Regina Ypres

... the morning and finding a seat is a tough job, but I think I've learnt how to push my way through the crowd! I often end up sitting next to the really smelly person though or the drunk guy or in the same carriage as a beggar and his son. To get to work I have to go 24 stations, which takes half an hour or so, and gives me a good chance to do a fair bit of people watching!<br>It's fairly easy to spot the British people on the metro, they're the people that sit there staring at ...

... and lovely and many people seem to use it as a place to go running, so I will be sure to go back with my trainers on!<br><br>When my parents had left there were only 3 other British girls left in my residence, so the following day we went to the cinema to see "Mademoiselle Chambon", a typical French love story with very little dialect (which made it easier to understand), and an unhappy ending. I enjoyed it!<br><br>This week I have also been to ...

... we stumbled upon a circus tent and after enquiring, bought tickets for the next showing. The Citadelle also holds the city's zoo, which is huge and also free, so while waiting to go to the circus we took a wander through the zoo. While cooing over all of the animals we stopped to sing "compare the meerkat . com" to the meerkats, before realising that a British couple were standing next to us!<br><br>The circus was incredible, despite some cruel ...

... 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 ...

... debris collected from local fields, I imagine), but the trenches out back were in remarkable condition. There was a large section of trench intact, with the steel walls and wooden platforms. Some of the original trees were even still standing (only the trunks remain, and they are blasted to splinters). It's difficult to imagine dozens of men sleeping, eating, *******, living, and fighting in these trenches for weeks ...

... be there and we arrived just after 7 p.m. The ceremony was begun in 1928 and the buglers, from the local fire brigade. (the ceremony was banned during 1940-44). Wreaths are laid by various groups, a choir sang 2 songs, and a verse from For the Fallen was read out loud:<br><br>They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:<br><br>Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.<br><br>At the going down of the sun and the morning<br><br>We will remember ...

... at each other. The photos I took of these craters do it no justice - they are massive. Some 19 of them were exploded in late 1918 - including this one at the same time. Following that - a barrage of Allied shelling - followed by the Infantry charge. No wonder this was the start of the massive Allied Offensive - the planning on this event was monumentous and the Allies by this time were more calculated than before ...

... destroyed in WW1. It was rebuilt from German war reparations and has a great cafe culture. We went on a tour of the Ypres Salient (front lines) which was really brilliant and informative. So much so that we went back the next day on our own to see some more sights and to go into some preserved trenches. It really gave us an insight into how bad things were for the soldiers.

As we prepare to depart Ypre on one of the tiny, run-down local trains, we are truly sorry to be leaving after an eye-opening and emotional visit to this beautiful little town with its bloody and violent history. It turned out to be unnecessarily difficult to get here from nearby Caen, and involved a tram, a train to Paris, two metros, a train to Brussels and a final train to Ypres (pronouned Eeeper, for those of you struggling with all those consonants!) We arrived in the town just ...