Day 21: Thursday 17 April 2014

Bit of an admin day today.  Spent a couple of hours this morning doing some laundry and sorted out my suitcase and backpack.  Also cleaned out the car as that is being dropped back tomorrow, hope they don't mind a bit of mud and dust.



Market square - Ypres

The run of good weather continues, lovely spring days, coolish in the morning turning into pleasant warm days.  Warm days to your dutiful correspondent anyway, some of the readers in FNQ might disagree. 



Ramparts cemetery - Ypres

For the first time on the trip I had to apply the five minute rule and in effect it was closer to the ten minute rule.  This is the amount of time that you allow yourself to wait before being served, if you are not served in this time you get up and leave.  I was only going to have a drink but after about 8 minutes had elapsed and I hadn't been served I got up and left.  Found a nicer little bar on the market square and even had a chat to a nice Belgian fellow and his uncle, they are not bad folk after all.

I visited the Menin Gate in the afternoon.  This is the large memorial in Ypres that stands where the city gate used to stand in medieval times.  This memorial spans the Menin road and has the names of 54,896 British soldiers engraved on it (including Australians) who died in the fighting in the Ypres salient and have no known grave.  There are 111 names of 40th battalion men who died in the salient and have no known grave.  The Menin Gate is also the scene of the last post ceremony which is held every night and has turned into a major tourist attraction.  The other interesting thing about the Menin Gate (or I think so anyway), is that it is the only place on the Western Front where it is known that all 60 battalions of the AIF passed through.

Menin Gate

Inside the Menin Gate

And then disaster struck at dinner time.  As this was to be my last meal in Ypres I decided to have the prawn croquettes and the regional specialty of mussels.  Now the first disappointment, no mussels, out of season I was told.  So I ordered something else.  Now the second disappointment the waitress mucked up my order and I didn't get my croquettes, very disappointing all round! (And she had attitude, no tip from me).

Anyway back to the hotel, and there is a large tourist bus parked out the front with a group of kids and adults milling about.  Guess what, a school group from Australia and their teachers.  I made my way through them pretending not to speak English and took to my bed.