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Netherlands

Amsterdam waterway cruise

We had a great time taking a  waterway cruise when we were in Amsterdam. There are approximately 1,500 bridges and over 100 kilometers of waterways,  which made it a great way to see the city.

Cruise boat tour in Amsterdam

We boarded the tour boat and we were met by a very colorful Captain called “Rudy”. He welcomed us on board and explained the history of Amsterdam.

Captain Rudy explaining the history of Amsterdam during the cruise.

Captain Rudy was very funny and entertaining with some interesting stories.

Shelley and Ray on a Boat cruise in Amsterdam

We began our boat tour in the main canal and saw some of the iconic buildings.

View of the modern art building in Amsterdam

The tour then headed down some of the smaller canals in Amsterdam.

A small bridge over a canal in Amsterdam

There is lots of boat traffic on the canals and it is used as another form of a roadway. It was interesting to see the system they had for when going under a narrow bridge opening. The Captain radios on a common channel to say what bridge and direction they are heading. If someone is coming the other way they would arrange for what boat had priority.

Some of the canals we went through were very narrow and the bridges were quite low.

View of a low bridge the cruise boat went under during the tour

Sometimes the cruise boat would hit the side of the canal wall when making a turn to go under a bridge.

Narrow canal that the cruise boat took during the tour

We enjoyed the two-hour cruise looking at the unique building throughout Amsterdam. Some of the buildings are built on pylons and have shifted and sunk over the years, making the buildings lean sideways.

Building shifted and leaning on another building in Amsterdam

There were some buildings built on the very edge of the canal making access to the building easy by boat.

Access from the canal to apartments and buildings.

We enjoyed the boat cruise and saw some interesting buildings from the canals. Our Captain was very entertaining and made the cruise even more enjoyable.

“Tot ziens en een goede dag”

Belgium

Tyne Cot Commonwealth Cemetery, Belgium

After visiting the Passchendaele Museum, we went only a short distance down the road to the Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth military cemetery in the world.

Tyne Cot Commonwealth Cemetery in Belgium

We arrived at the main entrance of the cemetery which contains an arched entranceway with a stone curved wall. when we went inside the cemetery walls we were struck by the magnificence of the cemetery.  There was a section of the cemetery with a curved commemorative wall that listed 34,957 names of missing soldiers.

Wall of inscribed names of missing soldiers

The features of the wall were very stunning and breathtaking.  We walked around the wall reading some of the names of the missing soldiers.

There were rows upon rows of white gravestones with beautiful red flowers in bloom planted along the graves. The contrast of the white gravestones and red flowers made it very vibrant.

The cemetery was very large and there was an impressive central monument located in the cemetery.

Central monument in the Tyne Cot Commonwealth Cemetery

We walked through the cemetery and read some of the gravestones. There were coins on some of the gravestones as a sign of someone visiting their grave.

The cemetery was very impressive and was a beautiful monument for the Commonwealth fallen soldiers. We were honored to be able to visit the worlds largest Commonwealth cemetery.

“Tot ziens en een goede dag”

Belgium

The Memorial Museum of Passchendaele

We went to the Memorial Museum Passchendaele which is in  Zonnebeke (Flanders Fields) in Belgium. On our way to the museum, we could see fields of poppies in Flanders fields. We stopped and took a walk through the field of poppies before heading to the museum.

Shelley and Ray in a field of Poppies in Belgium

The main building is a former château which has been converted to the museum.

The main building of the Memorial Museum Passchendaele

We entered the museum which was devoted to the 1917 Battle of Passchendaele. In 100 days almost 500,000 men were killed for only 8 kilometers gain of ground.

There were numerous displays focused on equipment and weapons of the 1917 Battle.

We walked through the halls looking at the different exhibits and reading about the Battle of Passchendaele. We came to a section of the museum called Trench experience.

The museum created a representation of a dugout and trench system which you can walk through.

Ray in the trenches of the Passchendaele Museum

The dugouts were well done and had multiple rooms on display including a kitchen, living quarters and latrine.

Dugout area in the museum
Officer room in dugout
Latrine in dugout
Medical room in the dugout
Sleeping quarters in dugout

We then walked through to a trench system which was duplicated from the battle of Passchendaele.

Shelley in the trenches of Passchendaele Museum

Shelley in one of the trenches at the museum

We finished the museum tour by stopping at the garden area of the museum and relaxing in the shade. We enjoyed learning about the battle of Passchendaele and the amazing heroes of the first world war that fought here.

“Tot ziens en een goede dag”

Belgium

Essex Farm Cemetery in Belgium

We visited one of the World War One sites that most Canadians can relate to. We went to the Essex Farm Cemetery and Advanced Dressing Station in Belgium. It is also the location where John McCrae wrote his famous poem “In Flanders Fields”.

Ray on the path to the Field Dressing Station
John McCrae Monument

We walked down a path that led to the field dressing station. There were several rooms made in concrete under the ground that was used to treat soldiers. This is where John McCrae served as a medical doctor for a period of time during the war.

The Field Dressing rooms

We went into the rooms which were small, damp and they had low ceilings.

Field Dressing room

In the room, there were Canadian flags, crosses, poppies and other memorials dedicated to the Canadian soldiers who died during World War One.

The  Essex Farm Advanced Dressing Station is where Major John McCrae composed the poem “In Flanders Fields”. There was a plaque explaining the history of the poem and Major John McCrae.

Plaque with history of John McCrae and the poem “In Flanders fields”

The Poem was also inscribed on the plaque.

In Flanders Fields inscribed on plaque at Essex Farm Cemetery

After visiting the dressing station and reading the information on John McCrae we went into the Essex Farm Cemetery.

We walked through the cemetery reading the names of some of the soldiers who died during the first world war.

Gravestones in the Essex Farm Cemetery

We came across the gravestone of a Soldier named Valentine Joe Strudwick who died at the age of only 15.

Gravestone of soldier Valentine Joe Strudwick age 15

It was interesting to see the location where John McCrae wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields” It was also a moving experience to see the cemetery and see the gravestone of a 15-year-old soldier.

“Tot ziens en een goede dag”

France

Fromelles Military Cemetery and Memorial Park

We stopped at the Fromelles Memorial Park to see the Australian monument. The memorial park is situated on the German defensive line which was attacked on 19 July 1916 by the Australian forces at the Battle of Fromelles.

Cobbers Sculpture at the Formelles Memorial monument

The sculpture of two soldiers in the center of the memorial park is dedicated to the men who fought and fell in the Battle of Fromelles on 19 and 20 July 1916.

There were also remains of German machine gun bunkers at the memorial park.

Remains of a German machine gun bunker

After visiting the Australian Memorial Park, we stopped at the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery which was only a short distance from the Australian Memorial Park. This cemetery is a significant memorial for Australia.

Fromelles Pheasant Wood Cemetery

We walked through the cemetery looking at the gravestones of both British and Australian soldiers. The history of this cemetery is unique because it was constructed between 2009 and 2010. It is the first new Commonwealth War Graves cemetery for more than 50 years.

Australian Gravestone at the Pheasant Wood Cemetery

We were surprised by the amount of Australians that were involved in the first world war. There were over 416,000 Australians that enlisted for WW I and over 60,000 died over the period of the war.

Pheasant Wood Cemetery

The Pheasant Wood Cemetery contains the graves of 250 British and Australian soldiers who died on 19 July 1916 in the Battle of Fromelles. The cemetery is located on a section of the front line during the battle of Fromelles. Their bodies were discovered following research by a retired teacher,  that also included analysis of aerial photographs. They discovered mass graves on the edge of Pheasant Wood, just outside the village of Fromelles.

Formelles Pheasant Wood Cemetery

There were Australians on our tour and they were able to locate a relative which was buried at the cemetery. It was a moving experience for them and reminded everyone just how far-reaching the impact of the war was.

“Au revoir et passez une bonne journée”