Because we hadn’t planned on staying two nights, we had to relocate to a different hotel after our first night. No matter, the second place we found was just a block up the street and both places were very nice.
First night– Hotel Ambrosia
Featuring: a snack machine full of beer, super friendly staff, bicycle rentals, stairs in our room, cheap breakfast.
Second night–Hampshire Hotel O Featuring: an interesting military motif, super delicious breakfast, quiet room with nice street view, big bathtub.
Hotel Ambrosia
Hotel Ambrosia
Steps up to the bathroom in our room at Hotel Ambrosia
After a short train ride from Brussels, we arrived in Ypres fairly starving on Thursday afternoon. We hurried to check in at our hotel, found the quickest food we could (a veggie burger!, frites, and beer at the local fast food place), and headed to the tourist information center which is conveniently located in a building you cannot miss: Lakenhalle (Cloth Hall).
The city is much smaller than Brussels (less than 40,000) and has been completely rebuilt since World War I. I wanted to visit to learn more about the war, having mostly forgotten the contents of an undergraduate class I’d once taken called WWI: Canada’s War of Independence. Eric was not initially interested in war history, but became so during our stay. Not hard in a place like this.
As soon as you step foot from the train station, you are stunned by how beautiful Ypres is– then to find out how much damage it suffered in four years and the scope of reconstruction… There was so much to learn we decided to stay two days.
These pics are from wandering around the town and eating out in Ypres:
Ieper = Ypres
Train to Ghent
Kriek is a cherry flavoured beer. I like.
Chocolate shop
Fried cheese on salad
Dinner w/ beer
More coffee and chocolate
Wandering the streets of Ypres
Wandering the streets of Ypres
Wandering the streets of Ypres
Wandering the streets of Ypres
Wandering the streets of Ypres
Wandering the streets of Ypres
Wandering the streets of Ypres
Wandering the streets of Ypres
Window in Ypres
Geese
Ducks
Riverside
Graffiti by the river
Riverside
Staircase down to the riverside
Door to an old ice house near Menin gate
A church near Menin Gate
Cloth Hall
Cloth Hall
Cloth Hall
Cloth Hall
Vanilla jenever
Beer and vanilla jenever
Beer menu at Old Bill Pub
Old Bill Pub
Hot cocoa after dinner
Cloth Hall
St. Martin’s cathedral
St. Martin’s cathedral (next to Cloth Hall)
Ypres’ Cloth Hall
Donkerpoort
Donkerpoort
Ypres’ Cloth Hall
Ypres’ Cloth Hall
Ypres’ Cloth Hall
Ypres’ Cloth Hall
Ypres’ Cloth Hall
Even fast food restaurants serve chocolates w/ coffee
