Ypres

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FriendlyFriday21-2901-Special-Treats

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Visual treats

Visiting Notre de Dame de Paris was a real treat…

…made all the more special after the Cathedral…

…was ravaged by fire with 12 months.

I guess I have seen the Eiffel Tower…

…lit up in movies, however seeing it

in person was fantastic.

The Moulin Rouge was also a

must see in Paris.

I doubt that even in my younger days

would I have gone fishing

in the vicinity of white water…

 

…let alone the white water of Victoria Falls.

An optional helicopter flight over Victoria Falls…

 …to view the effect the rushing waters of

the Zambezi River has had on the landscape

leaving previous falls sites high and dry.

A goodbye London special treat was

a ride on the London Eye.

 

Well worth the time for some nice views of London…

…after dark.

Finally…

…after hearing my Father speak of Menin Gate

from time to time, I was pleased to find

a tour group that included a visit

to Menin Gate in its

Western Front itinerary.

 

So it was that in early June of 2017,

before a relatively small crowd, I was

part of the ceremony that commemorates

the Great War each and every night.

Three local buglers performed the last post

in a simple but moving ceremony at Ypres’

Menin Gate, in Belgium

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FriendlyFriday:...Special-Treats

Amanda                       Sandi

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FOWChallenge-Brass

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brass

* brass wind instruments
(including trumpet, horn/bugle, and trombone)
forming a band or a section of an orchestra.
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Menin Gate  Buglers

Ypres,

Belgium.

Silver plated bugles made of brass

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Fandango’s One Word Challenge:...Brass

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One-Word-Sunday-Spectacle

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Over many years…

… I had heard of Menin Gate.

Menin Gate is probably the most well known entrance

to the City of Ypres in Belgium.

 

Each evening at 2000 hours buglers play

the last post for the gathered crowd.

In 2017 the spectacle was supervised

by two lions on loan from…

 

Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium

…the Australian War Memorial.

Originally the lions were donated to Australia

by the Mayor of Ypres in 1936.

 

Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium

Although the crowd was not as large as previous nights.

After the event those who wished

could lay a wreath in memory

of the fallen.


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One Word Sunday Challenge:  Spectacle

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One-Word-Sunday-Arch

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Archways in the centre of

Hamilton Botanical Gardens,

New Zealand.

Arch of Victory

spanning

Ballarat’s Avenue of Honour

The Ballarat Avenue of Honour is famous for being the first avenue of its kind in Australia (perhaps in the world) and the longest of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

It incorporates the Ballarat Arch of Victory and extends for approximately 22 kilometres.

(Source:bih.federation.edu.au)

Arc de Triomphe, in Paris

Finally, the…

…Arch in Ypres’

Menin Gate

in Belgium.

I had heard my Father talk of

Menin Gate all my life.

So my 2017 visit was a

truly moving experience,

to visit the battlefields

and pass along the same roads

as my Grandfather did,

during World War I,

all those years ago.

Certainly Australia’s best known arch.

Not sure how it rates on a world stage

although we are constantly told

it is recognised the world over.

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One Word Sunday Challenge:  Arch

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A-Photo-a-Week-Challenge-Vacation-2020

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This year we had planned another African Safari, in June.

However, our sighting the zebra crossing…

…the leopard sleeping…

 

…lion cubs at play…

 

…or the pride at rest is no longer on our 2020 agenda.

I just hope everything is back to normal in 2021.

 

 

In 2016 we travelled to the northern hemisphere

where we discovered black lion statues.

We decided that the lions above were

nearly as interesting as their cousins

in previous photos, particularly as we had

been reading books in which they featured.

This lion in a rock was a bonus

which neither of us had heard.

In 2018 we discovered these lions guarding a bridge

which is an entrance to a park named

after the16th Earl of Derby

on the North American continent, in a west coast city,

in a country which had not fought

a war of independence.

In 2017 while visiting the

Western Front Battlefields

of World War I…

 

…I came upon two more lions guarding this Gate.

These lions, gifted to Australia after World War I,

were temporarily returned for

World War I Centenary Clebrations.

I was lucky to capture these images as the lions

were being returned to Canberra in November 2017.

***

The word lion/s and some nearby text in Google

will find the location if I have been too vague.  🙂

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A Photo a Week Challenge:  Vacation-2020

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Cee-BW-Challenge-Fences-n-Gates

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First up…

…the type of fence I think of when I hear the word.

A back gate into Geelong Grammar School.

 

That rather flimsy fence was all that

separated animals and visitors.

A sturdy Hobbiton Gate

A Westminster Abbey gate.

My favourite gate….Menin Gate,

Ypres, Belgium

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Cee’s Black & White Challenge:  Fences-n-Gates

Black_White

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SUNDAY-STILLS-PC-Gates

 

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Menin Gate

in Ypres,

Belgium

 

 

Gateway arches into the enclosed gardens

at Hamilton Gardens in New Zealand

 

At the time we visited MGW told me that

this yellow gate was linked to a similar gate

in a movie.

I will always remember it as the gate

into the concept Garden at

Hamilton Enclosed Gardens,

in New Zealand.

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SUNDAY STILLS PHOTO:  Gates

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Word-of-Day-Challenge-Barrage

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barrage
noun
“his forces launched an artillery barrage on the city”

Obviously not a photo which I have taken,

however, one which has been in my possession

for a long time, because…

…it depicts my Grandfather in his role,

during World War I,

near Ypres.

Records show he was active along

the entire Western Front and therefore

the catalyst behind my visit to Arras in 2017.

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Word of the Day Challenge: Barrage