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Headline: Transition year tour to Holland and Belgium. Posted: March 15, 2011
The greatly anticipated day finally arrived. We all thought it was going to be the highlight of our Transition year and I can safely say that it was mine. We arrived in Amsterdam at 9am with four jam-packed days of activities awaiting us. Our first experience of Amsterdam was a canal cruise of the city; we learned about the history of the city and saw many of its finest attractions. Just being in the city was of huge significance in itself as it is such a unique place. Our bus driver Gino, who we all grew to love, then took us to the ‘Corpus – Journey through the Human Body’ centre outside the city. This is a museum all about the wonder of the human body. You get an interactive tour inside an enormous human body which we all found unexpectedly brilliant. That night we stayed in a hotel in the town of Noordwijk. We rose early the next morning and went to a Space Expo museum where we learned all about the past, present and future of space travel. After this we got back on the bus and went to Rotterdam. It was a beautiful town and is the world’s largest port. The next stop was Ypres in Belgium, our base camp for the remainder of the trip was in a beautiful hotel in the heart of the town. I can safely say that this part of Belgium was by a long shot the nicest place I’ve ever been to. On Saturday we went to ‘The Platoon Experience’ where we were all kitted out from head to toe in real Australian World War 1 uniforms, with guns and all the other equipment. We were given an authentic meal of corn beef stew and the identity of a real Australian soldier of the 3rd Division who actually fought in the war. Part of the day was a stop at Tyne Cot Cemetery. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Later that evening we went to the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate, where a Marching Band played in remembrance of all those who lost their lives fighting in the war. This ceremony takes place every single day and there was a huge crowd present. Seeing the tears of some of the spectators really put the devastation that a war inflicts into perspective. Our evenings were spent swimming and bowling which we all enjoyed thoroughly. Sunday was our last day and it began with a visit to the In Flanders Field Museum, which was again all about the war. We then went to the magnificent city of Bruges. We visited a chocolate museum and saw how the famous Belgian chocolates are made. We spent some hours wandering the wonderful city before we retreated to the airport for our flight home. Kevin Keane Conor Keane
Photos:

the army stops for lunch!
Mr. Declan O'Donoghue Mr.Garry Mcgrath and Mr. Turlough O'Brien!
Relaxing in central Amsterdam!

Conor Keane!
Gavin Kelly!
downtowm Ypres

Jack and Gavin!
carrying the wounded Andrew O'Connor!
gas attack!
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