Belgium- Day 7: Raversyde and Oostende - July 11, 2018

When we got up at 7:15, the weather had improved only slightly from yesterday. It wasn't raining, but it was grey, windy and chilly. I could cope with all of that, but rain would be a real problem.
Breakfast was at 8:45 and I didn't rush because where I was going didn't open until 10:30 anyway. I finished at 9:30 and went to get ready for my outing. My sweater and jacket were obviously must wears!
I left the hotel at 9:58 and I was at the tram station on the Maria-Joseplein at 10:15. The woman in the booth understood some English and could speak enough to reject my 50 Euro bill for the 6 Euro day ticket and ask for a credit card. At least, I think she understood that I wanted a day ticket. A round-trip ticket was actually the same price.

After that, it was a matter of figuring out where to stand to catch the tram. I heard a couple speaking English and asked if they knew. We all decided we'd chosen our spot to stand wisely and I learned  that they were from Australia. The tram arrived at 10:20.
It was a nice ride along the coastal road heading west. The water looked rough today and few people were on the beach the farther west we went.The beach got smaller in a hurry. In just 15 minutes, we reached the "Raversijde Domein" stop that had been recommended to me the day before in the tourist office.
There was nothing here but a narrow beach on one side of the road and a hill on the other. Other folks got off and I saw that they headed back eastward a bit to stairs up the hill. The hill is actually a very tall dune covered in tall grass. I followed them, not thrilled with the prospect of climbing. Little did I know...

 When I reached the top, there was a good view of the area. I could see that there was a path along the top headed further west. To the east, I could see some old fortifications. I saw a town and, closer to me, a whole mobile home complex. If you go up a hill, of course, you must go down. At the bottom, there was a road and a sign pointed east to Atlantikwall.

 

It was a pleasant walk along the road, although I did have to get out of the way of at least one car. There were a couple of houses and one had fabulous flowers. I also passed close to the trailer park. I took lots of photos of wildflowers. I discovered that poppies don't just grow in Flanders fields, but on its dunes, in ditches, and, basically, anywhere. I had no idea how far I had to go, but soon I saw flags and a yellow wall to my left.

At one point, I had thought about getting a combo ticket for Atlantikwall and the  historical fishing village nearby, but time would not allow for that. My husband K wanted me to get back in time for a 2 pm concert. So, I paid the man, who spoke perfect English, 8 Euros. He did accept my 50 Euro, and, when I pointed out that the tram lady wouldn't, he said that they never want cash. I then headed across the room, where I was given a free headset and a guide wand. This I would use to put in numbers of exhibits and listen to the descriptions.
There was a relatively small exhibit room that acted as a museum. Oh, I should explain what Atlantikwall is. It is combo word made up of the German word for the Atlantic and an English word, which is weird, since it is what the Germans called it. They first used this in World War I as their protection from the Allies coming by sea and it stretched along the coast. In WWII, they extended it so that it ran from the Franco-Spanish border to Norway. The open-air museum helps to maintain some of the best preserved fortifications. In fact, the Aachen battery, which dates to WW I, is the only preserved German coastal battery from that war. The other battery, the Saltzwedel-neu- is from WWII.

Inside the museum area, there was a display of artillery, and Enigma machine and a few other items. I checked them all out and managed to photograph them through the glass before heading outside.

This whole complex had been a lodge of the King of Belgium. The Germans took it over and used it for a base. Walking around here, you could see the king's cottage as he knew it. There were lovely flowers. Behind the house, there was an incredibly large torpedo. I had to photograph the weird juxtaposition of it and the flowers.

It wasn't long before I was getting too warm for the sweater and jacket, as there was so much climbing. The batteries were built into the hillside and there was a lot of up and down. The Aachenbatterie right now has been given over to an exhibit called "Un/settled" on refugees. It is actually in two parts. This part is on the current situation refugees face. Outside of the Atlantikwall, there is the second part on the Belgians as refugees during the wars. I did not have time to go search for that. The part here consisted of art, video, writings, etc. Some was quite arresting. They put it on the hill, in old bunkers, buildings, etc. So, as you roamed around, you could see the battery and the exhibit.

Before I entered the Aachenbatterie area, a guy handed me a paper locating all the "Un/settled" exhibits just outside a guard box, where you could put on a helmet and pose for a photo. (That struck me as an odd thing for a Belgian kid to want to do, put on a Nazi helmet.) When he heard my voice, he asked if I was American. When I said yes, he asked, if I'd come over with Trump, who is in Brussels causing no end of trouble. I emphatically said no and said that not all of us were for him and that, in fact, most Americans did not vote for him. I'd hoped to avoid mention of him.

There were some places from the war that had been fixed up with mannequins and items to show what it would have been like there for the people stationed there. This area did not see much in the way of action. I think Rommel coming to visit might have been one of the more exciting things to happen there. I was delighted to see so many wildflowers in this place that once held only thoughts of war.

At one point, I could see Oostende off in the distance.

RommelUnderwater barriers

I did my best going up and down, but as I saw time shortening, when I was on the ridge, I realized that one bunker or gun emplacement is pretty much like the others. So, I started skipping stuff and watched for the arrows headed back. I was sweaty from this experience and was grateful for the breeze.
When I got back to the main building, I turned in my headset-which had been invaluable, found a restroom and quickly bought a book about the place for 5 Euros before leaving at 12:50. It was not as far back to the stairs as I'd thought, although it shouldn't have surprised me, because that often seems to be the case on the way back. As I climbed up the dune, there was some blue above.

 I could see the tram coming, when I hurried across the coastal road at 1:08. It was terribly crowded when it stopped 1 minute later. There was a girl with a very large dog laying by the door and I had to get around them to get on. I don't think I managed to validate my ticket.There were no seats and I stood in a large space occupied by a man and a stroller. It was also really, really hot. At another stop, more people got on and wheelchair also boarded. I, of course, was standing where it needed to go. I had to move out of its way and really hang on in the aisle. Not one guy offered his seat, of course.
I was so grateful to get off at 1:20 right behind the hotel. There was more blue in the sky now. When I reached the room 3 minutes later, I found the room was not done. The maid had come in and left at 9:30, when she realized I was there. I just hoped she'd eventually come back. I left my sweater and jacket  and reorganized myself a bit, before leaving again at 1:36.
I was at the Thermae Palace to meet K at 1:45. I was not happy to hear that he'd paid 25 Euros for my ticket, rather than the 10 he told me. However, he said the group was really worth it. The hall was terribly hot, since there was no air conditioning. We sat so that I could be on the end of about the fourth row near the exit wall to get the maximum air.

Statue made for ClarinetFest

The group playing the final concert of the ClarinetFest was Les Bons Becs, a French group consisting of 4 clarinets and 1 percussionist. But, this is no buttoned down group. To convince me to go, K had shown me YouTube videos of them. They are consummate players, but also very funny comedians. It was a terrific show. The great German clarinetist Karl Leister, who played forever in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, surprised me by coming up along the side to take photos. Eventually, the people in the second row just let him sit down!

When the show ended at 3:20, we made the 10 minute walk back to the room, which was finally done. I stretched out on the bed with my legs propped up to rest my back, while K left again about 3:50 to go to a rehearsal for a performance with fireworks tonight.
I headed out again at 4:30 and it was sunny and 22 C, which was a warm 71.6 F. The waffle place had a long line, so I skipped it. However, the beach looked better than this morning.

I headed off to on the main shopping street to check out the Australian ice cream, but it's line was too long. I wound up going in the Galleria, a store I recognize from Germany. They had funky Belgian washcloths, that were two washcloths sewn together on three sides. They were on clearance and I could not resist. I took photos of town that I was fairly sure I hadn't taken yet.

Above a bagel place.

 I continued on to Carrefour to get more chocolate. This time I found two-packs of the Cote d'or dark chocolate that I'd been enjoying this week. They were cheaper per pack than the singles, so I got 2 sets of those and a couple of bars for gifts. I was back to the hotel by 6 and again rested the back.
When K finally got back at 6:45, he decided to go to Carrefour to get food for dinner. He found salads, soda and even dessert. It was a nice relaxed meal.

 Afterwards, we watched some television, read, packed, got ready for tomorrow's outing and basically killed time.
At 10:20, we left and headed west on the promenade. K had been told it was a short walk, but it was not. We were walking quickly and it really was hard on my knees.

After 20 minutes, we finally reached a temporary band shell that had been set up on the wide part of the promenade at a bend with its back to the beach. I managed to get a seat on a bench. The clarinetists barely all fit on the stage; there were so many of them. The music and fireworks began at 11. So many fireworks! The clarinetists had to repeat some of their music, because there were so many. People came out on their balconies and gathered at the cafe. I got up to be able to see where the fireworks were set up to launch. It was quite something.

The walk back was torture. It was so very cold. The wind coming off the North Sea was so cold. Strictly speaking, we were walking more northeast than east. So, we were walking into it.  It was so good to get back to our warm room at midnight! However, tomorrow was to start early, so we had to get to bed quickly.