Travel Bug

I thought I'd got it out of my system. But apparently it was only lying dormant, waiting for the next trip.

I am talking about the Travel Bug, and once you get it, there's no way of ridding it, the only thing you can do is to keep fuelling your habit with new places, different cultures, exotic fashions and strange music. This particular trip was for our Europe Field Trip, predominantly staying in The Netherlands and Belgium for a week, with a (very) brief stay in France.

I have been to The Netherlands before (that's where I was born and spent the first 6 years) but Belgium was new to me, and I was especially excited to stay in Bruges (after having seen In Bruges). Arriving after dark did not bode well, as it was the architecture that I was most looking forward to, and even though it was very pretty all lit up, I was determined to see it in daylight. A 6 am start is most certainly worth it - although in early March I would strongly suggest wrapping up warm.

Our trip took us to a number of War Memorials. When we went it was a perfect day; crisp, bright blue sky with big puffy white clouds. It seemed to complement the overwhelming sadness of the hundreds of bright white graves (most of them unnamed) in a kind of beautiful peace.

It didn't however take away the point that war always has its victims - however proud they were to be a part of it.

Bruges

Kroller Muller Museum

Easily one of the highlights for me was the architecture. Especially that of The Netherlands, in particular Lelystad; a place built on reclaimed land, with some of the most wacky and 'out there' buildings - both commercial and domestic.