Considered the starting point for visiting the World War I sites, battlefields and war cemeteries throughout the region, Ypres was the site of three major battles and the loss of more than 850,000 lives.

The Australian tour starts at the In Flanders Field Museum and continues through military cemeteries, trenches and craters as well as Memorial Museum in Passchendaele before The Last Post is played the Menin Gate memorial, a haunting experience in the most sombre of locations.

For more than a week, in the burning heat of summer, all we're going to be doing is touring battlefields. I can't wait, I think it will be one of the most solemn and interesting pilgrimages we'll ever make. But I do wonder whether we're asking too much of the twins? As one school teacher wrote, kids need to see battlefields, memorials, cemeteries, war museums, etc. first hand because it helps them understand the events in a way that adds so much depth to whatever they may read about it later in school or in life. They're right and it also helps ensure that we never forget.

Another day, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, this time, Bruges. The medieval architecture in Bruges is mostly intact, making it one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe and one of the prettiest. There's the wonderful architecture, Grote Markt or Market Square and the famous Belfry, old bridges and beautiful parks. A Belgian chocolate workshop will also be high on the list of learning, particularly after a week or so of solid history. We may squeeze in some