Thirty-three students and adults from the Canora-Buchanan area who travelled to Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England during the Easter school break, participated in what was “probably one of the best trips we have been able to provide,” said Brent Castle, the tour organizer.
While there have been exceptions, as a general rule Easter break EF (Education First) Educational Tours to Europe are organized every second year. Though arranged through the Canora Composite School with the focus being on offering high school students the opportunity to tour various European destinations, these trips are not school projects which means that many adults from the area are also encouraged to participate, Castle said. Usually, about half of the participants are adults, many of whom are repeat travellers.
“It all started on Good Friday as we all met at the school at 4:30 a.m. to begin our adventure. The excitement was in the air as the charter bus pulled up to the Regina airport. It was a long day as the journey took us to Toronto to catch a connecting flight to London – then another connecting flight to Shannon, Ireland,” said Castle.
In Shannon, the group loaded their coach and headed out to the well-known Irish destination of Killarney. The group was big enough this year that it was able to form its own tour group with its own private charter, he said. On previous trips, it was sometimes necessary to combine with other tour groups just to fill the coach travelling to the same destination.
“Because of this luxury, we were able to stay at places longer and do the extra excursions that we wanted,” Castle said.
For the whole trip, the Canora group basically enjoyed nice weather except for a few times “when it sprinkled, but that did not affect us,” Castle said. During the last two nights in London, the group experienced the expected rainy weather and on one of nights, the participants shopped in the rain and then decided to cancel the Jack the Ripper walking tour.
Killarney, Ireland
“We spent three days at Killarney taking in the sights such as the Ring of Kerry and the Bog Museum. The second day – we stopped in and toured Blarney Castle. Here many students and adults had the opportunity to kiss the Blarney stone.
“One realizes how old this civilization is. To walk through castles built hundreds of years ago and to see villages just as they were in the past, will just take your breath away. We also had a wonderful carriage ride which gave us that Irish feeling. Before leaving for Dublin, we also took in the Rock of Cashel.”
A tour of “the great city” of Dublin, included a visit to the Guiness factory – the place where Guiness ale all began, he said.
“Literacy history greeted us at every turn – from Trinity College to the long room at the Old Library, where we saw the Book of Kells. We also were able to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral.”
In Dublin the group was encourage to take note of a custom in which homeowners paint their doors different colours, said Castle. “This was for the men coming home at night after a few pints of ale. The houses and dwellings all look alike so the colour helped them go into the right house.”
That night, the Canora group took in an Irish dance and Gaelic show.
After touring Ireland for a few days, the group took a ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, Wales. Once off the ferry, the participants loaded another charter and toured a Welsh castle and a little village that has maintained its appearance since the 1600s. The rest of the day was spent travelling through Snowdonia, stopping at various sites and taking in the scenery.
“One of the most fascinating days we enjoyed was travelling through the Lake District in Scotland, visiting Rydal Mount and then continuing on to Edinburgh, Scotland, and visiting Edinburgh Castle, which is the symbol of Scotland’s capital,” said Castle. “That night we took a walking ghost tour. Although it was quite entertaining, we did learn a lot about the history of Edinburgh and the great plagues that occurred there. The city is a wonderful example of medieval times with buildings that would take your breath away.”
From “spending an amazing time in Scotland,” it was time to take a train to London, England – “an enjoyable, quick six-hour train ride.”
Subway introduction
The group from the Canadian Prairies settled in London and then had the opportunity to experience the subway system.
“In the morning, when no one was around, we learned how to get on and off quickly. I think the students thought this was kind of childish, but at night when the subway was full, it was a different story and many showed signs of panic at the time of execution. There definitely can be some anxiety in the tunnels of London. Try and visualize 33 people trying to get on the subway while many other people were trying to get off at the same time. It was so crowded you could not see everybody.
“We spread out into six groups down the ramp. Once the train stopped, we let a couple people out and then we began to push our way back on. The doors only stay open so long so there was no time to dilly dally. Anyway, we did not lose anyone which is always a positive.”
The group was entertained by many stories of different characters that travel the subway. Some were entertaining while others were down right scary, he said.
“In London, our group had the opportunity to ride the Big Eye. This is a gigantic Ferris wheel that is made up of glass pods that will each hold about 25 people. It takes about 30 minutes for it to complete a cycle. It provides tourists with a sensational view of the city and we were very lucky the weather was perfect that morning to get some fabulous pictures.”
London tour
“Other places we visited in London included London Bridge and the Houses of Parliament, which included Big Ben, the world famous clock tower. One of the big attractions in London of course is to go to Buckingham Palace.
“The day we were there, the Queen was in her weekend residence which is Windsor Castle. Later on, we took a trip out to see Windsor Castle for a tour. Unfortunately we did not see the Queen at any time. But it was a wonderful day at the least.”
For the final day of trip, the group took a tour of the Tower of London, a castle that is still in use for the military. As mentioned earlier, the Jack the Ripper walking Tour had to be cancelled because the skies opened up and the rain came down. Instead, the group headed back to the hotel for a final night of rest before the long journey home.
Exhausted
After 10 days of getting up at 6 a.m. and participating in tours all day, then returning to the hotels at 10 p.m., the participants were exhausted, said Castle.
“Everyone was a trooper as no one missed an excursion or tour. The weather was great and the group was made up of all kind of characters which made the trip memorable.
“I would like to thank EF tours for being so supportive and providing so much help. During the planning stages, Europe had a couple issues in other countries but EF kept in touch to make sure we were very safe.
Thank you everyone for representing Canora in such a positive way. Thank you to the adults who participated and helped keep track of the students that were in their groups.”
The next Euro trip is scheduled to take place during the Easter break in 2018. The plan is to travel to Austria, Switzerland and Germany. An information meeting for any adults and students (grades 8-10) was held on May 2 at Canora Composite School.
