War History Time!
Trip Start
Sep 06, 2008
1
23
25
Trip End
Oct 29, 2008
Brugge,
West Flanders,
Belgium
Monday, October 20, 2008
Brugge is a lovely little city with a local population of 35,000 but peaks much higher during tourist season. It is filled with history. It is interesting because people from Belgium speak Flemish (an old sailor's language) and then on the east the speak German and French on the south. It almost looks like a city from a pop-up book. We arrived around dinner time to Brugge and I had my first taste of a pot of Belgium muscles on the market square and fruit beer. It was called Kreik cherry beer that tasted like cherry kool-aid and it was delicious and it was the first beer I had ever finished. I then tried another local beer and I enjoyed it as well (I normally HATE beer). Belgium has strict regulations on having fresh beer with no preservatives so it can't be exported to other countries usually. It has weather similar to Canada and during the day is is mild (10-15 degrees) but at night is is near freezing levels.
The second day in Brugge, I went on the Flanders field tour with Damien, who is a soldier in the Australian army. It was very powerful hearing the stories, seeing the memorials and grave sites. It was really nice because Damien works with a lot with explosives so I learned so much about weapons. We toured around Canadian, Scottish and Australian war monuments (those were the nationalities of the people in the tour) and then to the major memorial sites. The British funded many of these monuments and the graves of British soldiers were often placed near the front and around the paths all together, while other countries such as Canada and Australia were placed randomly near the back and on the edges.
One neat observation I made was that there are still thousands of explosives and pieces from the war still on the land. Farmers are supposed to put explosives (missile heads, etc.) on the side of the road where the bomb squad comes around every few days and picks them up. Most locals come to the fields where the battles took place and search for bullets, helmets, riffles, and other war items with their children on the weekends. Most of the WW1 fights took place here for years so the land was completely destructed and many remains are still present. Apparently, many deaths still happen because of the explosives as many locals try to dismantle them, or the explosives become sensitive to light/heat and explode.
We then went to Ypers to see the Flanders field museum which gave more history of the war, but had many personal letters and stories from soldiers that fought in the war. It had samples to smell of the chemicals used such as tear gas, and then had the sounds of war and screaming in the war the entire time. It was very informative and was presented as a story with audio, pictures and video so people unfamiliar or very familiar with war all had something to gain from the experience.
Next, the tour went to the country sides and showed us the ruts in the land, that was once completely flat and now has massive holes in the ground from land mines from the Germans.
The last part of the tour was the trenches (remade of course) but was very interesting. I could not imagine the conditions that these individuals were in! The experience was particularly powerful because I was with Damien, who is a soldier that has been to Malaysia and Afghanistan fighting and has personally experience war so I had many questions and I learned about the many realities of war. I still cannot believe how regular individuals can do such heroic things and I have such a massive respect for soldiers as their bravery and sacrifices are unbelievable.
That night, we went out for ribs, and they were more dry than Canadian ribs but tasty none the less.
Today, Damien left to go back home and I went and toured Brugge town. I went on a cute canal tour, checked out the chocolate shoppes and chatted with some locals as the waffle and cheese shops.
Love you, Miss you!
Mallory
Comments
Hi,Back-packer
Your tour seems so terrific. What a great way to see different parts of the world. You have been immersed in so much history, culture and lifestyles. I enjoyed Paris ,especially people celebrating during the evenings. Id go again if I could.Take care and continue to enjoy all people and places,and travel safely. love Grandpa