My previous visits to Europe have been focussed on restaurants and food. The trip in 2008 was focussed on WWI and WWII battle sites in Belgium. Okay, there was also great food and restaurants as well as it always is with our family.
I won't even begin to put history lessons in here. I will leave that to my son-in-law and that at another time and place. He, being a history teacher with a passion for war history, was our own remarkable personal tour guide around the battle sites in Belgium, making it interesting and informative.
Below are two links for those who would like to delve further into Diksmuide and trenches in particular as this is where this set of photos were taken.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_warfare
http://www.trabel.com/diksmuide/diksmuide-trench.htm
Yes, the trenches have been recreated in concrete and there is no mud as we were there in July and there are poppies growing everywhere, softening the harshness of the images from WWI. Yes, it is not an exact re-creation, but would I not have been seriously scarred in my mind to have been exposed to what the soldiers on both sides had to live through in this area of conflict?
The surroundings are flat, flat and flat, giving quite a different outlook on the the importance of a vantage point such as Hill 60 and why it was named as such. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hill_60_(Western_Front)
After visiting the trenches, we stopped at beautiful Ieper for lunch. And of course visited the town hall which has an excellent museum, In Flanders Fields. http://www.inflandersfields.be/
It is still difficult for me to believe the utter devastation of this area, even seeing the photos, and that the city has been entirely rebuilt to how it looked in 1914.
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/town-ieper-history.htm
Lunch with the ducks. After all the rolling of the eyes and groaning when the ducks were brought out of my handbag, the kids played the game with me very well, pointing out picture opportunities and making sure the ducks were fed and watered along with us.
Before going to Europe on this trip, friends were astonished that, firstly, we were going to Belgium and then that we were going to stay for two weeks. Even the passport person at Brussels airport was amazed when daughter and son-in-law told him how long they were staying in the country. 'What are you going to do to fill in your time?'
I loved our time in Belgium It was easy to get around, wonderful scenery, great food, wine, beer and chocolate. Great place to visit.
