Belgium-Russia: 1-0!

Not being very interested in soccer, we decided anyway to enjoy the "ambiance" on 't Zand, a square were they had a giant screen and 12.000 very enthousiast soccer fans. The winning goal was made in the last minutes and we all partied into the night!

Summerboys

People enjoying sunny spring weather in a public parc. Ostend.

A little American house in Flanders fields.

One can find this little treasure at the Memorial Museum in Zonnebeke; one of the many little prefab houses donated by the United States to help those who lost their home due to the war. I think it dates from the early twenties, and it got even severly damaged during a wwii bombing. 

Memorial Museum Passchendale

The Great War

Reconstructed trenches, Memorial Museum Passchendaele, Zonnebeke.

Memorial Museum Passchendaele

The Great War started a 100 years ago and is still very present in the- nowadays- peaceful Flemish landscape. The memorials and museums are for the moment full of tourists, many of them had a grandfather or great grandfather enlisted during the war. I'm a bit jealous when I see how well prepared British children are when they visit the area, and how well they understand the importance and impact of the Great War. Alas, in West-Flanders itself one can only notice a rapidly diminishing interest amongst local youngsters. We need more projects like this: "James Joins Up"

El "Mercator"

Uno de los mayores atractivos del puerto de Ostende es el bergantín "Mercator", que previamente fué buque escuela de la flota mercante de Bélgica. Fué diseñado por el explorador belga de la Antártida Adrien de Gerlache, y recebió su nombre del famoso cartógrafo flamenco Gheeraert Mercator y fué construido en Escocia en 1932.
Sirvió de buque escuela hasta 1960 y es museo desde 1961. Aparte de ser un buque escuela se utilizó también en expediciones científicas.
Su viaje más famoso tuvo lugar en 1936 y se dirigió a Molokai para traer de vuelta los restos del padre Damián.
Hoy en día domina orgulloso la marina de Ostende y merece ciertamente una visita.

El "Mercator"

The ladies of Ghent.

Lovely ladies in Ghent, there are lots of them!

Zeebrugge