By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Here’s the short course on what we did today: we spent the day touring one half of the former Molotschna colony, an area of about 20 by 30 miles, in southern Ukraine. But that sort […]
By Rod Zook, Tour Leader And we’re off! Everyone made it safely to the “starting line” in Bingen. Then we started by sitting together for several hours before and during dinner getting acquainted and getting ready to experience the […]
By Irene Suderman, Tour Leader Powerful, powerful day today. Varied, heart-tearing, inspirational, encouraging, marvelling, wondering, listening, learning and much more….. The day started with a visit to a penitentiary. Built for 1,000, it now houses 4,500 people. No photos […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Here is when the full weight of this trip hit home for us as a group. We had left Kiev very early this morning via train for Dnipro, arriving at about noon today. After a […]
The day started out very misty at our first stop Grianan Aileach, an ancient fort (or a place of sun worship?) so the view of 2 lakes far below was a wall of fog! “We viewed the mist and [...]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Wow. What an evening it has been. Before we knew it we saw the true Prince of Darkness visit Moscow and drive that city into pure mayhem. There was confusion all about, as if all morality […]
The cliffs of Slieve League - the highest cliffs in Ireland Glencolmcille was a place of sanctuary for St. Columba and it is a significant pilgrimage site. There are 15 stations for prayer and reflection. Some of the group [...]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader What a day! We started it with a tour of the very heart of Kiev (actually we started it with breakfast, and that’s not to be silly; it is more to comment on how […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader So our trip is up and running, even if one final couple is still scheduled to join us later today in Kiev. Here’s what is already clear from this group of TourMaginationites: We’ve gathered […]
Croagh Patrick 11 hearty souls attempted the pilgrimage up Croagh Patrick remembering the many pilgrims who climbed over these same rocks over thousands of years. It was treacherous and slippery due to occasional drizzle. 5 completed the pilgrimage while [...]
Clonmacnoise: an ancient Monastic site found by St Ciarán in 544. No original buildings. Cathedral dates to about 950 and the Round Tower to about 1150. Recently restored double arches at Clonmacnoise Friar’s river and Galway Abbey Tour leaders [...]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader This is the day of departures. In fact, it has already happened as Lois and Nancy departed for the airport and a Durban add-on about 2 hours ago. There is a certain melancholy in […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Today was a rather different day as we left the Cape for the winelands of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. Located about an hour north of Cape Town itself, the region is noted for its world-famous […]
By Shirley Redekop, Tour Leader Our days are winding down, but we are filled with the wonder of God’s creation. We have grown closer, and have new sister friends with each other and those we have met; at St […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader It’s not often that you get to stand at the bottom of a continent, but that was the case today for our tour group. Today was our day to drive down to the two […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Today we visited Robben Island, 5 miles off Cape Town in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The place and setting is full of contrasts. On the one hand, it is in a […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader 7 August 2018 This is our second day at Chisomo River Lodge, a 19,000 hectare peace of beauty on the outskirts of Kruger National Park. We arrived yesterday, but I didn’t send an installment […]
Our group of women continue to enjoy being together and get to know each other better as we travel. We gave and received many email addresses when we visited a family who have a library and school for Maasai […]
The Caring, Sharing, and Safari Tour for women in Tanzania has lived up to its name. We have spent 2 full days with the women of Arusha Mennonite Church along with Esther, another leader in the Church, from Dodoma […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader It’s amazing how much TourMagination tours always feel like family reunions when they gather. That’s how it felt today as we gathered in Johannesburg after a couple of sleepless nights en route. But spirits were […]
By John Sharp, Tour Leader The lovely and historic Wurtzbrunnen church in Emmental. After reviewing our unhappy history (many Anabaptists were scolded, fined and exiled by the Morals Tribunal here), we sang together. Afterward our host families took us […]
By John Sharp, Tour Leader The Peace Oak of Salm, La Broque, France The bishop shook hands with the visitor, a military officer recruiting young men for the French Revolutionary army. It was 1793 and the revolution was in […]
By John Sharp, Tour Leader On the trail of Jacob Ammann for whom the Amish are named: Erlenbach, Thun and Bern, Switzerland. And today, Ohnenheim, Salm and St.-Marie-aux-Mine, France.
By John Sharp, Tour Leader Morning worship at Amsterdam’s historic Singel Mennonite Church: Afternoon and evening in Menno Simons country (Pingjum, Witmarsum and Berlikum in Friesland) with our longsuffering hosts Onijdes and Janje Sijtsma (we were late again). […]
By John Sharp, Tour Leader At Zaanse Schans, windmills are preserved, and in some cases, still used. In the morning we went to Asperen to learn and reflect on Anabaptist martyr Dirk Willems. After escaping his imprisonment, the iconic […]
We’re having a great trip so far! The weather has been excellent. We got to see Denali several times and we’ve seen a fair amount of animals out. It’s a good group and members of our group are enjoying […]
Trenton and our Maasai guide on our early morning guided walk at Tarangire. On safari in Tarangire National Park. The culprit who stole part of Ellie's lunch. All the grandchildren posing in front of a 1,000 year old baobab [...]
By Tom Yoder Neufeld, Tour Leader Friday, June 15. After a restful night on the ferry, we landed in Bari on the Adriatic coast of Italy, where we met our escort Ben, a very friendly American opera singer turned […]
By Tom Yoder Neufeld, Tour Leader Another whirlwind week, now the Greece leg of the trip has come to an end. It began with a “free day” in Thessaloniki, which we used in different ways. A good number of […]
By Tom Yoder Neufeld, Tour Leader We are now in Greece after an intense four days in Western Turkey, an area once known in biblical times as Asia Minor. We hit the road running, beginning our first day with […]
Margie, Jeanette and Lisa at the ancient city of Hierapolis. Needing to stay hydrated in the heat as we explored the the newly opened site of the church of Laodicea. Special instructions as you enter an area where one [...]
The above photo shows the spectacular view our group enjoyed from the top of the Horns of Hattin–the mountain in the Galilee where Crusaders from Europe were defeated by Muslim armies of Saladin in AD 1187. The Europeans were […]
Despite have had hiking plans undone by the heat, Peace Pilgrims had a rich and enjoyable day. From Nazareth we drove 50 minutes to Caesarea Maritima, ruins of the Roman city where Cornelius heard the gospel from Peter (Acts […]
Twenty Peace Pilgrims make our way down the Jesus Trail from Nazareth toward Sepphoris, the Roman city rebuilt during Jesus’ time. At bottom center a rock bears the white-orange-white stripes marking the path. This is our fourth day […]
By tour leader Ingrid Reichard Jerusalem is the City of the Great King. It has an atmosphere of its own – at times it feels busy, crowded and commercial. At other times it feels as if it stood out […]
By tour leader Ingrid Reichard Today was our last day in the desert – we will never read about the Negev, the Arava, the Judean wilderness without feeling the heat and tasting the sand. We said good bye to […]
By tour leader Ingrid Reichard The Petra challenge behind us we travelled south along the King’s Highway (Numbers 20:17) all the way to the port of Aqaba in Jordan, where we made the crossing to Eilat. The crossing was […]
By tour leader Ingrid Reichard About 10 years ago the competition for the 7 modern wonders of the word resulted in the selection of the 7 New Wonders of the World. Petra came in second, just after the Great […]
By tour leader Ingrid Reichard Yesterday was a full day – Cana, Nazareth, Har Meggido, Gideon’s Spring and many kilometres in-between. We got together under a big tree at our Kibbutz to reflect on the last 4 days – […]
Our Sunday in Israel Well, we did not make it church today – not the way we normally do anyway. We sang a worship song and prayed on the bus, read scripture, fellowship together, and listened to a few […]
By tour leader Ingrid Reichard Today was a surreal day. We walked on the ground that Jesus walked on – the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. We started by setting a contemplative mood, and by 8:30 am […]
By tour leader Ayold Fanoy Today was a good day to spend mostly outside. We started at the picturesque cheese village of Edam and heard all the Anabaptist/Mennonite history of this place in their Mennonite church. The weather forecast […]
By tour leader Ingrid Reichard The fact that we lost a night seems to be creating confusion. A few times today people asked “What day is it?” or “Is it really Friday?” Yes, it was Friday, which means the […]
By tour leader Ingrid Reichard The red-eye flight, necessary to make it to the Middle East, is probably the toughest part of our journey. We all made it over the pond and to Tel Aviv without an incident and […]
By tour leader Ayold Fanoy With a complete group we explored the city of Haarlem Tuesday. In the morning we took a walking tour, ending at the Teylers museum where we had a wonderful guided tour. After that it […]
By tour leader Ingrid Reichard Some days are filled with more anticipation than others. Any day that involves locking the front doors of your home behind you, getting to the airport, and making your way to the Middle East […]
Interest in family history has grown in popularity over the last several decades. In fact, in the USA, genealogy is the second most popular hobby after gardening! So what are some of the benefits of uncovering your Mennonite heritage? Five benefits […]
In 2016, approximately 12 million North Americans took a river or ocean cruise. Around the world, there are almost 1,000 ports of call accessible to cruise ships. What makes cruising so popular? Most things are included in the cost […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader The campers packed up early and arrived Thursday morning for breakfast and we learned it had been a peaceful night despite the constant chatter of the penguins. Apparently a leopard seal had parked itself […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader The Fram travelled further south throughout the night and we woke to an announcement that we had arrived at the small island where Port Lockroy is located. One of the four young women that […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader Today we started our day by travelling into Wilhelmina Bay to witness the massive glaciers and many humpback whales keeping company with the thousands of icebergs and growlers (icebergs smaller than 5 meters in […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader We awoke to an announcement that we had arrived at Cuverville Island which was surrounded by massive icebergs that the captain and his team had skillfully navigated through early in the morning. Our landing […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader It was early in the morning when our ship carefully entered the narrow entrance into Deception Island which is actually an active volcano and uniquely, a volcano crater accessible by boat. The last time […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader We arrived at Half Moon Bay around 8:00 a.m. under bright blue skies, temperatures just above freezing and little to no breeze. We stepped onto this island amongst thousands of chinstrap penguins breeding everywhere […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader We arrived at Brown Bluff early in the morning after cruising across the Bransfield Strait. This is the most northerly point of the Antarctic peninsula and this would be our first actual landing. The […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader Our charter flight to Ushuaia (the most southerly city in the world) arrived without issue and after we claimed our bags we had about four hours to enjoy some local excursions or visit the […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader Following some challenging flights due to winter weather issues in eastern North America we all managed to settle into the luxurious Hotel Emperador located within walking distance to the Puerto Madero, a historic port […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader Friday in Riquewihr, France was a real treat. The scenic ride from our remote docking location took us through flat farmland to the rolling hillsides almost entirely draped by wine grape vineyards. As we […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader The AmaSonata (our luxurious river boat) cruised most of the night and into the morning which offered a relaxing start to the day. By noon we docked in Mannheim which would serve as our […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader The AmaSonata cruised 300+ km (186 miles) through the night down the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal and the River Rhine and by lunchtime on Monday we arrived at our docking platform in Cologne, Germany. Our group […]
By Terry Petkau, tour leader The “Christmas Markets on the Rhine” tour began on Saturday, December 2 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands where we boarded the AmaSonata, a massive three level river vessel which will serve as our floating luxury […]
By Ervin Stutzman, Tour Leader On Thursday, we began the day with an overview of the city on the Mount of Olives at the Seven Arches Hotel. A lookout provided a panoramic view of the old city from the […]
By Ervin Stutzman, Tour Leader Today we left Tiberius to head south toward the Dead Sea, and ultimately to Jerusalem. That took us out of Israel into the West Bank, which is Palestinian territory. As we drove along the […]
By Ervin Stutzman, Tour Leader Today our tour group drove through Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle, on the way to Nazareth. What was once a sleepy village of perhaps forty homes in Jesus’ time has […]
By Ervin Stutzman, Tour Leader After the group arrived at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on November 4, we spent a couple of hours in a part of the city that is the ancient city of Jaffa, […]
As the India tour progresses, more and more locals are anxious to join us for group photos as illustrated by this shot from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Amritsar is a city in the northwestern Indian state of Punjab about […]
Well well, we have reached that stage of the final day. We’ve had our final meal in a lovely setting and are now settled in for a whole 5 hours of sleep (!) before we start our journey home. […]
Monday, October 16, 2017 Despite flight delays, the group arrived in good spirits and are great tour members. We celebrated all birthdays and Ben and Erna’s 60th anniversary with treats we bought at a bakery the first meal we were […]
Tuesday, October 17, 2017 For many in the group this was the highlight of the trip, at least in advance. For so many had heard of the Hermitage. This art gallery, one of the largest in the world, is […]
Monday, October 16, 2017 If it’s Monday it must be St. Petersburg, at least for this fine cohort of travellers. We arrived in the late afternoon on Sunday, and settled into our Crowne Plaza Ligovsky. The location could not […]
Sunday, 15 October 2017 It’s Sunday morning in Moscow, our last morning here. Some are still getting going, others are at breakfast (and quite a spread it is), while still others have gone to their rooms to pack for […]
Friday, October 13, 2017 Today was a rather conventional day in Moscow, but that only tells half the story. The conventional part was the first half of the day when we went to the Moscow Kremlin and toured the […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader “So why would someone (bother to) lead a tour for TourMagination?” I was asked that question on the first day of this trip by someone who has known me for decades (my former high […]
By Len Friesen, Tour Leader Well, well, the TourMagination tour for 2017 is up and running. We arrived in Moscow earlier today after a couple of smooth flights across the Atlantic, and then from Frankfurt to Russia’s capital city. […]