Belgium

Nov 11th isn't a holiday in Germany, but it is in Belgium, so that's where we headed for Remembrance Day. For those non-Commonwealth people who read this page, you can read here why Canadians observe Remembrance Day.

This is also (supposedly) my last big trip before I get back to Vancouver. That might have already changed, I have a few other places that look interesting. But at any rate, it was our last trip with a rented car, so we spent a little more and got a VW Golf TDI. Oh man now that is a nice car, only topped by the Audi A4 wagon. There's so much attention to detail, and it's a ton of fun to drive. We left Wednesday afternoon, and there was actually snow on the ground in Wuerzburg. There was a lot of snow as we drove north but it warmed up once we got to the coast. Colin, Evan and I made it to Bruges that night.

YPRES: Next morning we were up really early for the drive to Ypres for the Remembrance Day ceremonies. We saw the morning 11am ceremony at the Menin Gate, a huge memorial to the 54,896 Commonwealth troops who were killed in the Ypres salient before Aug 15 1917 and who have no grave. Every name is written on the walls, and the size of it is unbelievable. There was a big 'Poppy Parade' with bagpipers, veterans and drummers. The ceremony was very similar to the ones in Canada, although there were less speeches and more music. It seemed like everyone in Ypres came out for it, and there were also a lot of Brits there. You could tell everyone's nationality by the type of poppy they wore - Canadian, Brits, and Belgians all have slightly different poppies.

After the ceremony we saw a little bit of Ypres - it's a fairly small town. From there we got back into the car and ducked into France to go see Vimy Ridge, which is apparently Canadian soil. Every Canadian should know about Vimy, and it was really interesting to actually see it for myself. The ground is incredibly bumpy from all the mines that we exploded there, and there are still unexploded shells buried all around. We got there a little late, but since we were Canadian the (Canadian) guides took us on our own tour of the 'subway' - a huge system of tunnels used to move troops up to the front line, and to lay mines. We also saw the monument, which was pretty amazing.

BRUGES: Next day we spent in Bruges. I saw Bruges 2 years ago on my Western Europe trip, and it was one of my favourite places along with the Alps and Scotland. So I was more than happy to come back. Bruges also has my favourite (non-Alp) hostel in Europe - Grand Kaffe de Passage, and it was just as good as I remembered it. The restaurant downstairs is delicious, they have a wide selection of Belgian beers, and the Belgian waffles are amazing. We also met an American from Detriot, Emily, who was backpacking alone so she hung out with us for some of the weekend.

We all went to the 300 Beer Bar in Bruges, where they have 300 different types of Belgian Beer. Between the 4 of us, over 3 days, we sampled a wide selection, including Hoegaarten, Jupiler, Westmalle Double, Westmalle Triple, Frambosen, Sixtus (6, 8, 12), Duvel, Brugge Special, Leffe Blond, Chimay, Fraise, Brigand, Brugs Wit, Straffe Hendrik, Hoegaarden Grand Cru, Nice Chouffe, Achel Trappist (blond), Delerium Nocturnum, Kwak, Rochefort 8, Affligen Blond, Krrek Jacobins, Bush (12-percent beer that had the consistency of honey), Watou's Wit, Tongerlo Xmas Blend, and Orval. Whew, did I forget anything? No, we don't have a drinking problem, we're just enthusiasts!

BATTLEFIELD TOUR: Next day Kung met up with us from Wuerzburg, and we spent most of the day in the car. We started by driving to the Westvleteren monastery in the middle of the Belgian countryside. It took us about 2 hours to find it, but once we did it was worth it - the monks here brew the best beer in the world! I'm not kidding, every beer review site has this place at #1. Belgian beer, by the way, is the best in the world in my opinion (and most other people's - just don't tell the Germans!). Those of use who weren't driving had a taste and we all bought some to take back with us.

After that, we spent the rest of the day driving around to World War 1 cemeteries and memorials. I did a similar tour 2 years ago, but this time we had our own car so we got to pick what we wanted to see. One of the most memorable places we visited was Tyne Cot cemetery near Passchendale, the largest WW1 cemetery with 11,856 graves. Sometimes it's hard to picture how many people were killed in all the wars, but when you're standing in a place like this it's all too clear. So many of the graves were to unknown soliders - inscribed simply with "Known Unto God" or "A Canadian Solider of the Great War." A few of the other places we saw were Hill 60, and the bunker where John McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields." To finish the day we decided to go back to France because we wanted to see the coast of the Channel. We drove to Dunkirk and saw the Atlantic.

BRUSSELS: Our last day was in Brussels. We really just walked around the city and saw buildings. It's a pretty cool city though, especially when lit up at night. And you can't beat Belgian waffles. In the afternoon we drove towards Germany, and actually passed through the Netherlands which was apparently a shortcut.