Tag Archives: Ypres
Passchendaele at 100 – II
When I opened up my newspaper Tuesday morning, the first thing that I saw was coverage of Prince William’s trip to Belgium to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele. I’d been concentrating on other things in my life and had forgotten that date was fast approaching. Canadians fought at Passchendaele, and while […]
Passchendaele at 100 – I
When I opened up my newspaper Tuesday morning, the first thing that I saw was coverage of Prince William’s trip to Belgium to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele. I’d been concentrating on other things in my life and had forgotten that date was fast approaching. Canadians fought at Passchendaele, and while […]
Five Countries, Five Churches
If you have been following this space for a while, you may have seen this before. I decided today was a good time to repeat an earlier post. This one is from November 23, 2014 and was one of my favourites from that year. Each one of these churches is deserving of its own […]
Cats
Now I wish i had taken more pictures. It was a storefront in Ypres, Belgium. I can’t remember if the store was empty or under renovations, but the drawings of cats with accompanying quotes caught my eye. In English, they must have been aimed at tourists, saying things like “Cats are smarter than dogs. You […]
The Costs of War
When we toured the First World War battlefields in the Ypres area of Belgium last summer, the enormity of the human toll was apparent. The numbers are staggering. Daily casualty figures were measured in hundreds or thousands as more than a half a million men died in combat on Flanders fields in four years of […]
The Artist
For me travel is about discovery: New places, new things, new people. Vacation is about rest and relaxation. Five countries in four weeks in July 2014 was definitely travel. In Ypres, as I have mentioned, admission to the In Flanders Fields Museum includes admission to a number of smaller museums. These are places I might […]
An Extraordinary Story
I have mentioned before that wall plaques in the places I visit pique my interest, and that was certainly the case at St. George’s Memorial Church in Ypres. The church, built after the First World War for those Anglophones working in the area, was funded entirely by memorial donations, recorded on the brass plaques. It […]
Education Museum II
It is located in a former church, which isn’t that surprising. As I have previously noted, when Ypres was rebuilt following the First World War there were a lot of churches that had been destroyed that were rebuilt just as they had been once the conflict started. A century later there is no need for […]
Education Museum I
Sometimes it is the smaller, less advertised museums that can be the most fun. In 2009, when I first visited Ypres, Belgium, I went to the In Flanders Fields Museum (and returned there this year). Included with the admission fee for that museum was admission to a couple of other smaller institutions in Ypres. I […]
Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917
I really didn’t want to go to another museum. I had been to the In Flanders Fields Museum twice in five years, and didn’t think the recently renovated Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 would offer anything different. I was over-ruled. Turned out I was right. And at the same time I was wrong. Our hosts at […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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