Flanders Field

The most well known war poem of all time was penned by a Canadian, dr. John McCrae who was working as part of an advanced surgical team in the concrete bunkers close to the front at Flanders field... after one of his best friends died in his arms ... he walked away and 20 min later became one of the world’s most well known poets... the monument near the concrete bunkers has a monument showing the poem ‘Flanders field’ in john’s original hand.... to see the small red poppies growing in the mud amongst the horrors the he must have seen as a doctor at the front....to me attests to the human ability to see beauty in a place where so many forget what beauty even is.... This visit has given Remembrance day a whole new and deeper meaning for me. (aja said you can tell he was a doctor because you can't read his writing :D)

Who controls the rain

In the olden days people thought that a host of gods controlled the rain and all of nature....some today are content to blame those who step on spiders... others think of man’s actions causing changes in the weather with global warming.... but as mark twain says... everyone complains about the weather but no one ever does anything about it..... aja and i also did nothing about it except to read and stay dry... one more month in northern Europe enjoying the fall.... then we head south to israel ... if the rain follows us there they could really use it so no problem again...

Rainy Day in Brussels

Fall is approaching in Northern Europe and we spent a rainy day watching what the locals do when the fall rains hit.... they go to small cafe’s in small awning protected cobble stone streets and drink beer and eat muscles, snails, clams and oysters... or maybe that is just what the tourists do.... aja and i drank tea and read and even contemplated buying an umbrella... in the end, however, we just read, relaxed and snacked on french fries and waited for the rain to stop... so great to be in no particular rush some days... (remember you can click on the pictures to see them larger)

Nuts for Nutella

From the size of the Nutella bottle you can see the locals,with their love of waffles, can’t get enough of the stuff.... as well if you don’t want to put plain Nutella on your waffle you can have Nutella Ice-cream instead with whip cream..... where is some good old Canadian maple syrup when you need it.... i guess they have not figured out how to make it from the maple trees the Canadians have planted in Belgium.

Waffles

What would a trip to Belgium be without trying the chocolate and the Belgian waffles... the waffle stands line many streets .... waffle making is seen as an art and waffles are are made with great care and precision.... tasty tasty tasty.... on the other hand we were in Brussels and did not think of having brussle sprouts.... some customs and things are just more worth trying than others....

Anne Frank

The main reason i wanted to bring Aja to Amsterdam was to see and experience part of the Anne Frank story.... the street and place where she and seven other people remained hidden for two years before being discovered and shipped off to concentration camps is still alive with her spirit... it is hard to imagine the autrocity done to 6 million people but when you come face to face with one single one of them.... you are moved to tears by her story.... to imagine the other 5 999 999 stories would drive you mad.... let us not forget the six million.... and let us not forget the one... aja and i will never forget Anne and are looking forward to reading her diary...

Van Gough

One of my all time favorite painters is Van Gogh... the museum was amazing... the art mind blowing.... I can't wait to take up my own paint brush again.. inspired as i was at the three stories of large rooms full of his art.... he painted with a wild style still seen in the bike riding skills of the modern dutch