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Arnhem- A Walk Through Sonsbeek Park to the Open Air Museum
Alison and I are setting out this morning to walk to some of the top attractions in the city of Arnhem, Holland. Here’s why. Liberation Tour 2105 Liberation Tour 2015 is winding down with the second of three days of events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Holland by forces made up of many […]
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The Liberation of Holland is Celebrated at Groesbeek
Liberation Tour 2015 wrapped up our tour of WWI sites with the Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate in Ypres. After that Alison and I made a detour to visit the grave of her uncle John Weir at Calais Canadian War Cemetery. In the morning we head northeast, passing by Ghent, Antwerp and into Holland. Our […]
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Calais Canadian War Cemetery – A Visit To An Uncle Never Met
In my last post we visited the largest Commonwealth War Cemetery, Tyne Cot and I contemplated the senseless slaughter that took place in the Ypres area over the entirety of WWI. From there we are headed into Holland for events related to its liberation by Canadian troops in 1944-45, however, Alison and I are […]
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Tyne Cot – The Largest Commonwealth Cemetery in the World
For the past two days Liberation Tour 2015 has been based in Ypres, Belgium where no less than five major battles were fought in WWI, encompassing a period from October 1914 to October 1918 – in other words, the whole bloody war. Canadians were involved from April, 1915 when they were victims of the first gas […]
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Passchendaele Battlefield – Understanding the Canadian Role
In a previous post I described the Canadian role at the battles that took place around the small city of Ypres in 1915 and 1916. We suffered over 14, 000 casualties in those battles, but it wasn’t over yet; after Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele Battlefield is probably the most notable of once obscure places along the Western Front, […]
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Kawarthas – Fantastic Fishing on the Trent-Severn Waterway
The Kawarthas lake system, just north of Toronto, is legendary for the quantity and variety of fish species that can be caught this close to a major metropolitan area or at least that’s what the tourist jargon would have you believe. I must say I was skeptical about these claims, but having just returned from […]
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Ypres – Five Battles and the Canadians Get Gassed
We just finished up visiting one of the largest war cemeteries in the world at Notre Dame de Lorette as well as Cabaret-Rouge Cemetery where many of the Canadians who died at Vimy Ridge are buried. Liberation Tour 2015 now prepares to roll into the small Belgian city of Ieper, which to Canadians has and […]
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Cabaret Rouge Cemetery – How to Stay Sane While Visiting
Liberation Tour 2015 started the day with a visit to the Vimy Ridge Monument after which we visited the trenches and tunnels of the battlefield. Despite the cool damp weather, I think most people felt pretty good about visiting the monument and learning about Canada’s most famous WWI battle. From here we got on the […]
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Vimy Ridge Trenches & Tunnels – Exploring the Battlefield
In my previous post I described the lead up to and reasons behind the Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge. Alison and I walked the battlefield proper and visited the Canadian National Vimy Monument, but that’s only half the story. In this post we’ll explore the Vimy Ridge trenches and tunnels in an effort to better understand […]
From the road
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April 20th, 2023
I’ve had a bad case of writer’s block since getting back from Southeast Asia, but I did finish this post on the fan… https://t.co/HoJjP4jeha
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April 12th, 2023
One of the main reasons to visit the Galapagos is to see the giant tortoises. This latest post explains where you c… https://t.co/mQ8PWha8j3
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April 11th, 2023
Spring is very late this year so it’s nice to see the crocuses finally show up. https://t.co/7HD6wvsEJ6
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April 9th, 2023
Sunday morning is a good time to reflect back on another Sunday in Reading, England which I wrote about here:… https://t.co/EJ4Is2NSqz