Day 10: Our final day away was an amazing one!!!

Our final group shot in Amsterdam. 

This morning we woke at our final Ibis of the trip. I was up a little earlier than everyone and went for breakfast. It was very similar to our other spots, but didn't include scrambled eggs or beans. Regardless, I made a sandwich and had a croissant as well. I was ready for the day. It was 6:30am, lol.

Our first destination was the Anne Frank House. We had to park outside of the city and walk in, but it was becoming a beautiful day and the walk was nice.

Every canal view is amazing in this city.

Thousands of old bikes line the streets of Amsterdam.

The Tulips were blooming

Visiting the Anne Frank House is a particularly unique experience. I cannot express how every student felt as they walked through the museum. Not all of our students have read Anne's book, but all of them were aware of her story. I think the best way to approach this part of the blog is to kind of explain what we did today and then share some thoughts about the day.

First, it should be said that the museum does not allow photography inside of the house. I have some from the outside and I will share them in a bit. We arrived to the House and found no line waiting for us. We were given headsets and instructed that in some of the rooms, the headsets would tell us more details about that particular exhibit. The first part of the museum explains about the Franks and their lives before the Secret Annex. As you make your way through the exhibit, you eventually enter the office building that the Franks hid in while in exile. At this point, the narrations slowed down and we were left in the voids of empty rooms. The silence is somewhat deafening. There are moments that strike you as important, too. The stairs are very steep. The bookcase is slightly ajar and you need to crouch to make your way through. On the walls, you will find photos of those who lived in the annex along with quotes from Anne. There are plaques on the walls that go further into the lives they lived in the annex too. 

As you wrap up, you enter back into a modern museum exhibit. There are a few more details on the Franks and what happened to them after they were discovered. A copy of Anne's book rests in a glass case as you exit into final chamber of the museum. It is a somber experience for sure.

I didn't speak with everyone after we concluded, but I did hear from most of the kids that it was an interesting and moving experience. A few of the students wept. It is such a sad story, but there is inspiration in the mind of a young girl who wanted the world to know her story. 

Our visit concluded and we departed for the next stop of our day.

A canal cruise. 

This is an old subway station and you can see the tracks to help move bikes up and down.

Our group photo on the way out of Amsterdam

We left the city center for an experience meant to lighten the mood. I've called Roel the Crazy Cheesemonger in the past. He is so much more than that through!

Roel in his cheese making workshop. He is describing the process to the students.

Gouda waiting to be eaten

Roel owns one of the few remaining old style cheese farms in the nation. He is an extremely friendly man who uses humor and charm to win over every audience. He explained the cheese making process and invited all of us into his world. 

After describing how he makes his gouda, he brought us into his workshop. In here, he makes clogs.

Roel described the different styles of clogs that the Dutch use and for what purpose. He showed us, using molds, how easy it was to make them too. Again, I can't truly do it justice, but his presentation was so funny. It was easy to understand why so many of us left with some of his hand-crafted cheese and some even purchased clogs. It was a refreshing change and brought positivity back to the day.

We headed back into the city for lunch. Maria, living in Amsterdam, brought us to a local market where we were able to shop and eat at our leisure. I went to Amsterdam's best chicken restaurant. 

One of Roel's Gouda makers

An iconic windmill

The street market

Amsterdam's best chicken sandwich!

We then left to go to a tulip farm. It is bloom season and tulips are everywhere. 

When we left the Tulip farm, we headed back into the city center for dinner. Our dinner was at Wagamama. If you haven't been, it is an Asian style restaurant but it is kind of modernized. They exist in the United States and a few of the kids had had it before. We had a few options and every enjoyed their meal. 

Chicken and Rice bowl

Chicken, Prawn, and Noodles

When dinner concluded, we went on the search for one last souvenir stand. The kids were in high spirits even though we had been on the road for over 12 hours. It was chilly and some rain had passed through too, but overall, it was a nice evening. Maria escorted us to the tram and we all boarded for the hotel. It was a relatively quick ride before the blue Ibis sign appeared in the horizon.

Tomorrow, we have a late breakfast and will transfer to the airport at 11am our time. We should have plenty of time to pass through security, grab lunch, and catch our flight home. Another Eurotrip will be  in the books. I may write a bonus blog on the journey home, but if not, I want to make sure that I thank my chaperones for all of their hard work.

These trips are not vacations for us. Sure, we see amazing sites with equally amazing kids, but it is work. It is exhausting work, at times. I volunteer for these things because I love travel and trying to connect the places we visit to the lives of our students. It is a passion of mine. I am floored by how giving Dawn, Gail, and Guillermo are with their time. They all have their own families and leaving for 10 days cannot be easy. They help me, without complaint. I also wanted to thank Kathy Tolios. Kathy traveled with me before and if the name rings a bell to some, she is an elementary school teacher in Saugus too. She loves travel and cares deeply for our students too. She worked, even thought she didn't need to, to make sure every student felt comfortable and cared for. It was an absolute pleasure to have her on board with us again.

Maria, Martin, and Joris also made huge efforts to make this trip special. Joris spoke to the group tonight and told us that we are all welcome to travel on his coach in the future. He was thrilled that the students cared for his bus as much as he does. It is high praise from a coach driver in Europe! Maria, especially, worked tirelessly on our behalf. She changed dinner times and reservations so that we could fit as much in as possible. Seeing her with her son, Leo, last night was heartwarming and I am psyched that she can rejoin him again tomorrow. 

Our trip would not be complete without an amazing group of students...and these kids were amazing. Throughout the day, I kept hearing Maria ask the kids about their special assignment and tonight at dinner, it was time to deliver. Maria had purchased a map of old Paris and on the back, the kids all wrote a quick note of thanks. I will hang this map somewhere special in my house and will look for a double windowed frame so that I can read their kind words whenever I need them. I strive to make sure that gratitude is something that they takeaway from these trips. I've grown accustom to great kids. I am no longer surprised to hear our kids saying 'thank you' and 'please' while we are away. This group is certainly a special one. I will remember them fondly!

Well, it is about twenty minutes past midnight here. I am going to wrap up and head off to bed for one last night in Europe. I appreciate all of the kind words and compliments that folks have sent our way over the past few days. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed soon...even if that means I will have to report to work on Thursday!

For now...goodbye and thanks for reading!

Mr. Lavoie, shutting down his computer for the night and the trip! Thanks again everyone!

Day 9: Amsterdam!!! And the sweetest little surprise!

Today started like most of our other days. The alarm woke earlier than we wanted and my wake-up call was probably also too early! The Ibis Brussels had a nice breakfast set up which allowed for folks to make their own mini-waffles. I am not the biggest fan of waffles, but when in Brussels, right?

If you look closely, you'll see it says "Ibis" on the waffle.

NATO Headquarters

Our bus departed for the city center and our chocolate making experience. Not far from the hotel is the current headquarters for NATO. It was interesting to see and made me reflect back on my first time to the city in August of 2001. I was participating in a trip much like this one, but as a student. The trip was World War One themed and we traveled between France and Belgium investigating the Great War. Sadly, it did not end all wars and even sadder still is the role Belgium played in both conflicts. Having NATO in your home country is a blessing and curse in some sense. 

European Architecture is breathtaking. 

Maria showing us the friend of Manneken Pis, Jeanneke-Pis

Zinneke Pis is Manneken's other friend. 

Our walking tour of the friends of Manneken-Pis was a nice way to orient us to Brussels again, but it was actually just a smoke screen for the morning's attraction. Today, we learned to make Chocolate treats! Again, I didn't get photos because I was working on making a video, but I am hoping my labor paid off.

It should be the TikTok video I made of the event. Hoping it uploads correctly!

The chocolate making experience was really fun. I didn't actually make any, but had a blast watching everyone else work and have fun. They started by adding milk chocolate chips to already warmed dark chocolate. The process included stirring and blending the two chocolates until they reached a temperature of 32' c. Once the correct temperature was achieved, the students designed their own treats on wax paper. They each had at least three sheets of waxed paper to design and create. Toppings, such as nuts, sprinkles, and crackers, were provided to make the treats even sweeter. Once a sheet was done, one of the attendants collected it for cooling. When all of the sheets disappeared, the kids (of all ages) could lick the spoons and taste the sweet leftovers. As the chocolate chilled off, the attendants explained a little bit about Belgian Chocolate and other treats too. They also made fresh hot chocolate too.  #Eurotrip24 will go down as one of the chillier trips we've taken, but this warm drink made up for the lower than expected temperatures!

We departed for the Grand Palace. This was our rendezvous point after souvenir shopping and lunch. My phone's cell signal dropped terribly and I spent most of the time trying to figure it out. I did, however, have some Frites!

Art like this is painted on quite a few buildings throughout the city.

Walking to the Grand Palace

My Frites! They were amazing!

Finishing off a Belgian Waffle with Chocolate and Strawberries (it might have been Nutella)

Our group before departing Brussels.

When we met with Joris, it was bittersweet. Brussels is amazing, but our visit was so short. I wish we had more time in this city, but the road was calling. Joris and Maria planned a little side trip to one of Belgium's other attractions!

Built for the 1958 World's Fair, this Atomium is way bigger than I expected. We didn't enter, but it is on my bucket list for next time!

Maria explained that people like to have fun with taking pictures of it. 

Maria taking a bit of the Atomium

The bus ride to the Netherlands was mostly uneventful. My phone hopped in and out of service and we passed an ever changing landscape. Eventually, the roads flattened out and we approached Holland. The plan for the evening was a quick walk through Amsterdam before dinner.

The problem, however, is that the Netherlands just passed a law restricting coach buses ad guided tours in the city. Hefty fines can be doled out to bus drivers, tour guides, and tour companies if the law is violated. Of course, Joris drove us right into the city and we quickly disembarked. Maria, of course, led us through the streets as ever, but without an ID badge or a narration. 

The city is narrow and tourism overly congests it. Dutch people ride more bikes than you can remember and our job is to keep looking out for each other as we walk. Maria took us through some interesting parts of the city too. One area is probably known to older readers of this blog, but less so to the younger audience. We skirted the red light district for a brief moment. The idea was to show students how different the world can be. It can be awkward for all of us, but it also leads to great discussions about freedom and liberty and the unintended consequences too. Photos are off limits in that part of the city to maintain privacy and because we warned them that their parents wouldn't want to see it anyways!

One of the many canals of Amsterdam

Maria risked the fine for a group photo

Our plan was to do a quick walk and see some of the city because the sun was out. Maria wanted us to see the city without getting rained upon and with the sun in our faces. It was in the bright sunlight of Amsterdam that the sweetest little surprise emerged in the horizon!

I had no idea Dunkin was in the Netherlands

I evoked Group Leader privileges and got myself a cold brew.

I also saw New York Pizza which looks very similar to the New York Pizza in Boston near where I used to work!

Our walk was to finish at one of the many tram stops in Amsterdam. We were going to take one line to the location of our hotel and dinner spot. It was the first time on public transportation on this trip. In all previous trips to London and Paris, we took the Tube or the Metro. I wished we had done so with this trip, but it is hectic and gives some of the kids a little anxiety, so I was cool with skipping them. I, however, was a little anxious with taking the Dutch tram tonight.

Earlier, on the ride to the Netherlands, when my phone started working again, I went through my Facebook memories. It was filled Eurotrips of the past and long ago, on April 22, 2012 (Fourteen years ago), I was with another group of Sachems and our Tram out of Amsterdam was canceled! Our tour director at the time, Thierry, was not an Amsterdammer and it took us a while to figure out what to do.

Tonight, however, the trams ran on time and we made our way through the outskirts of the city.

Riding the Tram

A short walk after the tram and we were to dinner. The area looked like it was part of a college campus, but it might just be a young part of the city. The restaurant, whose name escapes me, was really fun. There were some pool tables and loud music. Before we ate, the host explained that we would be building our own burgers for dinner. 

It was shortly after we started to eat that the sweetest little surprise of the evening showed up in the form of Leo. 

Maria and Leo

Maria is a single mom and when we learned about Leo, we insisted that she be able to see her son when we returned to Amsterdam. Her friend and babysitter, Natasha brought him to meet us for dinner. This little guy was an instant hit and acclimated to our group without hesitation. It was so nice to witness this quick reunion, but it was also a reminder of the sacrifices that Maria is making to ensure that our trip is as amazing as possible. It reminds me to thank the Alumni Association, Karyn, and the dozens of others who worked to make this trip happen. The sweatshirts, backpack items, and free excursions really did make it extra special.

As I began this entry, I saw Maria and Natasha saying goodbye as Leo rested in his carriage. It isn't lost on me that our trip is almost over and your 'babies' will soon be headed home. We have one more full day in Amsterdam ahead of us. It will be one of our busiest days of travel yet. We will start early in the morning and head to Anne Frank's house. After some time in the city, we will be visiting a cheese and clog farm and a tulip farm. I believe will head back into the city for dinner and some souvenir shopping too. 

It has been a great trip so far, but there is a little part of me, tonight, thinking about home. My pup is in good hands, but I miss him. I'm sure my mom misses her baby too, lol...and with that, I will say goodnight!

Mr. Lavoie, sitting in the Ibis lobby for the 7th night in a row, but using his own hotspot because the wifi isn't strong enough for his blogging styles!