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- Brussels
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- BE
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Ypres Slideshow
Travel Blogs from Ypres, Belgium
Ooh, cold rain...with wind!
This is a top pick! Only a 22 mile ride into Lille, France from Ypres, Belgium, but that was quite the miserable, cold, wet, windy ride. I found out that Gore-Tex is not completely waterproof, especially my gore-tex gloves :( Absolutely freezing by the time I found a hotel ...
In Flanders Fields
This is a top pick! ... times, hence its heavy fortification. But this time around, there was nothing that could be done against German shelling. Belgium had sustained her neutrality during the war, but the unjust German invasion of her lands was what brought the British ...
The Flanders
This is a top pick! ... being uncovered. A nice touch are the two German headstones in the centre. They arrived as enemies, left as friends. Lunch When in Belgium, two comments are true. It rains alot and there is always a smell of cow shit (except at Tyne Cot, because of ...
Visiting the past
This is a top pick! ... nicked them after the war and took them back to Australia. They put them outside the War Memorial in Canberra and in 1936, Belgium very graciously, decided to allow us to keep them. The gate was built in 1927 to commemorate all those who had died but ...
Some Battlefields
This is a top pick! ... And then around the corner, we came across Tyne Cot Cemetery. After Menin Gate, this is the largest monument to the fallen in Belgium. There is a huge section for New Zealanders, and there are also two old bunkers. In the centre of the Cemetery, there is ...
Beers with Jono.
This is a top pick! ... . We had to leave before 8pm. Pity, as they close the rode every night and play the last post. We had one more night, in Belgium, then we jumped on a ferry and made our way back to England. We had been on the road for four months 2 days. It was quite ...
A Place Of Rememberance
Entry to follow (I AM kind of travelling here, you know?). Thanks for your patience. Check back ...
Menin Gates
... it is hard to comprehend. At the back of the memorial is a brass plaque which describes the Aussie soldier in battle and the bonds with Belgium that were forged in war. We are so glad we finally made it there, we both have such strong reactions to the ...
Remembering WW-I history.....
... . 3 - Saturday The group had to be up and organized early this morning, as we'd be visiting some of the historic WW-I battlefields near Ypres and Passchendaele. An early breakfast was arranged for 07:00 and the Bus would be leaving at 07:50, in order to ...
entry to europe and war memorials
... of Dover (I am sure there is a song about it). Once on the main land we headed to our first stop being Ypres in the south of Belgium. After having made it into our third country for the day we were feeling pretty good....then we had to find ...
Learnings on the bike
... visited the war museum and the beach, I was fairly happy to get back on the bike the next morning. 2 stars. Day 3 to Ypres (aka Ieper). I only realised on day 3 that the place I'd been telling everyone that was Leper, was actually spelt with a ...
The Menin Gate and the Ypres Area
The Menin Gate is a monument in Ypres, Belgium. It bears the names of more than 55,000 soldiers of the Commonwealth who lost their lives in the Ypres area during WW1. These are the names of soldiers who have no known resting place. This monument is very ...
Ypres and WWI Memorials
... been mentioned on the info panel outside. From the memorial, it was only about an hour to drive to Ieper (Ypres) in Belgium. In the Flanders region of Belgium, Flemish is spoken and is similar to Dutch, neither of which we understand. Fortunately, ...
Flanders Fields
Novotel Hotel Ypres - 77 euros per night - booked over the web - no breakfast (cheaper to go to the boulangerie across the road) - clean - own bathroom - courteous staff - part of the Accor chain - great location, just off the main ...
Notre Dame de Lorette and Vimy Ridge
The first stop of the day was at a cemetery for the French. It is without a doubt the largest cemetery I have ever seen. In the centre of it is a large church (Basilica?) called Notre Dame de Lorette. I believe there are 22,000 French soldiers buried ...
Back to London via Ypres and Calais
... , but I love looking through all the old, well built and presented buildings!). On the way back to Calais, we went via Ypres, a city which was completely demolished during World War 1. The two main buildings in the centre of the city both sustained huge ...
Flanders Fields
... fill our stomachs and went in search of a restaurant to eat dinner. We found a nice place that served a variety of Belgium dishes. After dinner we made our way slowly back to our hostel, taking in the beauty and tranquillity of Bruges by ...
Pleased to be patriotic
... .. having only begun my training yesterday I wasn't quite up to the challenge so decided on another one... Had realised that Ypres Flanders was only 1 hour 40 minutes away..my Great gran .. who I knew and adored, had a brother who went away to WW1 ...
In Flanders Field Museum
... knew bits and pieces of it. The story goes that in the second week of fighting during the Second Battle of Ypres a Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed on 2 May, 1915 by a German artillery shell. He was a ...
When The War Is Over
... Tonight is our last in Belgium as tomorrow we head back into France for the remainder of our trip. I have really enjoyed Belgium, especially the quaint little towns we have discovered. My previous experience of Belgium had been a short visit to Brussels ...
Dunkirk to Ypers Belgium
... their lives in May June of 1940. Country number 22, Belgian! We are now heading off to the town of Ieper, Ypres or Leper in Belgium, all spelt these various ways depending on which map or piece of information you are using. The town has amazing ...
Crossing over to.....Belgium? (B)
... course. We were no longer on our way to Lille (most likely the home of shoes and French pastries) but we were on our way to Ypres (home of WW1). Hmmmm. Ypres was a lovely small town. We parked up for a look around and some much needed icecream – it ...
Road trip with relatives.
... in the small town of Westrozebeke which is where Joan's Grandpa and Great Grandpa were from. Next a visit to the City of Ypres (Ieper). Pretty much destroyed during WW 1 as it sat right between the German and Allied lines, since ...
More WWI
... but each have been promising the other to visit the respective countries... yeah one day. Guy was a fount of all knowledge about the history and the current social situation in Belgium. We had a great long chat over dinner comparing customs and politics. ...
Feline Fever
... itself was razed to the ground and two of the Smythe Great Uncles won Military Crosses here. After the war the town planners rebuilt Ypres from the original gothic plans and when I first came here 6 years ago, I didn't believe that everything I saw was ...
The Last Post
Menin Gate has the names of 55,000 soldiers who died in this area and have no known grave. Every night, the volunteers from the Last Post Assoc hold a ceremony at the gate at 8pm and play the Last Post. They play rain, hail or shine. This evening it was ...
In Flanders Fields
... was a giant mass grave where, since the Belgians were unwilling to give any land to the German aggressors to bury their dead in Belgium, the remains of 25, 000 German men lie buried in a single pit. The sheer scale and slaughter of the carnage that took ...
Close to home
Today we did an Ieper and surrounds day. Went to visit the Hill 62 museum which was an impressive collection of original artefacts and stuff they had personally dug out of their back yard. Their grounds had been left as trenches to give the tourists an ...