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Ypers, Belgium
Friday, Jul 21, 2006

Some Battlefields

David Murray
2007-03-04 10:07:22

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beers !!!

As this is Belgium, and the beer here is good, there was no hangover to speak of. We went chocolate hunting and found the store that we went to last time where Lucy's Mother had stolen all of the chocolates that were meant to be for tasting. We bought up, because they were good. In fact, we ate so many in there, that we didn't need breakfast. We had a walk around the town, before we took the decision to buy a book on some of the Flanders Fields. Lucy and me had done the same route back in 98, and were really impressed, so off we went. We stopped off at Essex Farm, and had a look at some old bunkers which were used as a hospital. Next was a German Cemetery. We had been here before and it was still moving. Seeing the giant slabs with names of the buried, is always an eye opener. We passed another Canadian monument. It was huge, and all I could think of was that they want to be bigger and better than America because they are not America !!! And then around the corner, we came across Tyne Cot Cemetery. After Menin Gate, this is the largest monument to the fallen in Belgium. There is a huge section for New Zealanders, and there are also two old bunkers. In the centre of the Cemetery, there is a cross, with an announcement that this site was taken by the Aussies. Below it, there use to be another bunker, long removed though. We had a quick look at Passendale, another village that had been completely demolished. and as we were now hungry, we found the Old Cheese Factory for lunch. The cheese was nice and so was my Passendale beer, which was brewed on the premises. We had one last place to visit. Hill 62. We had pulled up outside it years ago, but had not gone in, so we bit the bullet, paid, and entered. Inside, were all old photo viewers showing 3d type images of what it was like. There were also garish photos of dead people and half a horse up a tree. In the next room, were old bullets which looked like they were still ready to be shot. Outside, the place was full of old trenches. They say that they are original, right down to the old gal sheets. I think they are full of shit. There were also some concrete lined tunnels, no lights, and I managed to get through them. It wasn't hard, really. And then we were done. Back into the car and on our way back to France and England

With that done, we had completed our first weekend away since being back. We had completely over-estimated the size of the place. We have been to Flanders, and it was great to see the Last Post, but I think next time, we will concentrate just on the French side of things.