Day 20: Wednesday 16 April 2014

Sometimes, after making a sweeping generalization about an entire nation something happens that makes you reconsider your ideas about that nation.  Today was one of those days for me.



Passchendaele battlefield looking towards the "high" ground

Today I walked the 3rd division role in the battle of Passchendaele, which all up was about a 10k walk some of which was uphill.  Anyway when I got to the village of Passchendaele I was a bit thirsty and as it was a bit early for a beer so I thought a coffee would hit the spot.  The only place open in town was the Passchendaele pub, so in I went and ordered my coffee.  The coffee was beautifully served with a little complimentary cup of advokat and a biscuit and a little easter egg.  The lady proprietor noticed my maps and guidebook and started talking to me (in reasonable English) about my interest in TGW and Passchendaele and then after we had been talking a bit she called her husband down from upstairs and we had a grand time talking about the war, maps, research and so forth.  The husband, Francis, is a bit of an amateur historian and was very interested in my copy of the Passchendaele trench map, so I promised to send him a JPEG copy of it when I get home and also some links to sites that I use for my research. 




Passchendaele Pub

After a while, and I am sure that I could have stayed there for the rest of the day, it was time to be moving on, I still had a 5k walk back to my car.  As I was leaving they presented me with a Passchendaele cap and refused to take payment for my coffee.  How can I think poorly of the Belgian people after an experience like that.


I had another pleasant experience when I met a young Canadian military officer at the Canadian memorial at Passchendaele.  (The Canadians eventually took the town, at horrendous cost, after the AIF failed).  This guy was in uniform although he was travelling around in a private capacity.  He was trying to find his way around the battlefields using what looked like a road map of Western Europe.  So I helped him out with a look at my maps and some directions and a chat about various aspects of the campaign.   


So dear reader, you would be aware that I have spent a lot of time in the countryside, and what do European farmers do in the countryside in spring?  They spread fertilizer, crikey you should smell it!!!  A rich rural earthy odour that smells like it has been fermenting in the farm cesspit for the winter.

Young man in British uniform at Passchendaele museum

While we are on generalizations, a little about Belgian cyclists, if you please.  I have identified three different groups of cyclists in this country, they are as follows;

• The everyday cyclist who rides for transport and shopping, often seen riding down the middle of the road laden with groceries, building materials etc.
• The cycling clubs, riding in a group laden down with back packs, thermoses and sandwiches and probably singing traditional bike riding songs as they also ride down the middle of the road.
• Finally, the Tour de France wannabe's, they are the lycra clad middle aged males riding flash bikes with clothes advertising various European banks and they also ride down the middle of the road.

However as always I have been treating all the above cyclists with patience and respect, because they have their rights on the road as well.


For dinner tonight I thought that I would dine at the Hotel Regina, where Flashy and I had grandly dined, however their dinning room is now reserved for hotel guests only.  So to plan B, and it is not like there are no other restaurants in the area.  So across the market square where I found a nice restaurant and had, wait for it, prawn croquettes and a most delicious pork knuckle with mustard sauce.

Whilst I am on observations here is a final one for today.  It is interesting that the people here seem to identify themselves more with the region of Flanders than they do to the country of Belgium.  Even as a tourist the feeling is that you are in Flanders more so than Belgium.  (When overseas visitors are in Melbourne would they identify their location more with Victoria or Australia?)