Saturday, 20 April 2013
The majestic Menin Gate
The people here in Ypres have held a memorial service to the missing every night since 1928. It's walls bear the name of 50 000 soldiers who have no known grave.
5 Countries, 2 days!
5 countries, 2 days - not a bad effort. Australia, United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, Belgium and France!
We are due down in the foyer soon so I'll have to make it quick. A threat of no dessert was made if we were late again... So I'm not going to jeopardise my Belgium waffles!
Yesterday was amazing! Ploegsteert Wood was really tranquil and picturesque. It's hard to imagine that it was right on the front line almost 100 years ago.
There are war cemeteries by the side of the road just everywhere. And to think that they're just the commonwealth graves. One cemetery we visited had over 10 000 graves.
The scale of this war is just incomprehensible.
We are due down in the foyer soon so I'll have to make it quick. A threat of no dessert was made if we were late again... So I'm not going to jeopardise my Belgium waffles!
Yesterday was amazing! Ploegsteert Wood was really tranquil and picturesque. It's hard to imagine that it was right on the front line almost 100 years ago.
There are war cemeteries by the side of the road just everywhere. And to think that they're just the commonwealth graves. One cemetery we visited had over 10 000 graves.
The scale of this war is just incomprehensible.
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Ypres
I'm finally in Ypres after over a day of flying, driving and airport walking. It's a very cute town with old fashioned narrow cobblestone streets.
It's almost 9 in the morning and I can tell you what luxury it was sleeping horizontally for a change!
Today we're visiting world war 1 battlefield site around here with our tour guide Sylvestre - who seems very nice. We'll be visiting Messines Ridge, Ploegsteert Wood and we'll be crossing the border to France!!!
Everything still seems pretty surreal. I still can't believe I'm here in Belgium. The countryside is so pretty and everything is so green, unlike Australia.
What a fantastic view we have from our hotel room!!! The church bells were ringing earlier and I can hear birds twittering now. The croissants for breakfast were amazing. What a perfect way to start the day!
It's almost 9 in the morning and I can tell you what luxury it was sleeping horizontally for a change!
Today we're visiting world war 1 battlefield site around here with our tour guide Sylvestre - who seems very nice. We'll be visiting Messines Ridge, Ploegsteert Wood and we'll be crossing the border to France!!!
Everything still seems pretty surreal. I still can't believe I'm here in Belgium. The countryside is so pretty and everything is so green, unlike Australia.
What a fantastic view we have from our hotel room!!! The church bells were ringing earlier and I can hear birds twittering now. The croissants for breakfast were amazing. What a perfect way to start the day!
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
The Premier's Spirit of ANZAC School Prize
Last year I entered the Premier's ANZAC Spirit School Prize. The task was to describe the journey of a South Australian man or woman who served on the Western Front during World War. I choose to write an essay on Leslie Varley Duxbury (picture above) and I won a place on the trip. So this April I will be traveling with 5 other students from South Australia to France and Belgium.
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