Hotel Restaurant 'T Zweed Ypres

... in the last two weeks:<br>A hell of a lot of rain,<br>Starting back at school and having loads of lessons cancelled / teachers not turning up (wooppee!!)<br>Erin's 22nd birthday and a night in the sleaziest French club I will probably ever come across (and will most likely not return to)<br>The purchase of a printer<br>11/11 - Remembrance day in Lille (photos attached)<br>Confiscating a girl's phone in a lesson and then hearing my own go off in my bag!<br>Preparations to go to Paris!!

... The museum is, of course, in a old swimming pool, and sculptures decorate the sides of the basin which is still in tact, the shower cubicles and changing rooms hold other works such as textiles and painting, and the rest of the building is dedicated to incredible art. Every so often sounds of children enjoying a swimming pool are played, which is actually a bit creepy! I enjoyed it much more than the Musée des Beaux Artes in Lille.<br><br>One ...

... examples of lesson plans, which is really useful. <br><br>At the weekend Erin's boyfriend arrived in Lille for a visit, so we did a bit of exploring of parts of Lille which we had yet to visit, such as the Citadelle, a massive architected park just on the other side of Vieux Lille. The Citadelle is really popular with sports enthusiasts such as runners and cyclists, and you can also hire scooters to whizz around on!<br><br>On our way into the ...

... bit bigger than Bruges and has a similar feel to it. Brussels has a nice centre square, streets full of restaurants, and a royal palace. <br>Each day we returned to Bruges and wandered around the city. The centre market square is beautiful at night- all little buildings in a row all lit up. It would look beautiful with snow I would imagine. We strolled along the canals and popped into little pubs for a drink and had a great time.

... is another cute little bar. So after we ate we went across the street and had a couple beers. We also saw our tour guide from earlier that day there.<br><br>The next day it was rainy but we walked around the city anyway. It was just too cute to not explore. We walked to the edge of town and saw the dutch windmills then walked back into town for some chocolate and went on a shopping ...

... and humbling experience.<br><br>Every night at 8 PM, the Last Post is played at the War Memorial and the Showband was given the honour of playing there this night. There wasn't a dry eye when they did a beautiful version of "Danny Boy". It was obvious that many there had been around during the war and the memories came flooding ...

... emotional dissonance was a little much. <br><br> After a brat and Belgian waffle with Nutella, I was ready to go on a tour, guided by Philip, Tour Guide Extrodinare (he told me to write that on my blog when he found out why I was taking notes!). He was originally from England, as were the other three people on the tour. I was quite outnumbered, however, I found my companions to be wonderful people with a great sense of ...

... with messages attached. It was both moving and thought-provoking to see the sentiments expressed by other visitors to this place. We drove through the countryside known as Flanders Fields, which is where the trench warfare that made this part of the war so unique occurred. It is all now returned to farming land but you can still get the impression of what the landscape would have looked like to those young boys away from home for the first time fighting ...

... phosgene/ mustard gas shell and several grenades in one pile. These rusty old shells are just as dangerous today as when they were made; three people a year in the Ypre region are killed by these 90 year old munitions, and last year two Belgian bomb squad troops were killed in an explosion involving an ancient artillery round. The area around Ypre is also a boneyard, with thousands of bodies of fallen soldiers who had just disappeared into the mud remaining in the ground just metres ...

... on the Ypres front". Two more similar battles followed in Ieper involving British, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, and South African troops which engaged Germany's Imperial Army, yielding dreadfully high casualties. After the war, Winston Churchill had recommended that Ieper be left in ruins as a monument to the sacrifice of the British forces. However, the locals rightfully ignored the British premier and began to rebuild their homes ...