Zonneweelde Ypres

... city. Awesome architecture and canals winding around the city, as I took tons of pictures as always and just enjoyed the city.

Apparently Brugges had a movie made recently with it as a location; I'll have to check it out sometime. The main "art" piece I saw was a Madonna with Child from -the- Michaelangelo from Italy. It was quit nice, as were the countless other paintings and sculptures I saw in that ...

Today I said goodbye to rainy, rainy Bruxelles, and took the half hour train (8 euros) to Gent/Ghent, where I met up with my first host ever, Johanna. She was the first couchsurfer to welcome me into her home back in 2007, after I had finished my year in South Korea, in Beijing.

- Before going to Ghent, I actually made a stop in the Musical Instruments Museum in Bruxelles ...

... soldier'. Again, it was pretty sobering, seeing all these graves.

We managed to all get completely soaked today, and it was freezing cold and windy as well, so it wasn't particularly comfortable. After that, it was back to Calais, stopping at one more of the massive French hypermarkets for a few souvenir pieces of food, then back onto the ferry back to Dover.

So, that was the Crumball Rally over! We did ...

... cuisine before (nor was I really aware that they had a particular style of cooking) but I have to say it was one of the tastiest meals I've ever eaten - I was impressed! I had a glass of Sangria to go with it too, and it was sooo good!

We spent the rest of the last evening of the rally in the bar with the others, having a few drinks and a good time. It was a late night too - not getting back til gone 3am! Overall it was a great time, we met some great people and had lots of fun.

... the market and the shops and then went on a boat ride which was fantastic, after which we went to a tea-room which claimed to have the best hot chocolate in town, and it was really good! It was incredibly sickly though and gave both Erin and I a headache for the ride home!

Altogether a really fun day out in Bruges, truffles bought, Belgian food eaten and Belgian alcohol drunk, and Belgian chocolate drunk! This is another place where we will definitely be returning!!

... these prices.

On our way back to Herentals, we realized that doing 140km/hr doens't seem to be fast enough for some people because we still had some drivers tailgating us regardless.

We're on the last stretch of our trip unfortunately. We leave tomorrow for Canada :(

We might head into Amsterdam for dinner later today, we're a bit exhausted from not sleeping well the ...

... the biggest rescue mission in military history. Described as a miracle that allowed 338,226 allied soldiers to escape the 'hell of Dunkirk' and return to Great Britain. The town was almost destroyed and was the last French town to be liberated in May of 1945.

We spot the Dunkirk Casino and go in and check it out. Yes, it works the same as the one in Dieppe, you know, takes your money, lets you play and then you leave.

We head out to find the ...

... complete with 'duckwalk' - planks of wood on the floor that cover a drain where the water could flow beneath. (the Allies had a similar system). We saw there two small concrete 'Block Houses' - these were 4ft high - had very small entrances - 'in' and 'out' entrances - they were only used for protection from artillery and shelling. The Germans would hurry into these Blockhouses to wait until the shelling was over ...

... respectfully taken off for the service. Despite the rain, Matt convinced me we should walk back and look for it even though 2 hours had passed when I realised. I couldn't believe it when we got there to see my hat sitting there under the names of the soldiers on a ledge under the gate. I felt so lucky and grateful that someone had left it there for me to come back and find. Nice to see there are good people left in the world. Tonight is our last in Belgium as ...

Quick showers and a little sleep for Joel set us up to head out again. The Menin Gate was worth the wait. It is very sobering to see the roads which so many Australian soldiers of the First World War marched out on and fewer returned. We arrived just in time and the parking Gods were kind to us with a park 150m from the entrance. The place was full as it was a special ceremony for the Ulster Regiments. The British ...