Jacky was in London last week attending World Travel Market and the highlight of her trip was seeing the 888,246 ceramic poppies filling the moat around the Tower of London. It opened in August to mark the centenary of World War I, with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh paying a visit, and is due to be dismantled the day after Armistice Day. Each poppy represents a British life lost in World War I. Poppies are sold everywhere in the UK for you to wear – all the shops, hotels and restaurants sell them to raise money for the returning veterans from today’s conflicts.

As some of you know, Esplanade represented Swan Hellenic for more than 30 years, offering art and archaeological cruises and tours around the world. But, the company originally named Swan’s Travel Bureau, started with W.F. Swan arranging travel to Flanders for war widows wishing to take poppies to the war graves in the aftermath of World War I. R.K. Swan joined his father in the family business which became Swan Hellenic and they brought the ancient world to so many happy travelers.

The Allied victory on 11th November 1918 marked the end of the German, Russian, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, saw the formation of new countries in Europe and the Middle East and established the League of Nations which became the United Nations after World War II. The Great War heavily affected the psyche of Western Europe and the vast loss of lives lost to this dark time are due to be gracefully remembered in the next four years to come. If you want to find out what events are happening all over the world to commemorate the war, click here. We would be more than happy to send you to Europe to experience any of these special events.