Belguim

July 31, 2018: Monday we got off the ferry in Calais around 2pm and drove into Belgium. It was only a 1 hour drive to Ypres, the central location of a lot of WWI fighting. We made a quick stop at the tourist office and then headed to the Passchendale museum. This was a great museum and a perfect intro to the war for the kids. We each had an audio guide and they got to see a lot of artifacts and a short film. There was also a great trench system to walk through. After our visit to the museum we went back into the center of Ypers and got some food and then went to the Last Post ceremony. Every single night at 8pm local buglers from the fire brigade play in the Menin Gate, which was the gate at the edge of the city that tens of thousands of men passed through on their way to the front. This ceremony has been taking place every night since 1928 to honor all of the men who lost their lives.

Tuesday we went to see a few more historical sights before leaving town. Hill 60 was a small hill that saw a lot of battles and changed hands between the Germans and the Allies several times. It is still pock marked with craters from shellings and there are bunkers in varying states of decay. In typical fashion, James found several pieces of shrapnel and one shell casing. Amazing that these items are still at the surface after more than 100 years. We then went to Tyne Cot cemetery where 12,000 British soldiers are buried and lastly to the German cemetery. We drove north to Holland after that.