Brugge and Ieper (again) We had a long weekend at our disposal and the last pair of tickets from our Eurotunnel frequent flyer bundle that we bought about ten months ago. So we thought we’d go and have another look at Ieper, since we didn’t really do it justice when we were there a couple of months ago (because we spent most of the day driving around in the countryside).And obviously we couldn’t be within 50 miles of Brugge and not pop in there for some Ribs ‘n Beer.
Eurotunnel Friday - On the Eurotunnel to Calais. There were two old Jaguar XK120s in front of us. Nice. I had been planning to take the Honda, but I was also planning to bring some beer back and there's much more space for that sort of thing in the BMW.
Novotel Having stayed in a few different places in Brugge lately, we reverted back to our old favourite of the Novotel. It's a nice hotel in a good location, easy to get to (and not affected by the roadworks nightmare that's tripped us up on a couple of recent trips) and with a big underground car park right next door.
Snuffel Bar Having checked into our hotel and completed a beer run in a nearby supermarket, we headed for a pre-dinner beer in the Snuffel Bar. It turned out to be the Snuffel Bar's last night in their current location and it looked like they were gearing up for a bit of a party when we headed off for dinner.
Not mini Mini Outside the Snuffel Bar. If any proof were needed that cars are growing, here's a late '80s BMW 5-series parked behind a modern Mini. Remarkable.
Ribs 'n Beer The reason we went to Brugge - the all-you-can-eat ribs in Ribs 'n Beer. Having not starved myself very effectively on the way here (having had a Burger King at the Eurotunnel), I still managed to scoff a rack of smokey barbecue ribs, a refil of spicy barbecue ribs and another refil of signature chocolate barbecue ribs (not at all as horrible as they sound). Oh, and a dessert. Awesome.
Church of Our Lady I was trying not to take any random scenery photos, but this view of the Church of Our Lady, which we passed on the way back to the hotel, was just too good to walk straight past.
Mariastraat View Saturday - Just time for a trip to the excellent Bottle Shop for a few more beers before we headed for Ieper. This is a view of the canal that crosses Mariastraat.
Electric car No idea what this is, but it looks very well suited to driving around in a town with narrow cobbled streets.
Vladslo German Cemetery We completed our beer run and headed for Ieper. The Vladslo German Cemetery was more-or-less on the way so we popped in for a look. At first glance it doesn't look much like a cemetery as the gravestones are set into the ground.
Vladslo German Cemetery Apart from these crosses. I don't know what their significance is.
Vladslo German Cemetery Looking towards the entrance.
Ijzertoren Having left Vladslo, we headed for Ieper again and drove past the Ijzertoren monument along the way.
Ijzertoren We parked the car, with a view to going in for a look (you can apparently go to the top of the tower), but decided it would take too long. The plan was to spend the day in Ieper, not the surrounding countryside, and it was already about 2pm. Ijzertoren would need to wait for another day.
Subaru XT 4WD Turbo There were two of these Subaru XT 4WD Turbos in the car park. They look like they might be setup for rallying. Never seen one before.
Novotel View In Ieper there was no chance of booking into the wonderful Main Street hotel at such short notice, so we decided to play it safe and stay at the Novotel, which handily has it's own massive underground car park and was pretty much deserted when we arrived.
In 't Klein Stadhuis It was a bit late for lunch by this point, but still far too early for dinner, so we we popped into the In 't Klein Stadhuis in the Grote Markt for a beer and a snack.
Heritage Walking Route After what turned out to be a late-and-not-so-light-lunch we thought the best way to see town might be to follow their challengingly signposted Heritage Walking Route. It's a three-and-a-bit mile route around Ieper, marked by these studs in the pavement. Cunningly they generally only put the studs in places where you need to make a turn, so you end up spending most of your time studying the ground intently for the next set of studs rather than looking at the lovely buildings.
Sint-Maartenskathedraal One of the first stops on the Heritage Trail was Ieper Cathedral.
Sint-Maartenskathedraal Impressive, but pretty standard stuff as far as cathedrals go.
Street View A miscellaneous street view on the Heritage Trail.
Cloth Hall About half way round, we stopped in a bar opposite the Cloth Hall for a beer and a rest.
Menin Gate Eventually the Heritage Trail went past the Menin Gate.
Sissons Having spent a few minutes browsing the names on the Menin Gate, Judith finally spotted a Sissons - Private WA Sissons of the Cheshire Regiment. That's the first Sissons we've ever spotted in a cemetery in Belgium. No idea if he's related.
Subaru Just up the road from the Menin Gate we walked past the Subarus we'd seen earlier in the car park at Ijzertoren. I'd never seen one before and now I'd seen two twice!
Grote Markt Just time for another beer in a bar in the Grote Markt before dinner.
Last Post There was also just time to catch the end of the Last Post at the Menin Gate, which is held at 8pm every day.
Band These guys were providing the tunes for the Last Post on this day. They were also staying in our hotel.
Captain Cook Having watched the end of the Last Post, we managed to leg it into a restaurant just ahead of the dispersing crowd, many of whom had the foresight to make a reservation. Fortunately for us it was quite a big restaurant. And so ended a very entertaining day.
Majoorgracht Sunday - One thing we didn't get time to do yesterday was have a look around the parks and lakes at the southern end of Ieper. So I got up early and headed out to take some photos. It's a really beautiful area, so I'll have to apologise in advance for the number of photos I took.
Majoorgracht
Heron
Majoorgracht Nice reflections.
Majoorgracht Interesting trees.
Moorhen I think this is some sort of Moorhen, although I think they usually have a red face.
Bird Need to try to find out what this is.
Ramparts Cemetery
Cyclists The walk around Majoorgracht had been very peaceful up to the point that this massive group of cyclists went by.
Kasteelgracht I've walked along the Ramparts a couple of times, but I'd not walked along the other side of Kasteelgracht before, from where I could get a lovely view of the Ramparts.
Kasteelgracht
Duck It was at about this time that Judith texted me to say she had finally got up, so I headed back to the hotel.
Cloth Hall By this time it was far too late for breakfast, but still a little early for lunch. So we decided to go for a bit of a walk to pass the time until the restaurants opened.
Menin Gate
Ducks
Bridge This is the bridge over Kasteelgracht. The yellow sign that I'm almost standing on appears to indicate that it's okay to walk over the top. Unfortunately Judith wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch me as I jogged over the arch of the bridge. Not really. You would have to be mental to do that. Anyway, having killed enough time for the restaurants to open for lunch, we had some lunch.
Castle After lunch we headed out into the Belgian countryside. I can't remember what this place was called, but it was very impressive. We thought it was open to the public, but I think it might actually just be someone's house. Which is why they've build a moat around it.
Spanbroekmolen We were heading for the Lone Tree Cemetery, but it turned out that the Spanbroekmolen crater is right next to it. This is Judith at the entrance. With Belgium being so very flat, views like this are fairly hard to come by.
Spanbroekmolen Crater A mini phone panorama of the Spanbroekmolen crater.
Lone Tree Cemetery Lone Tree Cemetery is about a minute's walk from the crater.
Cemetery View Being on the same hill as the crater, the cemetery also has lovely views across the countryside.
Lone Tree Cemetery I'm not sure where the "Lone Tree" bit comes in as there seem to be lots of trees around here. Further investigation is clearly required.
Beefy They've got some really beefy cows around here.
Island of Ireland Peace Park From Lone Tree Cemetery it was only a couple of miles to the Island of Ireland Peace Park. This monument was built to commemorate the efforts of all of the people of Ireland in WWI, regardless of their religious views.
Island of Ireland Peace Park If you go into the tower, this is the view up the middle. I feel they've missed an opportunity to do something nice with the light here.
Christmas Truce Cross A couple of miles from the Island of Ireland Peace Park is the Christmas Truce Cross. This is allegedly where the famous Christmas game of football was played. Apologies for the unsightly fence in the background of the photo. They appeared to be upgrading the site, possibly in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the game?
Mud Corner Cemetery There are several cemeteries within walking distance of the Christmas Truce Cross. A couple of hundred yards away is the Mud Corner Cemetery.
Prowse Point Cemetery There's a nice view up to the Prowse Point Cemetery, which is right next to the Christmas Truce Cross, from the Mud Corner Cemetery.
Ploegsteert Wood From Mud Corner Cemetery there's a lovely, peaceful walk into Ploegsteert Wood to visit three more cemeteries.
Ploegsteert Wood Cemetery
Rifle House Cemetery
Toronto Avenue Cemetery Having visited all three cemeteries in Ploegsteert Wood, we headed back to the car.
Berkshire Cemetery Extension About a mile up the road from the Christmas Truce Cross and all of those cemeteries is the Berkshire Cemetery Extension. If this is the extension, I must make the effort to go and see the actual Berkshire Cemetery next time I'm here as it must be amazing.
Berkshire Cemetery Extension
Berkshire Cemetery Extension It was getting fairly late in the afternoon and we only has a few hours left, so we decided to go and look for some dinner...
Poperinge ...which we found in the town square in Poperinge. After dinner we headed back to Calais to catch our train home. What a fabulous weekend weekend we had in Belgium. We'll definitely be back again soon.