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Europe » Belgium » West Flanders » Ypres June 15th 2017

Just a quiet day for a walk around Ypres. Though Ieper is the official name, the city's French name, Ypres is most commonly used in English. During the First World War, Ypres was the center of Battles of Ypres between German and Allied forces. During the war it was nicknamed "Wipers", as its name was difficult for English-speaking British Imperial forces to pronounce. Ypres is an ancient town, known to have been raided by the Romans in the first century BC. It is first mentioned by name in 1066 and is probably named after the river Ieperlee on the banks of which it was founded. During the Middle Ages, it was a prosperous Flemish city with a population of 40,000 in 1200 AD and renowned for its linen trade with England (mentioned in the Canterbury Tales). ... read more
St Martin's Cathedral
walkway up to the church
St Martin's Cathedral

Europe » Belgium » West Flanders » Ypres June 12th 2017

Took off from Ramsden Heath this morning at 8:30am. Got to the chunnel at around 10:00am. Our ticket was for the 11:50am crossing. We walked around a bit, had a sandwich and then headed off for the train. Once in France, we shopped at the wine store in Calais, France. After spending about 175 euros on wine ;-) we headed off for our Belgium destination. After looking at the map of our current location, the France and Belgium border is the road right outside our front door. We're off to Antwerp tomorrow so I'll have more adventures from there. Bye, for now.... read more
Picture of horse on the hill
IMG_1491
IMG_1492

Europe » Belgium » West Flanders » Nieuwpoort June 6th 2017

What a horrid day yesterday for packing Tandy. Rain and wind and rain and wet. My garden has lots of big pots which I fill for the summer and I have big saucers under each one so they need less frequent watering. Last task on the list is normally to fill all the pots but too wet to even get the hosepipe out ! I'm not complaining. The last 10 days have been absolutely lovely and to be honest I've needed that as I have had several outings, with my Joysofglass stained glass and with my family / grandchildren which would have been spoiled if it had been wet. Now though it is exceedingly wet. My poor poppies have all thrown their big petals round the garden and they look like little red rags where they ... read more
crossing the border from France
Can't translate the Flemish but like "sloopwerken"
Hardstaniding pitch looking to  the lake

Europe » Belgium » West Flanders » Ypres April 12th 2017

We spent 3 days in this charming town: Ypres in French, Ieper in Flemish. I have heard that the British pronounced it "Wipers"! We like the Grote Markt, the main square, where there is always some activity going on, ie. markets, musical concerts, street drama, demonstrations. Most of the town was destroyed in the First World War. Buildings, such as the Cloth Hall and the Cathedral, were reconstructed to their original state--an amazing accomplishment. We attended the Last Post twice at the Menin Gate. This moving ceremony has been performed by buglers every evening at 8pm, since 1927* when the Gate was inaugurated as a memorial to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Ypres Salient area during WW1 and were never found. Their names are engraved on the walls. *For the years during ... read more

Europe » Belgium » West Flanders » Bruges January 15th 2017

WOW stunning this was my first real up close adventure of a canal medieval township built in the 12th to 14thCentury. All that history is visible to the eye. It was kind of weird to be in awe of a town square that once held public beheadings….. Bruges is stunning township, with canals, cobbled streets, medieval buildings, people of all ages riding push bikes in place of car. I was amazed by one building which is call the Belfry it’s within the town square which in Europe s named Markt square. This Belfry was built in the late 12th century and is 83 mtrs in height ! I discovered a Belfry is a tower that was build to house Bells for the township clock, this one hoses 47 Bells which sounds amazing at each ¼ of ... read more
a canal
A street
Bruges from Belfry

Europe » Belgium » West Flanders » Bruges December 1st 2016

When I told some clever so and so that we had booked a late November few days in Bruges I was told it would be horrible weather in that way some people just love to put your plans down. Sometimes though people can get it badly wrong, the whole time we were there the weather was just perfect, sub zero temperatures but full sun all the time during the day and the crispest of nights. This helped us have a dream of a trip in part in spired by the excellent if slightly violent 'In Bruges' movie. We flew Brussels air Edinburgh to Brussells and really enjoyed the chuntering train that took us a tour of Brussells before surging onto Bruges. Our ethos for the trip was to have the best time we could on a ... read more
Bruges
Bruges
Bruges

Europe » Belgium » West Flanders » Bruges August 31st 2016

We just spent 3 wonderful days in Bruges and are now on the train to Brussels. I had previously been to Bruges when I was 20 when I was spending 3 months in Amsterdam with my cousin Biab and her husband Douwe. Bruges really helped us settle our homesickness for Spain! Cobblestoned streets, large historical buildings and our hotel room was HUGE and modern, smack bam in the middle of town just behind the Belfort (bell tower). After an orientation walk, we freshen up and went to dinner at this funky place with huge red cocks (roosters!) and thongs (flip flops) on the wall. I tried Flemish stew which was nice. We then met up with yet another free walking tour, this one Bruges by night. Which actually is a bit of a fallacy in summer ... read more
Beer wall
Swans just swanning around
Belgian waffles

Europe » Belgium » West Flanders » Bruges June 29th 2016

Oh, by the way, in case you've ever considered doing this, the WORST thing you could ever say to someone who's just sat down in a dentist's chair is "Now you do know in The Netherlands they don't use anaesthesia when they drill, don't you?". Ha Ha Ha. Very funny - I thought. But Dorine was deadly serious. Then she saw my face and got the nervous giggles. As I prepared to kill her. Slowly. I forgot to mention yesterday that the reason I could actually eat the Flammkuchen at lunchtime was that dentists in The Netherlands don't use anaesthesia when they drill. So no numbness or drooling, but plenty of pain. The upside is that I am now free to eat my way around Europe without jumping out of my chair weirdly every time I ... read more
 Waiting for the Bruges boat tour
Fruit jellies, Bruges
The hotel from the  In Bruges movie!

Europe » Belgium » West Flanders » Ypres June 7th 2016

If you think that the Great Britain and France were not once geologically joined, you need only visit the cliffs at Etretat. These 100 meter chalk cliffs exactly mirror those at Dover in England. For artists, these dramatic escarpments have been the subject of paintings for centuries. I don't know what it is that draws people to landscapes such as these, but it certainly happens at Dover, the Coast Road in Australia, and here at Etretat. At the base of the cliffs in a small cover lies the lovely little resort town of Etretat. We amused ourself for a few minutes watching a golden retriever wait as patiently as a golden retriever can for the last bit of his mama's ice cream cone. Ieper is one of those quaint Belgian towns with an historic market square. ... read more
White cliffs of Etretat
Etretat village
Patience

Europe » Belgium » West Flanders » Bruges May 19th 2016

Bruges, Belgium: Chocolates, the Queen, Jordan’s King and Canals This stop was totally unplanned. It seems there is a port strike in La Havre, France so we were not able to go to see the beaches of Normandy, made famous during WWII. Instead, we came to Bruges, Belgium! We got off the ship in Zeebrugge, Belgium. It is very busy industrial port. This port handles much of the freight traffic for Belgium along with Antwerp and Ghent…lots of cranes everywhere. Bruges is known in Europe as the “Venice of the North” (but we have heard this before in many cities including Shanghai (Venice of the East)-LOL. However Brugge does have lots of canals. We trekked into the medieval town over cobblestone streets that are not easy to walk on…we have to pay attention to where we ... read more
A Canal
Belgian Queen Mathilde (Internet Photo)
Queen Mathilde, Queen Rania, King Abdullah, King Philippe (Internet Photo)




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