Return to La Roche en Ardenne

Hello again!

On the Monday of our holiday we decided to have a brief break from our motorsport goings-on and revisited the little town we stayed in for our visit to the Belgian Grand Prix last year -  La Roche en Ardenne, a beautiful and friendly little town, but one with a tragic past linked to the Second Word War and the Battle of the Bulge...

Such a pretty place, with houses nestled amongst the trees on the hillside...

and more houses line the river bank...

Pretty little streets...

This is the lovely place we stayed in last year, as the lads were camping, but this year we all stayed together so we couldn't stay here again...

The British (and US flags) still fly as a mark of respect for the many service people who lost their lives liberating the town...

The castle is many hundreds of years old and stands on a natural outcrop of rock...

Climbing the ramparts is rewarded with great views across the town...

Loving the panorama setting on my camera...

Admission was 6 euros and included a falconry display - with condors!

And eagles! Brilliant value!  Especially as the condor nearly landed on my head on a fly past!! For some reason that seemed to be a very amusing event for my beloved family...bless them...

The Belgian flag flying proudly...

The ancient walls could certainly tell a tale or two if they could speak I'm sure...

Most of the town was totally destroyed in WW2 but the castle and church escaped relatively unscathed...so difficult now to imagine in this beautiful, quiet, friendly place...

 

 

We enjoyed a delicious snack of Belgian frites (which DD and I managed to order entirely in French!) before jumping back in the car to go back to our chalet by the lake...where a delicious meal was cooked by DH, followed up by these fun cow-shaped Milka chocolate biscuits for dessert...

 

 

 

Then it was a reasonably early night as we were on a mission the following day to Germany, firmly back on the motorsport theme - back soon hopefully to explain more!!

 

Helenxx









A journey back in time...

...to the days of the Crusades.

Hello everyone, hope all is well with you and yours.  Sun is shining again this morning, which is such a bonus.

A few weeks ago, while I was on a bit of a break from blogging, I was lucky enough to return to what I think is one of the most amazing places on earth - the beautiful Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.  I just love it so, so much.  The people are so welcoming, the hospitality offered to visitors is humbling.  And the places you can visit - it is like being in a history book!!  As a child I loved to read stories about the Crusades, Knights, etc and when in Jordan this time I insisted upon visiting this place:

The Crusader Castle of Kerak.

It is AWESOME - the sheer size of the place is staggering.  Have any of you seen the film Kingdom of Heaven starring Orlando Bloom?  Well, this is the real castle where a lot of the film is set. 

A few glimpses of the sheer majesty of the place:

I love this view through the archway.

So amazing to think that the people I have read about in history books would have looked through the same archway.  Imagine all the things that would have run through their minds...as a little girl I used to hear the stories about this part of the world and dreamed that one day I would be able to visit.

There are three layers of underground passages to explore, it is staggering how these were built over a thousand years ago.  And even more staggering that the building has survived so well.

Of course, all this adventuring makes for a healthy appetite, here is a little something I cooked up for us when we got back to base:

This is a dish called Maqloubeh, it is rice, chicken, aubergines and potatoes with loads of spices (I made my self a meat free version as I'm a vegetarian).  There were no leftovers so it must have been OK!

Hope to be back again soon with some more photos of my trip.

Helenxx