24 Hours in London Photography Tour

I love London.  And even if I am only there for a short 24 hours for exploring, I try to do as much as I can.  Fortunately, I've done most of the touristy things, so it allows me to find other ways to experience the city.  This visit, I decided that since I had my tripod with me, I was going to make sure to get out for some night photography.  Of course, daytime photography would also be a requirement. And seeing a West End show is an absolute must when I'm in town - in this case it was American actor, Kevin Spacey, in a one-man limited engagement production of "Clarence Darrow, set in the round.  I thought he was a great actor before seeing that play, and now I think he's one of the best!

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of my favorite photographs from this whirlwind tour of Londontown!

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A Week in Belgium: WWI Centennial in Flanders Fields

For this "Week in Belgium" series, I have already talked about the three popular destinations of Brussels, Bruges, and Ghent.  While they are great destinations, interestingly, the actual inspiration for selecting Belgium as one of my travel destinations this year was the 100 year anniversary of the start of World War I.

Over Christmas, Apple had a promotion where they offered a free item each day from iTunes - an app, a song, a book, etc.  One of those days, they offered a free copy of the Lonely Planet 2014 Travel Guide, which included a section on Belgium and the centennial.  I like the idea of purpose driven travel, so it went on the 2014 "to do and see list."

I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge of the events of WWI is limited.  I am much more familiar with WWII (side note: today is the 70th anniversary of D-Day).  That being said, I have a deep appreciation for history and respect for the veterans who fought to give me the world in which I live today.  Besides online research, I like fact checking the details with my dad, who has a passion for history, as well, and a plethora of retained knowledge from all the books he has read and documentaries he has watched.  Even he had a difficult time in trying to summarize the lead up to the war and the subsequent four years of trench warfare that resulted in such horrific consequences for so little movement on either side - nerve gas, bombs, living conditions.  What I suspect is that WWI occurred at a time when the world was transitioning from the way wars had been fought previously to a much more mechanized style of warfare, as evidenced by the failure of the trench system and the use of horses against machine guns.  Armies were just not prepared with a reference of past experience on how to generate strategies for troop advancement under these conditions.  I should probably stop there, lest my ignorance on the subject REALLY start to reveal itself!

Since I only had approximately a day to drive around the Ypres Salient lines, I selected as much as I could from a list I found online, assuming the info was recognized by my GPS.  Actually this is a good time to share some thoughts I had while in Belgium on driving in Europe, especially if you are alone which I was this particular day.  First, it is in everyone's best interest to know how to drive a stick-shift/manual car.  Most car rentals are manual in Europe, and it's also more fun to drive I think.  Second, and this may seem ridiculous but, be comfortable pumping gas.  There are a few states in the U.S. where you are not allowed to pump your own gas.  The reality is, no gas-no drive, so it's a clear situation in my mind.  Third, rent the navigation system!  It may cost a lot, but just do it.  Getting out of medieval cities is a nightmare.  I believe I have a great sense of direction, but even I was frustrated in Bruges and Ghent, and let's not even talk about Seville in Spain!  Next, whatever you do, only use the left lane for passing.  Many Americans at home forget this rule or feel like they need to be righteous speed pacers for others who are going over the limit, but in Europe you are a serious danger if you go the speed limit in the left lane. Passing only, and pass quickly! Finally, it never hurts to over plan!  Underplanning means you will use all those precious international data GBs you purchased on your phone on maps and directions, and not on fun things like social media.  Now that I've digressed enough, here is my short tour of the WWI front lines of Flanders.

The Trench of Death, Diksmuide

This is last remaining part of the Belgian front in The Great War - built by the Belgians, after their arrival in mid-October 2014, to hold off the advancing Germans and not allow them to gain any more territory in the country.  Men fought in this trench for 4 years, sometimes just yards away from a German trench.  It was imperative that the line held here, since it was the northernmost point of the front on the IJzer River, and if the position fell to the Germans, a large-scale army could then penetrate the line and attack the allies from behind, thereby changing the course of the war.

Tyne Cot Cemetery, Vijfwegestraat in Zonnebeke

This is a WWI Commonwealth cemetery and the final resting place of many soldiers that died in the Passchendaele and Langemark regions of the front.  The land, itself, was held by both sides of the war at various points.

The Pool of Peace - the Mine Crater at Spanbroekmolen, Kruisstraat near the town of Wijtschate 

In an attempt to break through the German stronghold on the hills outside of Ypres, the British Royal Engineers began to dig tunnels and place mines.  This crater was created by one of those mines discharging.

Ieper (Ypres)

You may not believe this, but when you visit Ieper (Ypres), also called Wipers by the British troops, you will be walking in a city has been entirely rebuilt - including the magnificent Cloth Hall that dominates the grote markt central square.  During WWI, German bombs leveled the town to rubble, and unlike other cities rebuilt after the war, Ieper used German reparation funds to rebuild the grote markt and surrounding historical center nearly exactly as it was before the war.

In Flanders Fields Museum: Inside the Cloth Hall is the popular museum that walks you through the timeline of the war through video stories and artifacts.

Menin Gate:  This memorial at the end of Menenstraat carries the inscriptions of all the British and Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Ypres Salient front through August 15, 1917.  The remaining names from August 16 to the end of the war are inscribed on the entrance gate to the Tyne Cot cemetery.  At 8pm every night, since July 1928 except for when the town was under German occupation in WWII, buglers close the road through the memorial and play the "Last Post."

That concluded my day of driving around the countryside.  There were several other items on my list, but I just couldn't figure out the magic words to program into my GPS so that it recognized where I wanted to go.  By the way, a simple foreign road trip amusement for me was listening to the GPS "lady" try to pronounce all the Flemish roads!  It was a mess!

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A Week in Belgium: Ghent

Ghent was by far my favorite city of the week.  It had all the charm of Bruges without the crowds. That's all you need to know.  Just kidding, I'll tell you more about why I loved this city.  First, it had a plethora of opportunities for photography enthusiasts.  Not only did the city look great in the daytime, but it got better at night.

As a way to orient yourself, we found that spending the 6.50 euros on a 40-50 minute canal tour was perfect.  There are several boat operators located near the bridges.  If you stay somewhere in the vicinity of the Gravensteen castle or the old Graslei harbor, you're less than a 10 minute walk from everything you want to see and everywhere you want to eat or drink.

From the canal, down Sint-Baafsplein you can see the three dominating structures of the historic area:  St. Nicholas Church, the Belfry topped with its golden dragon, and St. Bavos Cathedral.  The belfry is the place to go if you're into climbing stairs in order to get fantastic views of the city.  Bavos is renowned for having the famous Jan van Eyck altarpiece, The Adoration of the Lamb.  You may recognize this piece of art from the recent movie "The Monuments Men," as it was one of the stolen art items recovered by the Americans from the Nazis after the war.

 

I spent a lot of time photographing the old harbor, located between the Hooiaard and Sint-Michielsplein bridges.  There are passable restaurants there, if you're in need of a bit of food, but the better neighborhood to explore is the area around Gravensteen Castle or on Jan Breydelstraat. Make sure to check opening times, as some restaurants we wanted to try were randomly closed in the middle of the week.

 

Now that I'm done editing, I feel like my photographs barely scratched the surface of the beautiful 12th to 18th century architecture in this historic part of Ghent that we observed.  I had actually considered returning to the city to do more on my way back to Brussels at the end of the week, but just didn't have enough time.  Fortunately, that means I have a reason to return in the future!

We opted to not tour Gravensteen castle, the Castle of the Counts, because I had already been to several castles and a torture museum in my travels.  I can imagine the fun kids can have wandering around the historic structure, and the views I hear are great without all the belfry climbing.

Of course, we were in Belgium, which means the beer tour continued in Ghent.  Our two preferred places were the Waterhuis aan de Bierkant with its canal views and Dulle Griet, where you are required to temporarily give up a shoe with your order of Kwak beer in the long, wood-handled glass.  No seriously, they lower a basket down from the ceiling, and you have to put your shoe in it before they raise it back up out of reach!  You get it back when you return the glass.

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A Week in Belgium: Bruges

Bruges is a "can't miss" stop on a tour of Europe.  Nicknamed the "Venice of the north" for it's cute 900 year old canal system and historic buildings, Bruges encourages you to get lost in its history and culture along its medieval streets - I mean literally get lost because medieval street layouts get confusing!  While this city is a European treasure, it's definitely not a hidden secret, so prepare yourself for crowds.  It is a very popular day trip or overnight trip from Brussels, in fact Sandemans New Europe, that I mentioned in my Brussels post, does a quick guided trip out there as well. Depending on the time of year, this popularity will definitely have an impact on the cost of your hotel room (ours was outrageous for what we got!) and your ability to eat at the restaurant of your choice because many are booked.  Plan to spend at least one night, ideally two, so you can also see the city light up and try some of its restaurants.  

I've actually been in Bruges once before when I was in college doing the classic "backpacking experience."  At the time, I was dating someone before I left on my 5 week adventure, and by the time he met me during the last week, I already knew a break up was imminent.  So, all I could think about when we were in Bruges was that dreaded "I'm just not that into you" conversation I had to have with him and I have no other memories of the city.  Thankfully, I did it right this time and wandered the streets like a pro, capturing photos and impressions.  Here are some of my thoughts on what to do in Bruges.

Grote Markt

This is very likely going to be your starting point.  Take your pictures here, but avoid the restaurants if you can because they will be very overpriced for bad food.  For a different perspective, head up to the second level of the Historium where there is a cafe and a nice balcony with a view.  The cafe is free to access, offers a selection of Belgian beer to purchase, and is a good source for free wifi.

Canals

You can take a boat if you prefer, but I think it's equally great to explore by foot.  Some of the more popular views are near the Woolstraat bridge.  Make sure to do the canals both during the day and at night.

Museums

If you like Picasso and Dali, there are currently two exhibitions in Bruges.  The Picasso Expo is housed in an old hospital and includes his work as well as others of his era.  The Dali collection is in the Belfry in Grote Markt, and holds a private collection of Dali work.  I understand it may even be possible to buy original works, including the more "affordable" sketches, from the exhibit.

De Halve Maan Brewery

This is the only brewery that remains in the city center of Bruges.  Established in 1856, this brewery is a great place to not only learn more about the Belgian brewing process but the history of the city.  At only 7.50 euros, the tour is entertaining and you get a full serving of their blond beer at the end!  You will have earned that beer after climbing up and going down many narrow ladders!

Beer

Like other Belgian cities, there are plenty of options for tasting some of the best beer the country has to offer.  I would suggest two places in Bruges for you to try: (1) De Garre is a small bar down an equally tiny alley on Breidelstraat just off Woolestraat and (2) Bierbrasserie Cambrinus on Philipstockstraat has a ridiculously large, 36 page beer menu!

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A Week in Belgium : Brussels

More likely than not, Brussels is going to be your entry point for your travels in Belgium.  I would definitely suggest spending two days minimum in the city.  In my case, I used my two days to sandwich the rest of my adventures - arriving and departing from Brussels.

Arriving in the late afternoon, we took the train into the center of the city.  At only 8.50 euros, this is a cheap and efficient way to cover the distance.  Conveniently, our hotel was right outside the Gare Central, so we didn't have far to go before we could dump our bags and catch our breath after the long night/day of travel.  Of course, with jetlag, it's very important to power through and not take a nap.  So, we set out to explore the area around La Grand-Place, or Grote Markt, to find some food and get our bearings.  I had read that the Rue de Bouchers was a dining tourist trap, and the research proved true; however when you're hungry and tired, you are much more willing to pay for convenience.  Dealing with the aggressive and annoying men shoving menus at you and asking to be your boyfriend, on the other hand, was something I could do without!  If you're on the Rue de Bouchers, you can't miss when it intersects the Galleries Royal St. Hubert indoor shopping area.  Here, you can get your fill of the nicer belgian chocolate manufacturers.  It's not cheap, but it's good!  The Galleries is actually the first covered shopping arcade, built in the mid-19th century and from which other famous arcades in Milan and St. Petersburg were fashioned.

The next morning, we set out to explore the city, starting with the Musée de Magritte.  I am a huge fan of Magritte's surrealism style, preferring his art to others like Dali, and when this museum first opened in the 1990s, I was actually in Brussels but could not get an entrance ticket due to its popularity.  Of course, I wasn't going to miss the opportunity this time, so I went online and not only purchased the tickets in advance but was able to select the first time slot of the day in order to view the exhibits with minimal crowds. At the turnstiles, they will make you check your bags and backpacks into a locker for the price of 2 euros.  While the paintings were nice, I have to admit to experiencing great disappointment.  Some of his best and most famous paintings, in my opinion, were not there!!  It's supposed to be the largest collection of Magritte works, but when its a collection of his lesser known work, I feel the collection size marketing scheme is misleading.

There is a fun opportunity outside the museum, at the windows of the museum shop, that you can't miss: man with a bowler hat mirrors are angled to the sky, so you can take a reflection photo with, hopefully, blue sky and puffy clouds to make your own surrealist composition!  Speaking of the museum shop, don't think I wasn't tempted to buy one of the giant green apples...

Though I was coming back to the city in 7 days, I knew my friend with me was only going to be able to see Brussels that day, and since we had already missed the start time of the free walking tour (more on that later), we set out to check boxes on the "must see" list.  First, we wandered into the craziness of La Grande-Place.

Next, we headed down Rue de l'Etuve to see the infamous peeing naked boy, the Manneken Pis. Unfortunately, he wasn't wearing one of his crazy costumes. Fun fact, there's actually a girl version of this fountain somewhere else in the city - the Jeanneke Pis.

Finally, we hopped on the #6 metro at the Gare du Midi to see the Atomium (Metro: Heysel), a remnant of the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels.

While this ended the Brussels experience for my friend, I made it a point to get back into town for my last day in Belgium in time to hop on one of the free walking tours provided by Sandemans New Europe.  I know I've talked about these tours in other travel posts, having taken advantage of them in Prague, Amsterdam, and Madrid, and I can't stress how much I love them.  It is a great way to not only orient yourself in a foreign city, but you learn lots of new facts and anecdotes you may not get from a guidebook and you may meet some new people along the way.  Since I travel solo often, like in this case, meeting people is the only way to go.  Fortunately, Europe is full of solo travelers looking to find people just like me!  Another selling point is that it's free and gives you the option to value your experience by tipping the guide.  If it's good, I like to give 10 euros.

Our Sandemans tour was led by a fantastic native guide, nicknamed PJ, who was a trooper because he had already led the morning tour before finding out he had to replace another guide on the afternoon tour who had called in sick.  With a scratchy voice from his prior 3 hours of talking, he miraculously kept the oversized group engaged with fun stories as he took us from the meeting point in La Grande-Place, through the main touring areas, ending at the Royal Gardens with stories about Belgium's involvement in WWI and WWII.

In La Grand-Place, I learned more about the bordering buildings: including the non-symmetrical construction story of the Hotel de Ville (and the resulting line of half windows to the right of the off center passageway), the former living space of Karl Marx where he wrote Das Kapital, and the fact that Belgians are not imaginative with their building names.  This one is called the bread house because it's the spot where bakers sold bread through the early 15th century.

We also were expertly told stories of the history of the Belgian people, the role of language in that history (40% French and 60% Flemish/Dutch today), and other crazy factoids I wish I had written down.  Our first stop after La Grand-Place was, not surprisingly, the Manneken Pis.  Along the way, we observed examples of Brussels' comic book heritage, viewing painted wall murals of characters of one of its two famous comics, Tintin.  The other famous cartoon series?  The Smurfs!  I know, I was shocked too!

During the break in the tour, PJ went over the other tours offered by Sandemans (not free, though).  He was going to be leading one that started an hour after this walking tour that was a guide to Belgian beer.  I had been drinking my way through Belgian beer menus all week, so I thought this would be a good way to pair experience and information in order to have it all make sense! My beer tour is going to be in a separate post, so I won't bore you with that here.  The rest of the 2.5 hour tour covered the Bourse stock exchange, the Opera House, Cathedral of St. Michael, and the Royal Garden - which was built by the free masons and has a pathway design in the shape of a compass.  Those sneaky little masons!

Recommended Restaurants: None to write home about, unfortunately
Recommended Places for Beer:

• Au Bon Vieux Temps (old decor with good beer menu, Impasse St. Nicolas 4)
• Manneken Pis (conveniently across from the statue with "interesting" decor)
• Delirium Tremens (much larger social, Impasse de la Fidélité 4)

Recommended Accommodations: We stayed at the Le Meridian across from Gare Central - convenient and clean

Safety Tip:  We walked to the Gare du Midi on the first day to get the metro, and I had an uneasy feeling about the street to and the area around the train station.  I asked my guide about it because I stayed across from Gare du Midi when I returned to the city, since I had an early morning Eurostar train to catch to London, and he said to be careful and highly recommended public transportation at night.  I took a cab because I wasn't taking any chances!

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