Wednesday 30 April 2014

A-Z Blogging Challenge - Zuider Zee

The Zuider Zee was originally a bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands. It extended about 60 miles inland. Storms in the North Sea frequently pushed water into the bay, causing flooding of the areas around it, and loss of life. One the biggest of these occurred in the 15th century when 72 villages were flooded and over 10,000 people died.

Many fishing villages grew up around the bay, and later towns like Amsterdam and Hoorn, which traded with ports in the Baltic Sea, and also with England and Germany.

After another disastrous flood in 1916, it was decided to build an enclosing dam, the Afsluitdijk, which closed the bay off from the North Sea. The resulting inland lake, now called the Ijsselmeer, contains fresh water, and about 580 square miles of land was reclaimed, known as the ‘polders’.

The Afsluitdijk was constructed between 1927 and 1933. It is about 20 miles long, and has locks and sluice gates at each end. As you drive along it, you have the salt water Wadden Sea (an inlet of the North Sea) on one side of you, and the fresh water Ijssel lake on the other.


And this brings me to the end of the 2014 April A-Z Blogging Challenge. I hope you have enjoyed me on my journey around Europe. Many thanks to all who have visited my blog and left comments for me – and apologies to all those whose blogs I didn’t manage to get to.

Tuesday 29 April 2014

A-Z Blogging Challenge - Ypres

Ypres (pronounced ee-prer) is a city in the Flemish part of Belgian. Its official name is Ieper, but its French name is commonly used, mainly due to its role in the 1st World War when French was still in official use in Belgium documents and on maps. The British nicknamed the city ‘Wipers’.
 
During the 1st World War, Ypres was the centre of intense fighting between British and German forces, as it remained an Allied salient on the western front, surrounded on three sides by the Germans. Several major battles were fought in or near the city, in 1914, 1915, and 1917 (the latter usually referred to as Passchendaele)
 
By the end of the war, the city was almost obliterated by artillery shelling, including the magnificent medieval Cloth Hall, which was in ruins.
 
In the 1920s, the centre of the city was rebuilt as close to the original designs as possible, using money from the reparations Germany was obliged to pay as part of the Treaty of Versailles. Many of the medieval houses in the main square have plaques showing the original date of the house, and the date when it was rebuilt. The Cloth Hall now houses the excellent Flanders Fields Museum, dedicated to Ypres’ role in the war.
 
Not far from the main square is the Menin Gate, poignantly placed on the road leading east out of the city, along which thousands of soldiers headed out towards the front line trenches. The walls of the archway are inscribed with the names of over 54,000 soldiers of the British Commonwealth who died in the fighting around the city and have no known grave.
 
During the day, traffic passes normally through the arch, but at a few minutes before eight o’clock each evening, the road is closed to traffic, and often hundreds of people crowd under the archway to hear the Last Post being played by three or more buglers from the local fire brigade. The total silence as this is played makes every hair on your neck and arms stand on end. The ceremony ends with various uniformed groups, or groups of veterans, marching under the archway to lay wreaths of red poppies.
 
The ceremony has taken place every single night since 1928, except for a period during the 2nd World War when the city was occupied by the Germans. They banned the ceremony, but it was resumed on the evening of liberation – 6 September 1944 – even though heavy fighting was still going on in other parts of the town.
 
Here is a short video of the Last Post Ceremony

 

Monday 28 April 2014

A-Z Blogging Challenge - Xmas Markets

Christmas markets originated as Christkindlmarkt in the late Middle Ages in Germany and Austria, but are now held in many other countries. Generally held in the town square and adjacent pedestrian zones, the markets sell food, drink, and seasonal items from open-air stalls. Popular attractions at the market include the Nativity Scene, traditional Christmas cookies, Bratwurst, and for many visitors one of the highlights of the market, Glühwein, hot mulled wine. Some markets also have fairground-type rides or an ice-skating rink.

My first market was in Cologne (Koln) in the shadow of the famous Gothic cathedral.

In Brussels the market is held in the Grand Place and adjoining streets.


In contrast, the Dutch town of Valkenburg holds its Christmas market in the caves below the town.

The only French market I’ve been to (so far) is the one in Lille in Northern France.

But guess what, I’ve not yet been to the Christmas market in my own city of Manchester, even though this has taken place every year since 1998. Maybe this year, I'll get there!

 

Saturday 26 April 2014

A-Z Blogging Challenge - Warsaw

Warsaw, the capital of Poland, is a city of contrasts. Much of the city had to be rebuilt after the World War II when 80% of its buildings were razed to the ground by the occupying German army before they abandoned it to the advancing Soviet army.

During the Communist regime, many prefabricated housing projects were erected to deal with the housing shortage, including the greyish-brown apartment blocks that are typical of Communist countries.

The Palace of Culture and Science was a gift from the Soviet Union, and was completed in 1955. Nearly 800 feet high, it still dominates the centre of the city. The Rolling Stones played here in 1967, the first major rock band from abroad ever to play in Poland.

The historic streets, buildings and churches in the Old Town were restored to their original form, including the Royal Castle (shown here) which was reconstructed from a pile of rubble between 1971 Dating back to the 14th century, the castle was the residence of the Polish kings, then the presidents, and also the seat of parliament.

The Old Town market place (Rynek Starego Miasta) was destroyed by the Nazis and was rebuilt in the 1950s. Originally the centre of the medieval town, the houses were rebuilt in late Renaissance style following the great fire of 1607. These would have been the homes of the rich merchant families.

There are several interesting memorials in Warsaw, commemorating events in World War II.

The Warsaw Uprising, during August and September 1944, was an attempt by the Polish Resistance Army to liberate the city from the Nazis. They hoped for support from the approaching Soviet army, but this didn’t happen, and after pitched battles in different parts of the city over a period of six weeks, the uprising was crushed. It is estimated that about 16,000 of the Polish army were killed, and 8,000 German soldiers. In addition, between 150,000 and 200,000 Polish civilians died, mainly from mass executions. A monument to the uprising was unveiled in 1989. It shows the insurgents emerging from the sewers which had been used for transportation and communications during the uprising.

Another memorial in Warsaw commemorates the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto. The Nazis entered the ghetto on Passover in 1943, but it took them a month to defeat the handful of resistors who fought back.

Another memorial is situated where the Jews were assembled for transportation to the Treblinka extermination camp, as many as 10,000 a day. The Umschlagplatz (meaning collection point) was created by fencing off an area of the railway station that was adjacent to the ghetto. The monument, unveiled in 1988, is inscribed ‘Along this path of suffering and death over 300 000 Jews were driven in 1942-1943 from the Warsaw Ghetto to the gas chambers of the Nazi extermination camps,’ and over 400 of the most popular Jewish first names are shown. The memorial symbolises an open freight car and the gate is surmounted by a grave stone

Friday 25 April 2014

A-Z Blogging Challenge - Verona

Verona, in Northern Italy, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its many historical buildings.
 
It is famous for its Roman amphitheatre, which was completed about 30 A.D. and is Italy’s third largest arena. It was originally used for entertainment and gladiator fights, and its interior is still virtually intact. Today it is used for shows, especially Verona’s opera season every summer.
 
The Piazza del Erbe, once the site of the Roman forum, is now a market place, surrounded by Medieval, Baroque and Renaissance buildings, including the Mazzanti House (on the right) with its frescoes dating from the 16th century.
The Palazzo Maffei at the far end of the square, was built by the Veronese nobleman Marcantonio Maffei in the 15th century. The top of the building is a balustrade with six statues of Roman gods, one of which is said to have come from an ancient temple in Rome.
In front of the palace is a marble column, with St Mark’s lion (the symbol of Venice) on the top. The square’s most ancient monument is a 14th century fountain with a statue of Madonna Verona (you can see the Madonna, but the fountain is hidden by the market stalls).
 
It’s not known if Shakespeare ever visited Verona, but two of his plays are set here: The Two Gentlemen of Verona (thought to be his first play) and, of course, Romeo and Juliet. 'Juliet’s House' is one of the most visited places in Verona. Tourists enter via a graffiti covered entrance way into a small courtyard. You can climb up to balcony (which, incidentally, was only added in 1936 in order to attract tourists!) or touch the bronze statue of Juliet (particularly her right breast), supposedly so that you will be lucky in love. Not that Juliet was very lucky – after a three day romance with her teenage boyfriend, they both killed themselves!

Thursday 24 April 2014

A-Z Blog Challenge - Unusual Memorials

During my travels, I have seen quite a lot of unusual monuments or memorials, so here are some of them:

The Brooding Soldier at St Julien, near Ypres, known as Vancouver Corner, commemorates the loss of over 2,000 Canadian soldiers during the 2nd battle of Ypres, 22-24 April, 1915. This was the battle when the Germans launched the first-ever large scale gas attack. It’s not easy to see on this photo, but the soldier at the top of the 11 metre column is standing with ‘reversed arms’ i.e. resting his hands on the rifle butt with the barrel pointing to the group.


The Soviet Memorial, in Treptow Park, Berlin, was built in 1946 as a ‘symbol of the victory of the glorious Soviet army over Hitler fascism.’ The plinth is granite from the demolished Reich Chancellry, and the bronze sculpture, over 13 metres (36 feet) high shows a Red Army solder with a German child in his arms. You get an idea of the size of this memorial from the small figures climbing up steps to the statue.

The Berlin Holocaust Memorial is only a short distance from the Brandenburg Gate. 19,000 square metres are covered with 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern, all about 8 feet wide, and varying in height from 8 feet to 16 feet. Evidently the design is intended to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and a sense of disorientation. To me, it just seemed very weird.

More moving was the memorial in Krakow, with 33 empty chairs (all 14m high) in what had been the Podgorze ghetto. They are in the square where the inhabitants of the ghetto were assembled to be sent to the extermination camps when the ghetto was liquidated. The chairs represent all the furniture that was thrown out of the surrounding apartments into the street. An alternative explanation I have heard is that they represent the empty chairs left by those who would never return.

Finally, a couple of memorials that seem to represent the ultimate irony of war. The stone memorial on the left marks the place where the first British shot was fired in the 1st World War, on August 22nd, 1914. The wall plaque about 50 yards away on the right marks the place where Canadian Infantry, who were pursuing the retreating Germans, ceased fire at 11am on November 11th, 1918. In the four years between those first and last shots in the small Belgian village of Casteau, hundreds of thousands lives had been lost in the trenches and battlefields on the Western and Eastern fronts.
August 22nd, 1914                                          November 11th, 1918

 

Wednesday 23 April 2014

A-Z Blogging Challenge - Three Dams in Germany

I’m sure many people will remember the film ‘The Dambusters’ (made in the 1950s) about the daring raid of RAF 617 Squadron in May 1943 on three dams in the Ruhr, the industrial heart of Germany.

Destroying a dam can’t be achieved by conventional bombing (since the main strength of the dam is at the base), but Barnes Wallis, an English engineer, invented a different type of bomb – the ‘bouncing’ bomb.

This bomb, shaped like an oil drum, was released from the plane at low altitude, and bounced across the water, similar to a pebble skimming the surface. When it reached the wall of the dam, it sank and then exploded, causing the base of the dam wall to be breached.

617 Squadron was formed in early 1943 for the specific task of destroying the dams, and the crew practised low-level flying over water, particularly over the Derwent dam in Derbyshire. This shows a Lancaster bomber flying over the dam to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Dambusters in 1993.

I first visited the Mohne Dam about 15 years ago, and then returned in 2003, on the 60th anniversary of the raid. It was a weird experience, standing on the dam at 12.28am, the exact time when the first Lancaster flew at very low level (only 60 feet) above the reservoir towards the dam. The aircraft took it in turns to drop their bomb (each plane could only carry one bomb) , and the 5th one finally breached the dam wall, causing a torrent of water to cascade down the valley, destroying everything in its path. The section of the dam that was later repaired is visible as the darker area in the middle of the dam in this photo.

The Mohne Dam after the raid

We also visited the Eder dam, which was breached by another section of the squadron. The area where the sluice gates are missing shows where the dam was destroyed and later rebuilt. The Eder is surrounded by hills, and the pilots had to climb very steeply after releasing the bomb so as to avoid crashing into the hillsides.

The third dam attacked that same night was the Sorpe Dam, which had a different construction, and was attacked by flying along its crest. It was damaged by not destroyed.

Nineteen bombers took part in the raid, eight did not return. Six were shot down either on the outward or return flights, or over the target; two crashed after hitting power cables while low-flying over Germany. In all, 53 of the 133 crew members were killed.

At Woodhall Spa, in Lincolnshire, not far from the Scampton RAF base where 617 Squadron was based, a memorial was erected in memory of the Dambusters.


Tuesday 22 April 2014

A-Z Blogging Challenge - the Somme

At 7.30am on July 1st, 1916, there was an eerie silence along a fourteen mile stretch of the Western Front near the River Somme in Northern France. During the previous 7 days, there had been heavy artillery Allied bombardment, intended to destroy the enemy front trenches. At 7.20am, ten huge mines were exploded, including this one Hawthorn Ridge, a German front line fortification, where Royal Engineer tunnellers planted 40,000 pounds of explosive. This photo was taken from about half a mile away.

Two major errors led to the carnage which followed at zero hour when the infantry advance began. The artillery bombardment had not penetrated the dug-outs some 30-40 feet below ground where the Germans waited, and the silence after the mine explosions alerted them to the fact that the attack was imminent. As a result, when the infantry went ‘over the top’, the German machine guns swept no man's land and artillery fire fell on the British trenches.

By the end of that first day, there were nearly 60,000 casualties, 20,000 of whom were killed outright. Survivors crawled back along no man’s land to reach their own trenches, and total chaos reigned. At first the generals thought it was a temporary set-back, only to realise it was the greatest defeat ever suffered by the British army.

The Somme battles continued for several more months, finally ending on November 14th, 1916. By that time, it was estimated that, for an eventual advance of about six miles, the British army had suffered about 400,000 casualties. The combined losses of the British, French and Germans came to over 1,300,000.

Today the Somme battlefield has reverted to the peaceful French countryside, and it is not easy to imagine the sheer hell it must have been in 1916.

Here’s Hawthorn Ridge, where that enormous mine exploded.

A few miles away is the Lochnager Crater, where 60,000lbs of explosives were detonated at 7.20am on July1st. The explosion thrust earth and rocks to rise about 4,000 feet in the air, and it was reported that it was heard and felt even in London. The crater is 300 feet across and 90 feet deep. Look for the two people at the top of the path leading from the bottom of the crater (in the upper middle part of this photo), and you’ll get an idea of the size.

The gravestones here mark the trench held by the Devonshire Regiment on July 1st. They suffered heavy losses when they advanced from this front line trench and later that day the survivors buried their comrades here, and marked it with a wooden cross, saying, “The Devonshires held this trench. The Devonshires hold it still.”

Near the village of Beaumont Hamel, you can still see the remains of the trenches. This photo shows the front line trenches, and the people in the photo are walking across what would have been No Man’s Land towards the German front line (under the trees in the distance)

At Thiepval, there is a memorial to the missing of the Somme, which contains the names of over 73,000 soldiers killed on this area between 1915 and 1917 who have no known graves.

On a personal note, less than two years after the battle of the Somme, my great-uncle was killed in this area of Northern France, on March 21st 1918, when the Germans launched their spring offensive against the British. His grave is in a small war cemetery just outside the village of Templeux-le- Guerard. He died just six months before his twenty-first birthday.As far as we know, my daughter and I were the first members of his family to visit his grave (in 2009).

Monday 21 April 2014

A-Z Blogging Challenge - River Rhine

I first saw the Rhine when I was 15 when I was with a school group, travelling to a town in Westphalia on an exchange visit. As our train left Cologne Station, it crossed a wide bridge over the river, which runs over 800 miles from the Swiss Alps through Germany and the Netherlands to the North Sea near Rotterdam.
 
Since then I have seen the Rhine countless times, including at Arnhem, where British paratroopers struggled, but failed, to capture the bridge...
Arnhem - 'A Bridge Too Far'
 
...and at Remagen where American forces captured the important railway bridge which was destroyed by the German forces 10 days later, but not before the Allies had been able to establish a bridgehead on the east side of the river (the arrows on the photo show the bridge towers on the east)
.
 
 
The part of the Rhine with which I’m most familiar is the Rhine gorge, between Koblenz and Rudesheim, where the river flows between wooded hillsides, often with vineyard terraces, and in some places between steep cliffs.
 
Small villages nestle at the foot of the hills, and above many of them are the Rhine castles, built by kings, barons and bishops during the Middle Ages. This castle is known as Mouse Castle (officially Thurnberg Castle) built by the Elector of Trier in the 14th century to protect his newly acquired territory. At the same time, one his rivals, the Count of Katzenelnbogen built a castle on an adjoining hillside, which of course became known as Cat Castle.

And here’s something you don’t see every day – a church attached to a bar. Evidently it was once a monastery, but now you have to go through the bar to reach the church, and the priest serves in the bar when not attending to his other duties!

 
One of the most famous sights along the Rhine is the Lorelei, a steep cliff that juts out into the river. Legend has it that a siren sat on top, and lured sailors to their deaths on the rocks below.
 
The Rhine is a working river, and at any time of day or night, you can see the long barges sailing up or down stream, laden with many different cargoes. There are also many cruise ships, both large and small.
 
To end with another R, Rudesheim, at the southern end of the Rhine gorge, is a popular tourist town, especially the Drosselgasse, a narrow lane in the centre of the old town, famed for its bars and restaurants, most with their own live 'bierhaus' bands.

Saturday 19 April 2014

A-Z Blogging Challenge - Quick trip to (and in) Paris

This is cheating slightly, but the only place beginning with Q that I’ve visited was in Canada, and I’m trying to stay in Europe for these posts.

So we’ll take a quick trip to some places in Paris and start with my favourite, Notre Dame Cathedral. There’s a slightly spooky story attached to this. When I was about fifteen (before I ever visited Paris), I had a dream that I was walking along a street in Paris, with three or four storey buildings either side. When the buildings ended on my left, I turned and saw the huge façade of Notre Dame in front of me. That’s all that I remember from the dream but for some reason it stuck in my mind.

My first visit to Paris was about four years later. I was with a friend who had lived in Paris for about a year (during her gap year), and we were due to meet with some friends of hers at a café near Notre Dame. We caught the metro to Ile de la Cite, and when we came out into a narrow street, she said, ‘Come on, it’s this way.’ I knew immediately that Notre Dame was the other way although I had no map and we couldn’t see any part of the cathedral from where we were. Afterwards my friend said I was so insistent that she had to follow me! You’ve guessed it, of course. We turned into the street that I’d dreamt about and came out in front of Notre Dame. One of those strange experiences that I can’t explain.

Whenever I go to the Musee d’Orsay, which was originally a train station, I can’t help but remember this photo of an ‘Oops’ moment. This happened at the Garde l’Ouest, not the Gare D’Orsay, but the stations are somewhat similar, architecturally.

Since 1986, the Musee d’Orsay has housed what is now the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist art in the world. It is a huge gallery, on four floors, but I always make a bee-line to the galleries with the paintings of Monet and Van Gogh.


I first saw all the Impressionist paintings when they were housed in the Jeu de Paume, which was originally a court for playing the ‘palm’ game, a precursor of tennis but played without racquets. The game started to be played with racquets from the 1600’s.

The Jeu de Palme is at the edge of the Tuileries Gardens, near the Place de la Concorde, and was used during World War II to store Nazi plundered art treasures from French Jewish families. Some of this art found its way into Goring’s and Hitler’s collections, but the so-called ‘degenerate art’ (modern art) was sold to other art collectors in Europe to raise funds for the Reich. The museum’s curator, Rose Valland, kept a secret list of items that were sold, and after the war a lot of these works were returned to their rightful owners. George Clooney’s recent movie, The Monuments Men, is based partly on Rose Valland’s work.

My last stop in this quick tour of Paris is Montmartre. I love the narrow streets that wind up to the top of the Martyrs’ Mount, where the Sacre Coeur basilica looks out over the city, and from where you get a fabulous view.

Near to Sacre Coeur is the Place du Tertre, a haven for artists who charge tourists exorbitant prices to make quick sketches or caricatures of them. Although it’s pleasant to sit at one of the tables in the square, you’ll probably pay double the usual price there for a glass of  wine or a cup of coffee!

All around this area are ‘living statues’ – people dressed in white, silver, or gold robes, who stay motionless for hours. We’d passed one statue several times. He was in gold from head to toe, even his face was painted gold, and he didn’t move a fraction – until I happened to slip on some wet cobblestones and went crashing to the ground. The 'statue' immediately leapt off his plinth and rushed to help me up. So that was the first (and only) time I was ‘picked up’ by a statue! Sadly, neither I or my daughter had the presence of mind to take a photo of him, but he looked something like this.
 
And finally, because no trip to Paris would be complete for me without this, here is my favourite café - Le Depart, in the Place Saint Michel - a perfect place to sit in the evening and people watch!