. […]
The Amish Heritage Tour with John Ruth began in Europe yesterday. The participants boarded the Queen Mary 2 on Wednesday, July 6 and arrived in Port Southampton yesterday morning. John Ruth and I spent 3 nights in Luxembourg following […]
Wasserburg, Germany – July 8 Thursday morning we drove to visit the new monument remembering Jacob Hutter and other Anabaptists who were martyred in this region of Tyrol in the 16th century. The monument, dedicated last October in a […]
Monday morning we said goodbye to Bern and departed for the Sustenpass on our way to Zurich. JP Weber, our favorite driver, told us we are lucky with the weather. The Swiss Alps were spectacular. The fresh snow from […]
On Thursday, June 30 on our way to Boppard to board the Rhine River cruise, we stopped at Remagen, the site where General Eisenhower and the US Army crossed the Rhine which changed the course of WWII. The bridge […]
TourMagination’s European Heritage tour with John Ruth is in full swing. Yesterday we arrived at Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport which is situated 30 feet below sea level. We were not surprised to see clouds and rain. We were told […]
