Another busy day, lots of walking. After our buffet breakfast in the hotel, we set off in a light drizzle with the head of the local tourist company on a walking history tour of Bruges. We crossed the canals and "Every bridge has a story," she told us. We went on a canal boat ride and saw a different view of the city. I think the town is charming and could easily live here - well, maybe rent a week, prices are very high. At the end of our boat ride, we visited a lace shop and the proprietor showed us how lace is made and how to tell lace made in Belgium vs. India or handmade lace vs. machine manufactured. Beautiful things, and I did buy a lovely lace sachet bag, embroidered with lavender which I will fill with the buds from Lavender Hills Farms. Also the shop featured many tapestries, wall hangings to purses. I resisted temptation, but did purchase a brass bell pull (with an actual bell on it!) for my mother's needlepoint at the cottage.

After our visit, MarySue & Richard joined us for lunch at Cambrinus, Steven's second favorite restaurant in Bruges. We had wonderful onion soup with Flemish cheese and cheese croquettes with the local beer on tap. We stopped by the post office for stamps, and starting with greetings in Dutch, I found even the postman speaks English! And he could tell we weren't locals!

We returned to the hotel to hop on the bus for a trip to Ypres (Ieper in Flemish). About 1 ½ hour drive from Bruges, the town of Ypres is quite similar: cobblestones, city wall, lovely architecture. We went straight to the Flanders Field Museum of World War I. Our local guide, Florin, was a walking history book on WWI. We then drove to see the Essex cemetery where McCrea wrote the poem, "In Flanders Field the poppies grow" and learned his story. We saw several cemeteries both British and German, but the American cemeteries were too far away. We walked through a reconstructed trench, and even saw an unexploded (supposedly) bomb lying beside the roadway! About a hundred corpses are still discovered every year.

We had dinner at a wonderful restaurant in Ypres: pea soup followed by local beef stew, salad, hearty wheat bread with ice cream and wine or beer. Steven and I had an interesting talk on politics, since the second Presidential Debate was scheduled for tonight. Steven told me something very interesting: in Belgium and the Netherlands, politicians have only ONE MONTH to campaign! Don't I wish it the same at home!

From the restaurant, we walked to the Mennen Gate of the city of Ypres where each evening trumpeters play the final Post, their version of "Taps". Very moving ceremony. What a wonderful day of history - history that I once taught.

TOMORROW: The Atlantik Wall, the village of Damme and lots more walking!