Days 20-21, 14-15 April. Bruges- Ypres - Luxembourg

Day 20-

After a strange wake up phone call that every guest received at midnight last night, we woke up to a beautiful clear sky day, its really warmed up. We went out for a walking tour with the local guide Danniella around the old streets of Bruges. I love this town - it has a really quaint feel.

The old church there was started in the 1100's and the modern part of town in the old part was built in the 1400's! Its all cobbled stoned streets and you can hear the clip clop of horses hooves as they took tourists around. There are also canals here that people can take boat rides in, to see a different perspective.
We went into St Bavo church which houses both the 'Bruges Altarpiece' which depicted Adam & Eve and other painted panels - and a famous statue made by Michaelangelo- the only works he did outside of Italy. He started it in 1502 and it took 2 years to complete- The Madonna and Child. It has been stolen by Napoleon and later by the nazi Goebbels, during WWII. It was later found in an Austrian salt mine- the subject of the new movie "The Monuments Men". The church itself was beautiful too.

We wandered around in the sun on our own after that and had lunch then got the coach to Ypres "Ee-purrs", the locals write it "Lepers". There was a front set up here and the Germans fought the Allies along the western front for 4 years during WWI. There were millions of casualties, 55,000 just in the Tyne Cot commonwealth cemetery alone. The cemeteries are everywhere along the roads, well tended by the locals. The Menin Gate and the last post ceremony has seen the town come back to life after WWI (where no-one wanted to live directly after the war, because of what had happened there). Because the area is flat but has slightly higher mounds across the plains, it was fiercely fought over. With no communications like we have now, decisions were made too late often.


A local guide took us around the region and to a few of the cemeteries- Tyne Cot is where the NZ Memorial is. Then we went into town and had a wonderful meal in a restaurant - the town is packed with visitors, all coming to see the ceremony at the Menin Gate. It is a spectacular monument in itself. We stood there for an hour before the ceremony to get a great spot and talked to others waiting, lots of Australians and English here today, along with many groups of teens which is excellent. The local fire brigade play the last post itself- there were 4 buglers who played perfectly in sync. It took about 15 minutes and a man read the lament- "at the going down of the sun...." and there were groups who laid wreaths.
It was all on a bigger proportion than I thought- the town, the amount of people who turn up Every evening, and the ceremony itself.

It was south of this area, around the French border that my Grandfather was a driver in the army during WWII and he and others would join onto the back of german convoys, under the cover of dark and smuggle the wounded soldiers out. I remember him saying that it was nerve wracking work, that would require a stiff drink for courage, before following the germans.

A good day that we all enjoyed today.
Fell into bed late by the time we got back, posted videos and had showers etc, then up at 6am tomorrow to go to Luxembourg.










Day 21-

Up after a good sleep and onto the bus early-ish on the way to Luxembourg. We stopped at the Maredsous Abbey which dates back from the 19th century. We had a guided tour there and then were given a mug of 'monk brewed beer' (one of which the waiter dropped down the front of John- a guests, pants! Poor guy was very good about it. They also gave us cheese they have which was sprinkled with celery salt and pepper! The beer was strong and made everyone nice and warm lol. Drinking beer came about in the previous times because the drinking water and sewers mixed, so when people drank the water they got sick, unlike the beer which had to be heated to be brewed and in so doing, killed any germs. Therefore they had beer for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a long time!

After this we travelled on to the riverside town of Dinant, beside the Meuse river, where we had lunch and got a cable car up to the ancient citadel. We travelled on again to the grand duchey of Luxembourg, so name because it is bigger than a principality like Monaco but smaller than a kingdom.

We are staying in a very busy, modern part of town which is ugly and all grey concrete, but tomorrow are going to the old town for a tour. We all got together for a drink and a meal in the hotel restaurant which was great. We have teamed up with two American couples who are lovely and have a good sense of humour!