Day #4: Sunday, March 12

Today was our day of rest as we took the chance to slow the pace down on a train from Berlin to Apeldoorn. We had six hours to enjoy the countryside, relax, chat and enjoy time with our group. The students commented on how relaxing this form of travel was compared to a plane for this length of time and found this much easier. It was a chance to absorb the countryside and reflect on our own country, culture and heritage in comparison to the regions we were seeing in Europe. From here we rode a bus to Groesbeek to the National Bevrijdings Liberation Museum and then to the Canadian War Cemetery just a few miles down the road. This museum stayed open an extra hour for us to learn about the influence that the Canadian soldiers had on this region specifically during the war. The museum guide was an elderly man who shared  stories, insight and reflections on the connections they have made to Canadians returning to find out what actually happened to the their sons, fathers, uncles or grandfathers in the war. His passion for this work was evident in his presentation. Our guide travelled with us to the cemetery and continued to share his personal insight, reflections and stories about some of the soldiers who were buried in that cemetery. We then drove onto Hartewijk where we checked into the Apollo Hotel. Highlights from this day included Alyssa Gerrit’s Tante Erna and my cousin Rianne joining us at various points today!