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2nd May - Ypres, Belgium
Ypres is best known as the site of major battles of the First World War, the most famous being the Battle of Passchendaele from July — November 1917.
On that front during that period, British losses had amounted to more than 54,000 killed, wounded, and missing. The French lost at least 50,000 at Ypres, while the Belgians suffered more than 20,000 casualties at the Yser and Ypres.
I have visited Ypres many times and always pay my respects at the Menin Gate which is engraved with the names of nearly 55,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers lost on the field of battle but with no known graves
3rd May - Bruges, Belgium
The Belgians invented french fries, not Americans. Locals understand
French but are offended when tourists assume that Bruges' native language is French, it is actually Flemish/Dutch! A must watch movie is In Bruges
3rd May - Kinderdijk, Netherlands
There are 19 windmills in Kinderdijk built as part of a larger water management system to prevent flooding. Today they symbolize Dutch water management and in 1997 they were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
4th May - Kaukenhof, Netherlands
We drove up to a small place called Monster along miles of embankments which had a sea of glass houses either side. In the evening we met up with Ray and Janice - old friends who treated us to the amazing Dutch hospitality. The following day, we went to Keukenhof, also known as the Garden of Europe, one of the world's largest flower gardens . From the official website, approximately 7 million flower bulbs are planted in the gardens annually. Not the best pics in the world .. the colours and the bright sunshine made it a little difficult.
5th May - Vejle, Denmark
It would have been great to stay another day with Ray and Janice, but we had a tight schedule. So, after a stopover in Flensburg on the German - Danish border, we continued North and had a quick look round Vejle.
The apartment building is called The Wave, and the other building is the museum which holds a number of etchings by Rembrandt
5th May - Jelling, Denmark
We went further into Jutland and took the opportunity to look around Jelling, an impressive and significant archaeological Viking site in Denmark containing a series of important 10th century finds. Originally the royal home of the Gorm the Old, Jelling and the stones (called Denmark's Birth Certificate) remains a vital part of Denmark’s history, particularly as this Viking king was the first of the royal line which still rules the country today.
Gorm and his son, Harald I Bluetooth (yes, That Bluetooth), erected several monuments at Jelling including a pair of enormous grave mounds, which are the largest in Denmark. These are set within the outline of a stone ship structure and still incredibly well-preserved. Gorm was buried in the larger one, although the second one may not have been used.
There are also two runic stones at Jelling, the larger one thought to have been 'built' by Harald and the smaller by Gorm before him. The runic stones known as the Jelling Stones stand before Jelling Church or ‘Jelling Kirke’ which dates back to around 1100. Jelling Kirke was the third such church to have been built on the site, a former wooden version from 900 AD having been built by Harald who converted to Christianity. This conversion is also evidenced by a figure of Jesus on one of the stones.
May 5th - Hirtshals, Denmark
Overnight ferry to Norway. A lovely crossing and starting to get 'fresh'
6th May - Stavanger, Norway
Around the year 872, King Harald Fairhair united the still disparate parts of the Norwegian realm here, an event commemorated by Viking sword sculptures.
The plans we had for Stavanger were drawn out with military precision. Arrive early on ferry, visit Sverd i Fjell, then on a 150km 3hour drive to Lysebotn by crazy road (as in pic), stop off for lunch at the amazing looking Kjerag restaurant, Down into Lysebotn to catch the pre-booked, pre-paid ferry to cross Lysefjord. Hike to Preikestolen, then on to our lovely camp in the middle of nature.
Reality? It rained incessantly from our arrival, but we soldiered on. The drive to Lysebotn was thwarted by a random road closure after 120 km, but before the interesting bits. On the way back to Stavanger, the rain relented a little for a few pics and then on to our accommodation .... as in the pic!. The first pic is what I thought I had booked, the last 2 show what we got! The pics don't show the mud.
7th May to Bergen, Norway.
Driving through Etne, Skare, Odda, Jondal and Kvamskogen.
A day on the road through Hardanger - A grand 150 km. in length, the Hardangerfjord is considered the king of the fjords. Hardanger Vidda is the largest mountain plateau in Northern Europe. This area has so many dramatic waterfalls (foss), and we seemed to stop at each one. The drive gave Sunatcha the opportunity to show off her new Norwegian Sweater.
We arrived at our Farmstay accommodation - a bit better that the previous day's experience. It's difficult to review the 'hotel' because there were sheep living inside the same building .... a bit stinky in places, but wasn't really a problem.
8th May in Bergen.
Bryggen is an UNESCO World Heritage site. The Hanseatic wharf is a remnant from when Bergen used was a key centre for trade between Norway and Europe. The narrow alleys between the merchants' homes and warehouses still reek of tar and wood, and haches open to reveal the pulleys that 500 years ago were used to load salt, cod, fish oil, furs, beer, wine, swords etc.
The 58 carefully preserved wooden houses don't go back into the middle ages , but date back to the 1720 fires. The houses were built to their original style.
9th May - From Bergen to Flåm
The road to Flåm passes through Voss. We had lunch by the lake and put the drone in the air. I managed to get the beast way across the lake and had a local guy looking over my shoulder and was impressed at the range etc. He mentioned that there was a hidden gorge under the distant drone location, so off we trot and found the little gem .... a delight.
Carried on through the very many tunnels on the route, but we did take a little detour for a toilet bereak! The photos don't show the facility very clearly, so ....
The toilet above the wild river at Skjervsfossen - a little disconcerting, but a relief.
10th May - Flåm
We stopped over just outside Flåm - first 3 drone pics shows the location nicely. When the tourist descend on the town, it can be a little 'busy'. We were fortunate enough to avoid them and went up to the Stegastein viewpoint. Sometimes the route was a bit scarey, but the effort was worth it. We went further in an attemt to cross the Aurlandsfjellet but found the road was still closed. Sunatcha's playing in the snow in the middle of May shows why the had to find an alternative route.
Running underneath the Aurlandsfjellet and connecting Oslo to Bergen is the Lærdal Tunnel - at 24.5 km (15.23 miles) long, the longest road tunnel in the world, meaning it's the longest tunnel that you can drive through.
11th May - To Ringerike
I'm splitting this trip into 2 stages because I think the Urnes Stave Church was something special. The UNESCO-listed building – which is the oldest stave church in Norway and dates back to 1130 – is truly amazing.
The dark, mysterious building and its idyllic location wouldn’t look out of place in Lord of the Rings.
Norway's stave churches are unique among religious buildings; the framework of the mediaeval wooden structures comprises staves reminiscent of ships' masts, which is why they are also known as 'mast churches'.
The amazing carvings represent the eternal fight between good and evil.
11th - 12th May - to/from Oslo
We saw a few more sombre Stave churches en route to Ringerike. The newer church just North of Oslo was such a contrast.
Our AirBnB accommodation in Ringerike was superb. I wish we had time to stay for a week. I sent the drone up for the Olympic ski jump .... managed to
get a couple of shots before the Gestapo arrived, and made a hasty getaway.
Sadly, we didn't really have much time in Oslo, and the little we did was
spent driving round a very complicated road system.
13th May - Copenhagen, Denmark.
At over 19 hours, we had a mini cruise on the overnight ferry from Oslo through to Copenhagen. When I booked it, I think there was a glitch in the ferry site's system. I managed to get a cabin, 2 people and the car on the ferry for under 100 Euro! saving a long drive and an extra night in an expensive hotel.
Just off the ferry we found a little area with some fun pieces of art. Among the pieces was the new improved version of what is arguably one of Copenhagen's most iconic tourist attractions, the sculpture of The Little Mermaid we found the 'Genetically Modified Little Mermaid'
Even though most of the sights that I wanted to see were within easy walking distance, it rained quite a lot while we were in there so we didn't manage many.
14th May - Roskilde
Roskilde was the capital of Denmark until 1443. Many Danish kings have been buried here.
We had a stop off to see the Viking ship museum. There was a boatload of tourists flayling the oars in the water trying to row one of the Viking boats ...... obviously their first time. 30 minutes later, they were heading out to sea in very choppy waters! The bike meet had a few nice specimens. Finished off the visit with a well deserved beer.
15th May - Belsen Bergen
We started this road trip on 2nd May by paying our respects at the Menin Gate in Ypres. We continued to the Netherlands during their Armistice 'celebrations' - liberation from German occupancy in 1945 - on 4th May.
It seems apposite to book-end the trip with a visit to Belsen Bergen concentration camp, where 53000 people were liberated by the British on 15th April 1945. The
British troops burned down all of the wooden buildings to avoid disease, but the numerous mass graves are still intact. It is noteable that Anne Frank and her sister were buried here.
16th May - Ghent, Belgium
Even though I had an open return ferry ticket, the ferry operator still insisted on silly money to change my booking at short notice, so had to stay over one more night .... and Ghent made up for the annoyance.
My first time in Ghent and it was a very pleasant surprise. Very picturesque and more churches and cathedrals than you can shake a stick at. If I'm ever back sur la continent, I will visit this place again.
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