On the Road Again!

Have had an email confirming that we have got seating tickets for the main event at Tyne Cot. The tickets themselves haven't arrived. It's still two and a half weeks away though. I've been planning a few routes to get to the hotel and then across to Zonnebeke to park the car and look around the museum. The event the night before in Ypres itself means that we will check in the B&B and our hosts will get us a cab into town.  Getting one back will prove possibly more complex.

We have the dog booked into his favourite kennels for the duration of this weekend away. He goes in there late afternoon on Saturday. We have a dog-free evening. I had thought of going over then but finding a hotel or even a youth hostel in Belgium is like finding that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Unless you have that gold of course. So back to Plan A. Plan A had alwaya been to cross over on Sunday morning and head generally towards Ypres.  There's a few places I'd like to see again plus some new (to me) sites. Then see what parking is like in Ypres. There's a special ceremony in the Market by the Cloth Hall. It may be that as Plan A dictates that we go to Vlamertinge to the B&B and back out by taxi, we stick to it. Monday morning we have to be in Zonnebeke to park and see the museum and displays there. We have been before a few years ago. It was pre- Meldrews  so must have been the other club we don't mention. On that visit we had to park in the entrance ...

There are several ceremonies taking place at the same time in Ypres and the area that formed the Passchendaele battlefield. The first is a special event at the Menin Gate in Ypres.  I have been before to see the pageantry and the Fire Brigade buglers at the Gate and it is a truly moving experience.   The second, is the ceremony at Tyne Cot British Cemetery  and Memorial . This is also a ticket only event. parking will be at the Zonnebeke Museum and that will be by ticket and then shuttle buses to Tyne Cot. Unusually for me I hadn't booked any accommodation and of course now that everyone has got the okay that they are getting tickets to the event, the whole thing has gone wild.  Simply taking a look at "Ypres" and the dates on booking.com sees that some places are what we say in England are "taking the piss" with massively inflated prices. But, I guess someone will be desperate and pay them. In the end I have booked a B&B  in Vlamertinge near Ypres on the r...