EJ and Rhe's World Trip: October 2011

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

BELGIUM 23 October – 25 October 2011 (Bruges)

Hallo

Bruges is beautiful! It was voted most romantic country last year and we can see why! It is such a nice old city, with canals, medieval buildings and fries, chocolate and beer everywhere! We took the bus in from our site and walked around the market area. We climbed the 366 steep stairs to the Belfort for the gorgeous panorama of the city and the tunes it blasted haha! We had some fries with mayonnaise, as customary in Bruges from the legendary competing shops at the base of the Belfort.

We went to the Basilica of the Precious Blood in the city square. Here they have a cylinder that was taken on a crusade to Jerusalem in the 12^th century. True Catholics believe that it is filled with Jesus’ blood and every day the shiny cylinder is taken out of its safe and put on a pillow to be worshipped. We then ventured through the various chocolate shops, watched some candy pulling and made our way to the Church of our Lady, where they have Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child statue. We also visited the hospital museum before beers and dinner at T’ Ganzespel. Nicky serves amazing Belgian food and we had vegetable soup, served out of a big pot, just like at home!

We spent a fair bit of time walking around, admiring the gardens, massive watchtowers on the city walls and trying to blend in J

Yet another cold beer....

Candy Pulling :)

Watchtower

A Lake in Bruges

And another cold beer haha...

Soup just like at home..

Steps up the belfry (14 out of 366)

Church of Our Lady (with Michelangelo's Madonna and Child)

Belfry

View from the Belfry of the Market Square

Au Revoir!
EJnRHE xx

BELGIUM 19 October – 23 October 2011 (Ypres)

Bonjour!

We made our way to Ypres (Ieper in Dutch), a small town in Belguim, it was actually the last bastion of Belgian territory unoccupied by the Germans in WWI. Almost 300,000 Allied soldiers were killed here during the four years of fighting that left the medieval town flattened. Convincingly rebuilt, the town and its surrounds, known as the Ypres Saliant, are dotted with cemeteries and memorials.

We went into the Market Square to see the Cloth Halls and visited ‘In Flanders Field Museum,’ rode around the town, looking at the numerous war monuments including Lille Gate, Ramparts Cemetery, the Burgundy Towers, people watching in pubs and enjoying the sunshine while it lasts J At 8pm, the Last Post was played by Buglers under the Menin Gate (a British war monument that displays 54,896 soldiers missing in action) and school groups laid wreaths on the monument. Next day we visited Tyne Cot Cemetery, Hill 60 and the Passchendaele Memorial just outside town. Tyne Cot Cemetery is the world’s largest Commonwealth Cemetery, holding 12,000 graves and another 35,000 names of British, Irish, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian soldiers missing in action.

We had a lovely day of relaxation on the third day and we gave Thundie a makeover, pulling everything out, cleaning it all, getting ready to sell it when we get back to the UK soon! Then we doubled on one push bike (Rhe’s is currently out of action with a broken gear lever) into town and had another beer. What a life we are living lol!

Onto Bruges!!

Cloth Halls in the Market Square

'In Flanders Field Museum'

Ypres during WWI

'In Flanders Field the poppies grow...'

Trenches at Ypres

Beneath Hill 60 (replica)

Memorial

Menin Gate (Last Post)

Menin Gate lit up

Aussie miners at Hill 60

Hill 60 today

Medieval Tower

Cloth Halls

Lille Gate

Burgundy Tower (medieval)

Tyne Cot Cemetery

Market Square

Ciao

EJnRHE!!

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

LUXEMBOURG 16 October – 19 October 2011 (Chateau de Bourschield, Vianden, Luxembourg City)

Bonjour/Moien

When we hit the Luxembourg border we thought we were driving into a national park! There are forests everywhere! The forests and pine industries are broken up by really quaint little towns on hills, with distinctive churches sticking up in the middle of each one. Luxembourgers are very friendly and ever willing to help. We free-camped right next to a cattle farm on a massive hill that overlooked the fields. It was really nice here and when we woke up, all of the cows were lying next to the fence, about 2 metres from the van haha… We had a little giggle to ourselves, saying that they thought the van was the mother ship lol!

From here we drove to the Chateau de Bourshield, located near Diekirch. This chateau dates back to 934 AD and has had numerous alterations since the 10^th century. We took an audio guided tour through the ruins and the restored watchtowers. The panoramic view from here was magnificent. It reminded us of childhood fairy tales, with the vast forests and the castle high up on the mountain J

We drove on to Vianden, a little town with only 1,600 residents. It has a gorgeous little river flowing through the centre and very colourful buildings dotted the riverbank. We took the chairlift up the mountain to see the view of another castle that had been fully restored. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is full of these amazing treasures and we are glad we could see them J

On to Luxembourg City, only an hour away, mind you, the whole of Luxembourg is only 57km wide & 82km long! We arrived at a campsite just out of the city and settled in for the night! We took the short bus trip into the city centre and had a good look around! We visited the Place d’Armes, Place Guillaume II and strolled along Chemin de la Corniche (Europe’s most beautiful balcony). We had a delicious lunch, more beer and coffee and just enjoyed people watching in the main square.

On the last day we visited the American Military Cemetery just east of the city. Exactly 5,076 soldiers of WWII rest here, the names of 371 Americans whose remains were never recovered or not identified are displayed and 101 white headstones mark the grave of ‘unknowns.’ It was amazing to see this cemetery and it made us think of all of the Commonwealth and American soldiers that never made it home.

We have really enjoyed Luxembourg and would definitely visit again! Plus, we have been able to get cheap fuel here, well, cheap for Europe lol!