Ottawa, Canada
- Alice Gardiner
- May 10, 2016
- 2 min read
My first Friendship Force Exchange was last May to Ottawa, Canada. It was a mystery exchange, meaning that everyone who signed up had no idea of where they were going except we had to have a valid passport. It booked completely without anyone having a clue about the destination.
Talk about blind faith for my first trip! A month before the trip we found out it was to Ottawa so we could make our plane reservations. Then I was immediately sent an email from my host welcoming me. The trip was during their Tulip Festival and I was sent a complete itinerary of my week-long stay.
It was jam packed with visits to Parliament as Ottawa is the seat of Canada's government, bus tour of a wildlife preserve to see and feed the animals in their natural habitat, a hike through one of the most enchanting forests with trails along the creeks for about three miles and finishing the day off with a picnic including the entire club which consist of about 80+ members.
The highlight event was a stroll thru Queen Juliana Gardens which showcased hundreds of thousands of every variety of tulip imaginable. I had a night host, as she worked full time, so we had breakfast and supper together and then a day host came by and picked me up every day to take me to the different events. The trip ended with a fabulous banquet with a private room at an international buffet restaurant where we could sample foods from around the world.
There was so much more to tell but when I came home from that trip I knew Friendship Force was the club for me.
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