Ieper - a sorta New Old Town

Welcome to Ieper, from the top of the Clock/ Cloth Tower in the Cloth Building now In Flanders Fields Museum and probably other stuff too. Yes its cold in early March too.

For some reason, the parking lot is referred to as a market, it was on Saturday, sort of a farmers, flea, yard sale, show. Menin Gate in the distance there up the street to the right, and turning right at the building facing the market/parking lot about 100 yards was our hotel, Novotel Ieper. 

From the other side of the tower are the imposing flying buttresses of St Martins Episcopal Church.

From the front of the church.  It is quite impressive on the inside too.

Just some of the windows. There were a number of relics and famous burials of ancients in the church and I do not know if they were "evacuated" or taken to some sort of safety in front of the German advance or just what happened to them during the war.

And from the front, the Clock, Cloth Tower Cloth Hall or Flanders Museum - heard it called all those things. Medieval Ieper was once the third largest European City, famous and powerful because of the weaving and cloth making that went on among the Flemish who lived in the area.

The city in the 12th and 13th centuries was fought over by the French, Dutch, Germans, English, Spanish and so on, after surviving the Vikings earlier. Many of the Flemish weavers did leave (were taken) to England and became part of England's weaving, textile economic base.

And at night.  There was a whole row of photographers there when we happened by, perhaps part of a tour group or something— perhaps 15- 20 with James-type cameras and stands and everything.  I was using Patt's iPhone and fit right in.

And on market day Patt used her iPhone and once again I fit right in enjoying a crepe. We have had dinner in the two buildings immediately to the back over my left shoulder. The little tan looking and then the larger redish looking one. German, then Flemish. Definitely not Spanish or American.

The title mentions New Old because no building in town is older than the 1920s. The entire town was destroyed in WWI.  We have seen arial photos that show a pretty flat Ieper and ones that show Ieper in various stages of destruction. And this is why the reference to the question above about the relics in the church.

Though it never fell to the Germans during the war, it was just behind the front lines and well within range of shelling by the German artillery.  I think, strong emphasis on think, that those are remains of the tower in the center and the church to the extreme left. I found this photo labeled Ypres in a collection on the internet and copied it.  But more about the war tomorrow.

As is apparent, the days have been delightful, cold but delightful. At some point we should get rough weather, but now it is nice

And the streets are lovely to walk on, occasionally large groups of students, busses park outside of town, and these groups, speaking French, German, Dutch, English seem like students from anywhere.   In the museum they were a bit of a pest and we had to wait at an exhibit or two. Though some had notes to take and questions to answer, a few were more interested in each other than exhibits.  Surprised me!

Not only are the streets a great walk but around part the town is a canal that at one time went to a river and then to the North Sea. Part of canal is against the old town ramparts and town wall near the Menin Gate. I think I mentioned it is cold - Centigrade 1 or 2 degrees.  We think that is cold in the morning.   Up to 10, 11 in the afternoon, comfortable in the sun — in the shade, in the wind — move to the sunny side of the street because it is cold!   We have clothing — we are fine. The sky is blue, we eat well.

Most of the signs here are in Dutch,  Patt and I are not trying to learn Dutch. It appears to have a lot of v e r y  long words. I think this sign means Bus Stop. Though this sign does not indicate Wheel of Fortune player chasing a vowel would do well to pick an A. Score several. Also they like consonants late in the alphabet. There is your Dutch lesson for the day. Belgian students by the way study Dutch, French, English, and German in school.

Southeastern Belgium has seen some serious conflict — Waterloo and Ypres for starters.

History just keeps coming at us on this trip and I will try to be faithful to the guides and readings and such — in other words as little made believe as possible. This farmland just south of Waterloo, Belgium is the field over which Marshal Ney (one of Napoleon's commanders) of the French Army made his ill fated and much dramatized calvary charges against the English squares on June 18, 1815. Huge armies of the French, English and Prussians fought here "deciding the fate of empires".

The Lion of Waterloo, The Duke of Wellington is commemorated, lionized, literally and figuratively, by the massive lion atop a manmade hill in the middle of these flats farm fields. In addition to the "Lion" there is a most impressive museum and cyclorama.

and the lion atop the Menin Gate on the west entrance to Ypres /Ieper or other names here represents the British Empire - as it does most everywhere else it is used (unless it is outside a Chinese bank).  The various spellings of the town confuse everyone says our guide. They confused the armies back in 1914-1918, they confused armies, pilgrims, tourists before and since. Multiple invaders, conquerors, languages, recorders, have left numerous names for lots of places. They still exist, on the interstate and other roads, exits have signs for towns with two names. French, Dutch, German, Flemish, English names and so on were used. So pick one. I will use several I suppose.

The Menin Gate commemorates the approximately 100,000 unrecovered and unidentified dead of the British Commonwealth army that died here. I have not yet learned how many were killed who were identified and were buried in graves with identified headstones. The large number is due to several factors including the huge numbers involved in the battles here, the terrain — soft mud that was churned up (many men drowned in the trenches), trenches collapsing, exchange of territory, charges across no man's land, large artillery fire on the trenches.

The main part of town is beyond the gate, and the tower seen in the background is the clock tower on what was the Cloth Hall, now In Flanders Fields Museum. Both the Cloth Hall and St. Marten's church, along with the entire town, were completely destroyed by the war and rebuilt in the 1920s.

This field was once part of no man's land between the English lines - where the farm house is and the German lines behind us. A famous American who had joined the Canadian Army early in the war in the first year, 1915, used the farm houses as a base from which he was a highly acclaimed sniper.

And these are the remnants of a German bunker built to protect from shelling and a reconstructed trench. The bunkers were reinforced concrete blocks that were interlocking somewhat like legos, much heavier and more sturdy, of course, but similar concept with steel and concrete but very stable and well engineered.

The first Christmas of the war, December 1914, the front line troops spontaneously stopped fighting and met on Christmas Eve and for the next few days. The war started in August of 1914 and by December had reached the basic stalemate and status that would last for the rest of the war.  German soldiers started the signals for a truce - the Christmas Truce as it is called.

We saw a field —just a regular looking field that was one of the documented places where the troops met. Further south in France there were a few places where the troops played soccer against one another in games that became well documented. The high commands of both armies quickly stopped this type of fraternization and took aggressive steps on future holidays to ensure it did not happen again.

In the little village of Mesen, also spelled Messine, a few miles outside of Ypres/Ieper, there is St Nicholas Church - rebuilt of course — and not until 1938 - just two years before the Germans again came into Belgium.

In the crypt in the basement there was and reportedly still is a remnant, in a crypt, of the mother-in-law of William the Conqueror.  During the early part of the battles here — they went on from 1914-1918 and prior to the church being turned to complete rubble, the basement was used as a hospital for German wounded.

Among those who were treated here was a young German private named Adolph Hitler. Apparently he had been wounded in some very heavy fighting in which he had distinguished himself and most of his comrades had been killed. His performance in combat had been such that he earned the Iron Cross Second Class.  In 1940 Hitler returned to the rebuilt church to parade around again to identify himself as again as a soldier.

That stone marker is for William's mother-in-law, not Adolf.

Throughout the entire region there are numerous grave yards (some 150 in all)  that are maintained by the British Graves Commission.  This one also has a monument to the 16th Irish Division, - Catholics who fought alongside the 36th Irish from Ulster - Protestants — Of course before and again later they would fight one another back home in Ireland.

And in the Irish lookout tower style, the national monument to commemorate the Irish soldiers who died at the battle at Ypres, this monument looks over a field in which an especially large number of Irish soldiers died. At this site there is a series of poems and inscriptions on large granite blocks by Irish soldiers who fought here.  Very poignant.

And another German bunker looking over a field to the right over which New Zealanders charged.  Out to the left were English trench lines.

Here in this area the New Zealanders and the German trench lines were less than 500 yards apart.  This area along the Messine Ridge is one in which New Zealanders in particular had a large number of casualties.

good times in Malaga

Spent two days in the rather old town of Malaga, to put not to fine a point on that statement, here is the Roman Coliseum, seating capacity, I did not get which is rather pointless as it is no longer used.

That is despite the fact that it is situated at the base of the Alcazaba de Malaga, which includes a Palace. This fort had a different architect, slightly, and of course after the Moors were defeated, the Crusaders added Christian touches.

It was huge and though we missed the palace this trip, there was much to see and enjoy.

Since I no longer have my iPhone, Patt is now taking the pictures, sometimes she misses the one I want to get, most of the time she does pretty well though. My ever helpful gesture did not get missed.

We stayed near the old part of town which had been converted to mostly pedestrian streets and was quite lively at night. We helped early - very early in that aspect.

and some of the streets were so narrow there was no converting to pedestrian only, they were already to0 narrow for cars.

We also visited the Grand Cathedral de Malaga, a huge grand, no misnomer building which fortunately had a service going on in one portion of the building complete with singing and organ playing which was very nice and added to our visit.

Of course no flash photos and the spectacular carvings, paintings and grandeur of the place is impossible to capture.

A great thing about being in Spain is the dining style of tapas, or eating small quantities of a variety of dishes while drinking wine. We enjoyed this practice quite a bit, and spent a good amount of time doing it too. The food and wine was great as was the company. We look forward to spending time in this fashion again.

Mijas, Coin, Almeria, almost to Malaga, and roads in between

Great intentions only go so far and memories unaided by quick responses get foggier and I wish I had been quicker and better at getting more of this up and done.  So some of this is going to be made up- but that's OK, it won't be far off.  

Below is a pueblo blanco that we have seen, driven through, stayed in or enjoyed a meal in. Name is lost to the winds of the Sierra "whatever" on the side of which it is perched. Some of these pueblos are bigger than others.  (See so far not so bad about making stuff up.)

Near Pueblo Coin I think it was, we went for a fairly long and apparently popular hike amongst a fairly large olive grove. We did not see the promised mountain goats along at the various view points at the destination.  Big downer.  It was a pretty day though. Note "cloud sky" and we did enjoy the hike. A great day for an outing.

A bit of history, there are number of old Moorish forts in the coastal towns that were built generally around the 1000 to 1300. This the one in Fuengirola. This one was small.

The Moors came into Europe through Spain from Arabia starting around 700 AD and stayed in Spain until around 1500 or so.

Of course we are eating well and on occasion have been serenaded. Charles especially likes groups like this.

And just outside of Coin is Charles and Linda's new, well for a year's worth of lease anyway, house.  Very nice. What you would expect. Large, spacious, airy, pool, big lawn and so on. Great view over the hills toward more of various mountain ranges in the far distance.

Going along the southern coast toward the east —geography note here— Spain looks a bit like a box on a map, well we were going toward the bottom right corner.  This is where apparently much of Europe's garden vegetables are grown, in greenhouses, hundreds and hundreds over miles and miles of them along the interstate, well not interstate, but you know what I mean that is up from the coastal road.

and that is the corner. It is a National Park, a large one too, and a dark and stormy day we had for a while out at the lighthouse.

The Alcazaba de Almeria which is a large Moorish fortress in Almeria is an amazing place. As soon as I walked in I felt like I had been there before though only in some book reading about the place in a novel or history about Spain or the French Foreign Legion in North Africa or some other Arab adventure book. The place looked exactly like it should have.

It was a great place to visit and we had a lot of fun looking over the walls at the sea, the town behind the fortress, and the various battlements within the thousand year old fort.

and we of course got off the interstate highway and road along the coastal road through the small towns to enjoy multiple views such as this.

On the drive back along the coast we stopped several times to enjoy the view.  Check it out.  Here or at the next stop we actually saw the missed mountain goats from the hike in the olive grove earlier.

Either shortly after this photo or in Malaga, I lost my iPhone. It was on airplane mode so I can not find it and it has a six digit security code so it is doubtful anyone can open it. My number is currently blacklisted by AT&T from making calls so all is well on that end but I sure miss my music.

Brussels and Costa DeL Sol

Brussels did not disappoint; it looks like a European City in the winter.  Europe here we are - Shazam, was I ever surprised. Cold and rainy, dreary and exciting. We were in Brussels but a short 20 hour layover prior to going on to Spain, so we took the train into town from our airport hotel, walked around the Grand Place (city square), had a Belgian waffle and later had dinner. 

View from the window where we had waffles and wine, what else? Street is wet from driving rain that had just stopped.

Looks just like a what you would expect, or at least I thought so.  

Then on to Costa del Sol y Pueblo Blanco.

the Sun Coast and White Town are good names because as one who lacks imagination and has been accused of being clueless, well I figured it out.  Actually above is Mijas, and there are mucho pueblo blancos.  In the distance is the Mediterranean and there is only one of them.  

There are a number of street side places to sell coffee, beer or wine, your choice — depending on how early one rises or taste or preference or clear of head — for me this was early. The shade is c.o.l.d!  Sun out of the wind comfortable.  Shade in the wind, best be looking to get out of the wind.

One of those streets in Mijas — or could be any of the other pueblo blancos, I reckon. Walking parallel to the hillside -piece of cake. Up or down, take a deep breath, wear good shoes, and pick a small town.

Oh, and Charles and Linda look and act like they have been retired for years and years. They will not struggle with this transition at all.  They are already at home here, currently sans house, but you would think they had lived here 15-20 years easy.  Knowledgeable of local customs, byways, history, cuisine, folklore, and the mating habits of the south African bee.  Patt and I are enjoying being here with Charles and Linda very much and temporarily adding to the existing knowledge base here in Southern Spain.— or at least offering opinions on what might be knowledge or pass for it under the premise of "often wrong, never in doubt."

well getting ready to travel -----

… so in the meantime since Christmas Day we did indeed depart from Panama leaving behind grandsons and son and daughter-in-law and returned to the Capital City.   Here we have a wonderful house guest.  Yes, the famous Kate.  It is great.  She laughs at my jokes, so all is well.  

We have had an infrequent visitor to the back yard.  I do not seem him often, our neighbors who vigilantly watch the cut-de-sac see him and his friends much more often.

We have had precious little of this.  This was the most.  Stopped school for several days as it came midst a stretch of extreme cold.  About the only stretch we had as it has been a spring like winter.

See like it was 20 or something.

Mark and I amused ourselves going to watch Weak Forest attempt to play basketball again this season.  Here we see one of our stalwarts attempting — operative word "attempt"  — a free throw.  We miss more of these than any other team in the conference.

Getting ready for a turnover.  We do these real well or perhaps "real good" I should say.  We do however enjoy the fellowship of friends and the entertainment value of "hope springs eternal"

Which indeed it does.  We are preparing to be on the road again.  New direction this time — Europe.

and we leave the daffodils just getting going as they should, though they have been started for a while.