Brugge: an intro to Belgium

After our wonderful Christmas celebration we moved out of our room and then become tourists for a night in London.

When trying to get from our hotel to the theatre district, we stumbled upon the Wellington arch.


and a gate (name unknown)

this is the Australia and New Zealand war memorial

a statue of.....I can't remember

another statue

and another war memorial for New Zealand

we also foundout we were staying in a super expensive area (note the $1700 per week rent)

As Mat's second show in London, we watched Bill Bailey's Tinselworm. Though I had no idea who he was, Mat knew him and his comedic talents. The show was a combination of stand-up, humourous songs and just general funniness. It was great!! Much better than expected!

We left London on the 27th and took the bus to Belgium

The bus stopped at Dover to board the ferry. These are the infamous 'white clifs of Dover'.

The visit to the ferry gift shop also brought us Mat's first personalized pen. It actually says Mathew---with 1 T. It's the first time I've ever seen one.

The sun began to set as we entered Belgium, where we were met by our friend Ineke and her father (Mat met her while working on the cruise ship). We were taken back to their house and we've been treated with incredible hospitality. They even helped us plan a ton of things to do in Belgium. Day 1: Brugge.

Here is Ineke, our tour guide, planning our trip to Brugge on the train

Brugge is called Belgium's Venice because of the canals.

So far Brugge was pretty good....then it got even better


we had our first introduction to one of the joys of Belgium: Belgian waffles!!

Look closely, 4th from the right is a Canadian flag clog.

Belgium is also famous for beer. There are over 350 different beers from Belgium.

Brugge is famous for lace

They even have a map of the city made of lace

My favourite thing though--as we all know--was the Belgian chocolate

Chocolate nijntje (nan-che), a Dutch cartoon.

a chocolate soccer (football) ball.

even chocolate Christmas tree decorations

Mat's favourite: the chocolate breasts

and this is Brussels' famous statue Mannekin pis made of chocolate (he's a boy/ fountain who's peeing)

But not all chocolate stores are created equal. This one loses my vote for a lack of customer service.

They had a self-snowing tree in the Christmas market

a building in the centre

Here's Ineke dressed for the cold: it was minus 1 degrees. Yuck.

Skating in the centre (we just watched)

The first museum we visited was the Fries Museum. Fries began in Belgium and were misconstrued as being French during the First World War. When a french speaking Belgian soldier offered an American soldier a fry, without clarification the assumption was the French made them. We now know the truth. Belgium makes 2.5 million tonnes of fries, but only export 700 000. They really are good enough that you don't want to share.

This giant fry greeted us at the door

Two culinary wonders together (chocolate and fries)

We even learned some natural cures made from potatos.

a real fryer in the museum

we then got to be potatos. This is me and Mat.

Here Mat and Ineke are spuds.

At the end of the museum we even got to eat some of the tastiest and crunchiest fries I've ever had. They were complete with the Belgian standard of mayonaise.

After the frie lunch, our dessert came at the end of the Chocolate museum.

We learned about the trip from Cocoa to chocolate

we even watched chocolates being made

and then got to eat one....but sadly not this very large chocolate egg (weighing 120kg).

We also stumbled upon a Christmas parade and learned that some horses here get their tails cut.

We even saw Michelangelo's Virgin and Child. It's in a dogdy church and it's one of the only Michelangelo pieces outside of Italy.

Our visit ended with my first taste of a real Belgian waffle. Only sugar on it this time, but still amazing!!! We do still have some time here, so I'll let you know how all of the other varieties taste.

Waterloo: Napoleon vs. Wellington

On June 18th, 1815 Napoleon did surrender. On Monday, December 29th, we stood on the land that marked the battle of Waterloo where the conquerer of Europe was finally conquered himself by the Duke of Wellington.

This lion on a mound, was created to mark the place where William II of the Netherlands, the Prince of Orange, was injured in the battle. It is one of the only markers for the battle.

To get to the lion you do have to climb 226 stairs





it's certainly more stairs from the top (atleast it seems like it)

There is also a statue of Napoleon across the street from the mound

Down the street we visited Calliou Farm, the farm where Napoleon planned the battle the night before.

this is Napoleon's death mask

The funniest part of the museum was this balcony. This is a balcony taken from a hotel in Paris, where Victor Hugo once spent some time and wrote some of Les Miserables. The museum saved this balcony.

In Waterloo we also had our first taste of Quick, the Belgian version of McDonalds.

The Big Bacon is delicious!!

We then found our way to the Wellington Museum, which is in the inn he stayed in before the battle. It acted as the headquarters of the British forces.

Wellington hard at work

and in marble.

One discovery about Belgium:

there are few signs, and the ones that do exist are small....and usually come just as you have to turn...or just after. Either way, you're basically on your own.

We've seen alot of the country so far, and it's beautiful!!!

Ypres and the Great War

Day 3 in Belgium was a discovery of Ypres and the surrounding area, best known as the major battle fields of WWI.

This beautiful cloth hall in the centre of town is the house to the best museum we've seen in Belgium yet, the In Flanders Field Museum.

This museum also had a booklet on a self-drive tour of the important landmarks in the area. The plan was to follow the path to Hill 62 and the Canada memorial.

This is our trip

Just a few minutes out of the city centre, we stopped at the Essex Farm Cemetery, the place where John McCrae wrote the infamous poem, 'In Flanders Fields.'

The cemetery is small, but nice

and has been visited by people from around the world.

These are the actual sandbags that lined the area where McCrae worked as a doctor

This room is a concrete area under the ground where, we assume, McCrae worked.

This is a copy of McCrae's final product in his own handwriting

and us standing in the place where history happened

Futher down the road we stopped at the German soldier's cemetery.

It is the resting place of 44,061 German soldiers.

all of the gravestones have the names of atleast 8 soldiers

in the distance, you can see the stones lining the ground

These figures stand in respect. It is a statue made by a Munich artist.

Our next stop was at the St-Julien memorial, a momument showing a Canadian soldier, bowing his head and resting his arms on the end of his gun.

It is a beautiful and moving monument


with the traces of other Canadian vistors written in the frost

The most moving monument of all (for me atleast) was the Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth military cemetery on the continent of Europe.

With the sun beginning to set, the graves were often silhouetted

In a place of such magnitude, you want to see every stone, just to show your respect, but at this cemetery it could take all day; a sad reality of war.

There were many Canadian stones

unfortunately, many mark a place for an un-named soldier. Another young man, lost in the masses of war

Our military tour ended at Hill 62.

This Hill and the woods around it were the front lines of the Allied forces for the 4 years of the war.

In the forrest here, you can walk through the actual trenches of the Great War

Though they are rusted and aged, the power of their presence is almost tangible.

In the distance you can see countless craters left by artillery throughout the many battles.

Here you get a glimpse into the reality that woul dhave been. The trenches would have zig zaged their way through Belgium to Switzerland.

Standing on this site, and walking through the trenches was miserable enough, I can only imagine what it would be like in the snow of a cold February night, in the frozen mud, as guns are fired and friends die. There was a quote at the museum that says it all perfectly: 'I died in Hell- they called it Passendale.'

The road leading to this site is now called Canadalaan. It is lined by Maple trees and marks the place of the Canadian front line during the war.

The road leads to the Hill 62 Canadian War Memorial

Eventhough it was dark, and we didn't see much, I'm still glad we were there.

Now more than ever, I am thankful for the sacrifices made by so many Canadians. The injuries and deaths that led to us being able to travel freely throughout the world and to live a safe and healthy life are not forgotten. This visit to Ypres will forever keep these men, and all those who have fought for the lives and freedoms of others, in my heart.