Ypres - the last post
Having a few days off, was the perfect opportunity to discover our own country. A visit to my parents gave us the idea of going to Ieper. A city endowed with wonderful architecture and a troubled past. We started our mini-trip with a visit to the provincial park ‘de Palingbeek’. At that moment there was a project on going to commemorate all the victims of the First World War, better known as “coming world remember me” Whoever wanted, could bring home one of the 600 000 sculptures.
After our first stop, we went to Ypres city for a quick lunch at ‘Den Olifant’. Looks small at the outside, but when you enter you see how big it is. Friendly service but we had to wait a while for our drinks and our spaghetti made with homemade sauce. 50 minutes for a small lunch is quit long.
Around 2 pm we arrived at our B&B Arthur’s Place and we had a very warm welcome of Hilde, the hostess. Spotless house with 2 big rooms and a bathroom. Good to know, the rooms are never rented to people that don’t know each other. That way you don’t have to share the bathroom with strangers. In the bedroom you have a big box spring and dressing gown. Also some chocolates are across the room 🙂
Apart from this room, you have also another room with a small kitchen (some drinks, coffee, thee, minute soup available), table, couch, tv. So if you want to spend some days at the region, you can take care of your own breakfast, lunch, diner) After a quick tour in the house, we changed clothes and went out to do some sports.
I decided to go for a big walk around the ‘Kemmelberg’ and Tom went for a bicycle ride and discovered many small hills in Heuvelland. My walk started in Kemmel, a small town nearby. You have a route named ‘Kemmelbergroute’ that starts in the center. I made a variation on this one, with some extra miles. You will walk through a forest, field tracks, vineyards of the Monteberg, and also on the cobblestones of the Kemmelberg
https://www.strava.com/activities/1980712860/shareable_images/map_based?hl=nl-NL&v=1542992469
After our sporty afternoon we went to the citycenter of Ypres, by foot. It took us about 15 minutes. We were very surprised because there was already Christmas market with a big rollercoaster. We went to the Menin Gate to watch and listen to the ‘Last Post’ at 8pm. Be there on time if you want to have a good spot.
Around 8:30pm we went to the restaurant “In ‘t Klein stadhuis” (https://www.inhetkleinstadhuis.be/en/) Very cosy place in a typical historical building, great reception and a warm welcome with good food and fair prices. We ended the day with a typical beer on the Christmas market.
We had booked breakfast at our b&b. When we entered the room we were very impressed about the extended breakfast buffet with everything we could imagine.fresh fruit salad, yoghurt, chocolates, cereals, soy milk, bread, eggs, meat, cheese, fresh fruit juice, …Hilde thought about all the details. Even a newspaper was available.
