Into History - Belguim

Hi there.
Belgium
We had an early start to catch a ferry to Calais. The ferry ride was uneventful but the view of the cliffs of Dover were great. It was cold on deck so we went down so Nana and Poppa could have a coffee. We drove up to Ieper to have a look around. The Cathederal was magnificent and full of history. It was totally destroyed in the first world war and rebuilt to its original plans. Nana lit a candle in the Cathederal to show that her and Poppa pray each day for the family. We walked around the town a bit and rested by a fountian. We went up to the Menin Gate which is a memorial for the soldiers of the first world war. There were lots of aussies on the wall and it suprised Poppa and Nana that there were so many.

From there we drove to Hill 62 where there are some trenches preserved and a museum. The soldiers lived a bit like us wombats digging burrows every where. Then we went up to Tyne Cot War Cemetary. It is the biggest commonwealth war cemetary in the world. Jay was amazed thet there were so many J Darling's who had died in the war the that he is glad he didn't go into the army.

We then drove to Brugge` to have a walk around a medieval type city. It was very busy and we nearly got lost. There were lots of chocolate shops, YUMMY! We watched some men play Boule` and there seemed to be no organisation to the game.




We meandered around the streets looking at the shops and statutes, walked past the canal and more shops. The roads were all cobblestones and we were stumbling along at times. Eventually we stopped for a rest and have some dinner in an outdoor dining area.

The drive back to the ferry was interesting as a t one point Jayson forgot we needed to be on the other side of the road. We got to the ferry safely and everyone had a bit of a snooze on the way back to England.

At times we felt as if we had gone back in time except for all the cars that tried to run us over.

See ya later
Nugget