Famed Dutch band to tour Canada

48th Highlanders of Holland will visit Canada next month.

One of the most moving and memorable tours I've ever taken was to the battlefield graveyards in the Netherlands, where so many young Canadians gave their lives to help the Dutch gain their freedom from the clutches of Hitler's evil.

The Dutch have never forgotten what Canadians did for them and to this very day care for our graves as if they were their own soldiers. The bond between our countries has grown ever stronger since World War II and every time a major WWII occasion crops up, the Dutch open their homes and arms to welcome back Canadian veterans.

In 1991, the Dutch created a living tribute to Canada when it established the 48th Highlanders of Holland Pipes & Drums band, named after the famed Canadian regiment which helped liberate the city Apeldoorn in April 1945. The Canadian regiment had its own pipe band and its members led the regiment into battle that day.

Now, that Dutch band in coming to Canada for a seven-day tour between Nov. 2-9.

The visit of the Dutch band is timed to celebrate the 120th Anniversary of the 48th Highlanders of Canada at their “Homecoming Weekend”, Nov. 4,5 and 6, 2011. (see http://www.48highlanders.com/ for more info on that event).

The Dutch Band will be performing in Burlington (twin city of Apeldoorn), Brantford and Toronto betwen Nov 2 – 9 and everyone is invited to attend the free performances.

Here's where they'll be performing:

Nov. 2 - Burlington: Branch 60 of the Royal Canadian Legion, 7 p.m.  

Nov. 3 - Burlington: 11 a.m., Mount Royal Plaza and Brant Street; 5.30 p.m. 501 Kenmar Crescent street party.

Nov. 4 - Brantford: 9.45 a.m., Brantford War Memorial. Laying of a wreath and Remembrance concert;

11.30 a.m., Canadian Military Heritage Museum. This will be followed by performances with the 48th Highlanders of Canada.
Nov. 5 - Toronto: 11 a.m., Parade in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Nov. 6 - Toronto: 11 am. Remembrance Day Parade Queens Park.

Nov. 7 - Burlington: Performance for the Seniors, 11.15 a.m. Burlington Senior’s Centre, 2285 New St. in Central Park adjacent to the Central Library.
Nov. 8 - Burlington: Performance at Burlington City Hall, 11.30 a.m., Laying of a wreath at the Burlington War Memorial at City Hall; 12 p.m., Performance for Mayor Rick Goldring and members of Council and citizens of Burlington, Burlington City Hall Square.

To find out more about the band and it`s Canadian Tour see www.48th-highlanders.nl/indexeng.html.

For further information contact: Jim Matz (Tour Organizer, Canada) jimmatz@cogeco.ca or 905-632 – 5752.

And if you ever get a chance to visit the Netherlands, make sure you visit one of the Canadian military graveyards - it's a moving experience you'll never forget!

Flying Dutchman hits the water

Flying Dutchman bus cruise takes you on a tour
of Amsterdam's great canal system.

Henny Groenendijk, our good friend at the Netherlands Board of Tourism - she's the best in the business, folks - sent me a list of things visitors can do while in her remarkable country this Fall.

One of the things that caught my eye was a new amphibious tour being offered passengers at Holland's great Schiphol Airport - the best in Europe.

Passengers with a long layover at Schiphol can now take a canal tour aboard the "Flying Dutchman" - half boat/half bus - and they can board the floating craft at the airport's new "Splash Zone."

The amphibious bus carries 48 passengers, cruises the canals on battery power and is a partnership between the airport, the city of Amsterdam and a local cruise company.

Tours last two hours and 45 minutes and are offered three times a day. Tickets cost about $56 (39 euros) for adults and about $28 (19.50 euros) for children. Booking online offers a 10 per cent discount.

Toronto's Annette Fatael, who had a nine-hour layover at Schiphol while en route to Tel Aviv recently, tried the bus cruise and said it was a great way to kill time. "It’s a huge tour bus and it was hard to believe that it was going to go into the water,” she was quoted as saying.

Amsterdan airport offers hookers



A few months ago I wrote a blog rating Amsterdam's Schipol Airport as my favourite in Europe - and that was before they decided to set up a "Red Light District" right on the premises.

Now I'm really "hooked: on Schipol.

The old airline phrase "would you like coffee, tea or me, sir?" certainly takes on a whole new meaning now that Amsterdam police have confirmed a report in the Irish Times which said the Dutch airport, one of the busiest in Europe and by far the best, has set up a brothel so passengers don't have to dash downtown, where it's legal.

Police say they don't intend to take action against the airport red light district which is apparently being manned by foreign prostitutes using cheap flights to commute to the Netherlands from other parts of Europe to do business. Using the term "Business Class" at Schipol may have to be reexamined.

And, if you're paging someone at Schipol, don;t tell them to meet you under the red light.