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Every year, a considerable number of trips takes place. Some are annual, some operate every two or three years, and some are 'one-off' ventures. Please click on the links to reports of a small selection of these trips below. Close Harmony and Pipe Band Tour to Canada, July 2008 History Department Trip to Berlin, Prague and Krakow, Easter 2008 First Form Paris Trip, March 2008 Sixth Form History trip to Moscow and St Petersburg, October 2007 CCF California Expedition, Summer 2007 German Department Trip to Cologne, December 2006 History Department Trip to New York and Washington, October 2006 Pringle's Ru'a Fiola Experience, July 2006 Choir Tour to Provence, July 2006 Expeditions to Peru, July 2006 Fourth Form Visit to the Battlefields of France and Belgium, February 2006 CCF Expedition to the Himalayas, August 2005 1st XI Cricket Team tour of Barbados, July 2005
German Department Trip to Cologne, December 20068 boys from Shell and V Form, accompanied by Mr Corbett and Mr Geisler, travelled to Cologne on our biennial German trip. Once we had settled into our youth hostel, the busy programme started off with a meal and a few games of Kegeln (skittles) in a pub. The following two mornings were spent in…school! Having made contact with their German counterparts before the trip via e-mail, the Merchiston boys met the pupils of Königin Luisen On the last day of our stay, we were given a guided tour of the city by a teacher from our partner school, and then had some time for shopping. As German tradition demands, we then took Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake) at 4pm in one of Cologne’s many Konditoreien (cake shops). In the evening we went skating on an outdoor ice-rink in one of the Christmas markets. First Form Visit to Paris, March 2008
Our coach dropped us off near Notre-Dame, and we had our lunch there. Some boys lit candles in the cathedral later on, but they soon forgot about spirituality and the shopping spree started. Pancakes, bérets (most of them bright pink), mini Eiffel Towers and other assorted souvenirs were purchased within our first hour in Paris. We then went to Centre Kellermann to unpack and rest before dinner and our Paris by night coach tour. The next morning we went to the Place du Tertre where just about every single boy had his portrait made. We then tried to visit the Sacré Cœur, but mass was being celebrated and we couldn’t spend long there. In the afternoon we visited Les Egouts (the sewers). In the evening we went on a bateau mouche and cruised down the Seine.
On Tuesday we visited Versailles in the morning, had lunch in the gardens followed by rugby for the boys and Mr Osborne. We then drove to the Stade de France. Our guide was a keen sportsman himself and made the whole visit very interesting indeed. We spent the evening sampling out some French specialities at the Restaurant Chartier. The boys enjoyed some more rugby playing before we left for the airport. The boys put their bérets back on before emerging out of the arrival gates, just so their parents would realise where they had been, in case they had forgotten, of course!
Fourth Form Visit to the Battlefields of France and Belgium, February 2006
On the 6th February the IV Form left at around 8.30pm for our trip to the battlefields of the First World War. We were all really excited and we were all looking forward to seeing the historical sites in France and Belgium .
We tried to get some sleep but it was quite difficult due to the long bus journey. However, we finally arrived in Dover at 7 a.m. got on the ferry and departed for Calais . Our first destination was the town of Arras. We had some free time so we searched the town. A few of us decided to wear our kilts to show off our national dress, and to celebrate Scotland's mighty victory over the French the day before. We then visited the Fusiliers Wall in Arras, which was an execution area used by the Nazis in WW2 against supposed members of the French resistance. Over 200 men lost their lives there. After that we headed for Neuville St.Vaast, which is the largest German military cemetery in France with over 44000 men buried there. Our last journey of the day was to Notre Dame de Lorette, which is the biggest French cemetery with roughly 42000 people buried there. There was a little museum beside the cemetery and a diorama where there were some very disturbing pictures of life in the trenches during the war. To the right of the museum there was a part of the battlefield and we enjoyed seeing the trenches. We then took the bus journey back to our accommodation, which was called Le Chateau where we had a decent supper, but more importantly, comfortable beds. The next day we headed for Belgium and to the town of Poperinge. There we went to Talbot House, which was a place for soldiers to rest during the First World War. We all enjoyed this, especially the Chapel in the attic. We then headed for the town of Ypres. This was a very important town in the First World War, and there were 3 major battles there. We went to the Menin Gate Memorial, which is a Commonwealth Memorial with 55000 names of allied soldiers whose bodies were never found in the Ypres area. Next we went to the 'Flanders Fields' Museum which was one of the best museums on the trip. After this we had some more free time and we spotted lots of chocolate shops, so quickly headed off to sample what was on offer. After our stop in Ypres , we headed to the Tyne Cot Cemetery. At Tyne Cot we saw the huge limestone wall at the back with another 35,000 names of the missing in the Ypres salient. Shea read out Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria Mori in front of W.H. Baxter's, a Merchistonian's, grave. We then headed for Langemarck, the German Cemetery, which had a mass grave and approximately 40000 bodies in it. Our last stop of the day was at Essex Farm where Callum read out In Flanders Fields by John McRae, a Canadian doctor who worked there in WW1. After this it was back to Le Château and a quiz before retiring for some well earned "R and R". On the 9th we went to Vimy Ridge, where the Canadian front line was. We were all amazed at how many shell holes were still on the ground. When we finally came off the coach we were taken to the German and Canadian front lines, and it was impressive to see how close they were, but what was most incredible was the enormous shell hole just nine metres from the Canadian front line. We were pretty upset when we found out that the huge Canadian memorial was closed due to repairs. We then went to the small museum and back to the coach heading to the Somme. When the tour began we headed for Serre where we saw 5 cemeteries running along the British front line where some of the Pal's battalions are buried. Then we went to Contalmaison where the Hearts football team memorial is. We were all very surprised when we were told that all the team signed up for the British army. We then went to Lochnagar crater, which is one of the deepest shell holes on the whole of the Somme. Then we arrived at Thiepval to see the huge memorial with seventy thousand names of missing soldiers who were never found in the World War I. We then went to our very last cemetery of the whole trip, Poziers Memorial where we were told to look for the name of a Merchiston Teacher who fought and died in the First World War and eventually we found him. His name was Wilfrith Elstob, who taught Music at Merchiston before the war, and won a Victoria Cross for his actions on the Somme. Returning to Calais, after a hypermarket visit, we had to endure another overnight bus journey and arrived back at school at 9 a.m. the following morning. History Department Trip to New York and Washington, October 2004
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Gymnasium – a grammar school - for the first time, and followed them through their school day. The German students later joined our group for some of the more recreational activities of our trip. These included watching the latest James Bond in German and visits to the Christmas markets, the OlympiaMuseum as well as the Dom (cathedral). Everybody agreed that we had got our money’s worth for our tickets to the Zweite Bundesliga football match between 1. FC Köln and Kaiserslautern: the latter team managed to come back from being two goals down and 4 players were sent off in total. 
On Sat 15th March, all 21 1st Form boys were smiling in anticipation of 5 days away from school… and their parents! We were delayed at customs at Charles de Gaulle airport. Sharav and I had to go to the police station while some documents were being checked. A conversation about rugby and the Murrayfield game between Scotland and France seemed to ease things…The fact the France had won had nothing to do with it of course!
On Monday morning we went to the Eiffel Tower. We had to be careful for a while as some gypsy women kept hassling us and everybody else there. It took quite a while to get to the top because of queues. We then had a long but pleasant walk to Le Louvre and had lunch on our way in the Jardin des Tuileries. Le Louvre itself was hot and thick with people, which made the visit quite unpleasant. 
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