Our last day in Europe, so we had to fit in as much as we could. A couple more art galleries. Of course, another trip to Otto's Waffle Atelier. Otto himself prepared Ray's waffle to go. And finally a decadent plunge into Belgian chocolate.
The tour was interesting, but all-you-can-eat chocolate plus samples from the demonstration--well, that's a dream come true. Next time we see ya'll will be in Listy. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom.
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Honestly, until we toured Flanders I didn’t fully comprehend the concept of missing in action. Somehow I equated missing as forever gone. The soldiers who died in Flanders during WWI are not forever gone, they are just not yet found. Even now bodies are being discovered.
In the fall of 1916 two brothers, John and Jim Hunter from Australia, joined the Allied Forces. They served together in the 49th Battalion in Flanders. John was critically injured in an explosion and died in the arms of his brother. Jim lovingly buried his brother wrapped in a ground sheet in a temporary grave and promised that he would return. Grief changes but never leaves. Jim returned to Belgium but in the torn-up landscape, he had no idea where to start digging for the body. It is said that Jim was haunted by his unfulfilled promise and that his last word as he passed many years later was John. The name of John Hunter was listed on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing for 90 years. That changed in 2006. During road works to lay a new gas pipeline in the hamlet of Westhoek in 2006 a machine operator suddenly stopped digging —he had found human remains from WWI. Of the five bodies found one had been more carefully buried than the rest. He was wrapped in a ground sheet with his hands placed over his heart. DNA identified the remains as John Hunter. Finally, John could be buried in a marked grave with military hours. Brothers serving together was not uncommon. Ray’s grandfather’s brother, Percy Homewood, lied about his age and followed his brother Leonard. Fortunately, they both came home. To honour families who sacrificed many sons a memorial has been created with a sculpture modelled after John and Jim. Another way to remember the fallen. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. If you want to know more about the memorial check out this link: https://youtu.be/11275qer4xI?si=sEtXrtzYdJC1MpVg Do you know the poem In Flanders Fields the Poppies Grow by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae? Well, we spent yesterday touring THAT Flanders. Among the twelve WWI sites we visited was the medical Dressing station where McCrae worked when he wrote the poem in 1915.
Here is a simplified version of the German/Belgian conflict. In 1914 Germany wanted to acquire France. Germany asked the Belgian King if they could March through Belgium. The Belgians said no, but the Germans came anyway. They thought they could easily conquer Belgium—they could not. The Allied Forces (which included Canada and Newfoundland) supported Belgium. The fighting was hard and neither side was prepared for the winter of 1914/1915. Then it got worse. On April 22, 1915, the Germans introduced lethal chemical weapons (chlorine gas) against French and Canadian forces. We visited the Memorial to 2000 Canadian Soldiers who lost their lives during the first gas attacks. Here is where it gets personal and real for Ray. Ray’s grandfather Charles Leonard Homewood (Leonard) joined the Allied forces in 1915. He was assigned to the 75th battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Ray wishes he could ask his grandfather about his time here, but he does know that his battalion was stationed in this area in 1917 and that he was exposed to toxic gases. Although he survived, Ray remembers that afterwards, his grandfather could not bear to be around the smell of a lit match. It must have triggered bad memories. Wars are never really over. The farmers in this area still find so many shells, shrapnel, and grenades in their fields that they have a name for it—The Iron Harvest. Still, during harvest each morning, the DOVO bomb specialists receive an extensive list of call-outs. These possibly live items can be extremely dangerous. We saw a grenade just sitting along the road waiting to be picked up. One of the sites we visited was Hill 60. It is also a stark reminder of the war. The Allied forces planted 24 mines in tunnels under the hill. The crater the explosion created on April 17th, 2017 is still visible today. Only 19 of the 24 mines exploded. In 1995 lightning hit a field nearby and activated one of the five mines. Fortunately, there was no loss of human life (one cow died), but windows were shattered for kilometres around the explosion. There are still mines out there. This is another fear that the people of Belgium live with every day. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. ...Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae You are Always in my Prayers Love Mom. Note: for more on the Iron Harvest follow this link https://theworld.org/stories/2023/08/04/iron-harvest-belgian-team-unearths-unexploded-ammunition-wwi Yesterday we travelled to Ghent to see the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. This twelve-panel altarpiece (middle panels shown) is the size of a barn door. Huber van Eyck began the work. Upon his death, it was completed by his brother Dutch master Jan van Eyck.
Viewing the Mystic Lamb was a whole new experience for Ray and me—we had our first try at altered reality glasses. AR is a technology which layers a holographic on top of the real world. The AR walk was set up in the crypt of the church. By the time you made it to the altarpiece, you could appreciate it. I’m not going to spend too much time on the painting itself, but I do want to mention its rough comings and goings. The altarpiece has been moved several times over the centuries. It has been the victim of 13 crimes and seven thefts. Most recently Hitler seized the painting in 1942. The painting was hidden in a salt mine in Austria. Following WWII it was found and recovered by Allied forces. These special forces were the subject of a movie called The Monument Men. The rest of our day was far less serious. We consumed Belgian chocolate, Belgian waffles, and Belgian fries. Everything was delicious. FYI Ray says he prefers Netherlands fries with mayonnaise to Belgium fries with andalouse sauce. More food and adventures to come. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Before we headed to Belgium we had to fit in just one more art gallery. It was off to the Van Gogh gallery in Amsterdam before we caught the train.
Although Vincent VanGogh spent most of his adult life living and painting in France, his early works were from the Netherlands. The Potato Eaters was painted in 1885 while living at home with his parents in Nuenen. It is considered this Dutch Master’s first masterpiece. You’ve been at this art thing for a couple of weeks now. I think you are ready to pull your ideas out of the painting—here are some questions to help:
We settled into another cute but small Airbnb in Bruges, Belgium. Check out the fire exit. I don’t know what it would take to get me over that wall. 😀 More Belgium to come—new foods to try. You are Always in my prayers. Love Mom. If you are interested in finding out more about The Potato Eaters. Click this link: https://vimeo.com/418428084 Bloemencorso Bollenstreek is a huge community event that we were excited to be part of. The local volunteers were very accepting of their new Canadian friends. We learned how to set our stroopwafels on top of our coffee mug so the caramel melted! They introduced Ray to Kapsalon (a dish created in 2003 by Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands). Ray loved it. They shared hours and hours of licorice candy treats with us. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. We had a Blast.
Watching the parade was equally a tourist event and a community celebration. Scouts ran up and down the 42 km route selling packages of stroopwaffles. Of course, we bought more. Security would drive by on their bikes and hold their hands in the air. Every time the crowd would cheer. The vibe was pure fun. I know you will enjoy Ray's video. You are Always in My Prayers. Love Mom. The Atlantic Wall was built by the Germans in WWII to keep out the Allied Forces (that us). Remains of this can be found along the North Sea. Hunting down some of these bunkers was an adventure too amazing to pass up. So, we bundled up, hopped on our e-bikes, and headed off.
The first entrance to the dunes was blocked with barbed wire. It took two more tries before we found our way in. We had a map, but the strong winds have pushed sand up and over almost everything. Eventually, we were truly lost and alone in the dunes with only the deer for company. Fortunately, we had cell coverage. Ray had the brilliant idea to go online and see if we could find help. We paid $13 for a GPS Bunker tracker and we were able to find the most amazing bunkers and our way out of the dunes. It was worth it! There are hundreds of bunkers in the dunes. We found about eight and a spot on the top of the dunes that originally had a cannon. Most are filled with sand, but Ray was able to crawl through one of them. The most interesting one had three chimneys. Originally it was thought to be a kitchen, but now experts believe it was where soldiers hung out. Our whole adventure took us over three hours. We were lost about half the time. Glad to be safely back in Zandvoort. You are Always in my prayers. Love Mom. We got up at 5:30 a.m. to take two trains and a bus to the Aalsmeer Flower Auction—the largest flower Auction in the world. It was worth it to get this video. I think you will recognize the STAR! When you visit the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam Night Watch (1642) is a big deal. Rembrandt's largest and most famous painting was made for one of the three headquarters of Amsterdam's civic guard. It measures 3.6 by 4.4 meters. It's Huge!
See if you can find some of the things that made this Dutch Master’s work more interesting to me:
Were there elements of the painting that you found interesting? I would love to hear from you. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. If you are interested in learning more about Night Watch follow this link: https://beleefdenachtwacht.nl/klokhuis/en The canals are part of Amsterdam’s charm. It’s very touristy, but we had to do a canal cruise. Then we were off to something just a little quirky and a little more us—the Our Lord in the Attic Museum.
Over the ages, people find reasons to be unkind to each other. Sometimes over religious prejudice or political differences. This story has both. Why did the wealthy Catholic merchant Jan Hartman build a Catholic church in his home? In 1663 it was forbidden to publicly practice Catholicism in Amsterdam. All Catholic Churchs had been confiscated by the King and rebranded as Protestant. However, for the most part, the government did not interfere with what went on in private homes. So, Hartman built a narrow but elaborate Catholic church in the top three levels of his canal house (including the attic). Everything is very well preserved. Even the organ is still there. Be kind. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. |
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AuthorRay & Diane Homewood |