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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2017 14:28:17 GMT
I personally think a trip to Normandy should be on the school agenda for every single schoolkid in the UK.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2017 14:38:56 GMT
I must admit, that I'm a also a bit of a history freak. I've visited Normandy, Waterloo, and also some of the American Civil War sites when I was in the US. As someone who used to wear green, I'm really interested in the lay of the land, as this can sometimes help explain why certain decisions were taken at that time. This summer I'm hoping to visit the Teutoburger Wald. For those who don't know, this was where the Romans lost three Legions to the Germanic Tribes led by Arminius. Apparently there is a very good museum there. Near where I live we have what is called The Limes. This was the frontier of the Roman Empire, where they erected loads of small garrisons across the country. In a place called Saalburg we actually have a re-constructed Roman Fort. It's very impressive. I'll get my anorak  |
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Post by William Wilson on Feb 28, 2017 8:21:05 GMT
I must admit, I feel awkward and a bit embarrased to be interested in stuff like that. Poor devils. Better to be respectful and learn from it rather than ignore and risk repeating. You'll be hard pressed to find a bigger lover of peace than one who has witnessed the horrors of war. Agree absolutely, Stuart. Also, I feel that I`m paying my respects to people, braver than I`ll ever be. |
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Post by William Wilson on Feb 28, 2017 8:39:29 GMT
I must admit, that I'm a also a bit of a history freak. I've visited Normandy, Waterloo, and also some of the American Civil War sites when I was in the US. As someone who used to wear green, I'm really interested in the lay of the land, as this can sometimes help explain why certain decisions were taken at that time. This summer I'm hoping to visit the Teutoburger Wald. For those who don't know, this was where the Romans lost three Legions to the Germanic Tribes led by Arminius. Apparently there is a very good museum there. Near where I live we have what is called The Limes. This was the frontier of the Roman Empire, where they erected loads of small garrisons across the country. In a place called Saalburg we actually have a re-constructed Roman Fort. It's very impressive. I'll get my anorak I`ve been to Gettysburg and Bull Run. When you look at the lay of the land there, ( flat ) it doesn`t help explain why certain decisions were made. Ditto, most of the battlefields of Northern France/Belgium. The only rationale appears to have been, " We`ll charge five hundred yards across that field and hopefully, come the end, we`ll have some soldiers left alive and they won`t." "Teutoburger Wald"? Sounds like a German version of the Big Mac. |
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Post by stuart1974 on Feb 28, 2017 9:56:58 GMT
Better to be respectful and learn from it rather than ignore and risk repeating. You'll be hard pressed to find a bigger lover of peace than one who has witnessed the horrors of war. Agree absolutely, Stuart. Also, I feel that I`m paying my respects to people, braver than I`ll ever be. Thanks. Did you find the experience fairly balanced? I was wondering if during the tunnel tours if you were aware of the other side too, such as the Tunnel Rats. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_rat |
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Post by stuart1974 on Feb 28, 2017 10:00:29 GMT
I must admit, that I'm a also a bit of a history freak. I've visited Normandy, Waterloo, and also some of the American Civil War sites when I was in the US. As someone who used to wear green, I'm really interested in the lay of the land, as this can sometimes help explain why certain decisions were taken at that time. This summer I'm hoping to visit the Teutoburger Wald. For those who don't know, this was where the Romans lost three Legions to the Germanic Tribes led by Arminius. Apparently there is a very good museum there. Near where I live we have what is called The Limes. This was the frontier of the Roman Empire, where they erected loads of small garrisons across the country. In a place called Saalburg we actually have a re-constructed Roman Fort. It's very impressive. I'll get my anorak I`ve been to Gettysburg and Bull Run. When you look at the lay of the land there, ( flat ) it doesn`t help explain why certain decisions were made. Ditto, most of the battlefields of Northern France/Belgium. The only rationale appears to have been, " We`ll charge five hundred yards across that field and hopefully, come the end, we`ll have some soldiers left alive and they won`t.""Teutoburger Wald"? Sounds like a German version of the Big Mac. That was pretty much it, although walk across would be more appropriate, hence why the First World War was so costly as war of attrition tactics met the Industrial Age. |
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Post by William Wilson on Feb 28, 2017 10:25:52 GMT
Agree absolutely, Stuart. Also, I feel that I`m paying my respects to people, braver than I`ll ever be. Thanks. Did you find the experience fairly balanced? I was wondering if during the tunnel tours if you were aware of the other side too, such as the Tunnel Rats. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_ratNo, mate, the experience wasn`t at all balanced. History is written by the victors, and the Vietnamese portray the whole war as being the good guys against the bad guys. And maybe they`re right. And maybe they`re not. I was aware of the tunnel rats, before my trip. And at Cu Chi, there were disabled locals selling all sorts of memorabilia. From one of them, I bought Tom Mangold`s book, "The tunnels of Cu Chi ", which is about the Americans/Australians, who fought and died underground there. I`m halfway through it now. Those soldiers have my undying repect. I crawled a couple of hundred yards through a tunnel which had been widened by a third, to accomodate western visitors. And that was bad enough. There was just enough room for me; it was as black as a pint of Guinness and hot as Hell, but at least nobody was hiding in the darkness waiting to stick a knife in me. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2017 12:00:27 GMT
Long weekend in Dorset and hopefully a week in France. Not practical to fly so car it is. Thinking of driving to Austria next year with the odd stop off in a Germany, so perhaps Nobby, you could give me a few tips on autobahn driving. Ah, driving on the Autobahn. In dry, daylight conditions it's no problem. The only thing to be wary of is the speed of others. You may be tootling along at 100mph, but there are others who are probably going at 150mph. It means you have to constantly check your mirrors because these speedsters seem to appear from nowhere. Plus, if a faster car comes up behind you, then you are expected to pull over into another lane to let it pass ASAP! There are speed limits, especially at every junction, but there are large areas where there are no limits. The difficulty comes at night, especially if it is raining. In Germany the have no Cats Eyes in the roads, so if it's raining it is difficult to see the white lines, especially with the spray. Secondly, Germany doesn't believe in having miles of lights lighting up the autobahns. In fact, they are all dark. The German attitude is "cars have lights don't they?". So at night and if it's raining, it can be difficult at times. Austria is easy. They have low speed limits. Compared to Germany it's really boring driving on their autobahns. Also watch out for roadworks. The temporary lanes tend to be a bit narrower than you get in the UK.Add in the effect that you are driving on the wrongside, so you'll probably be a bit wary of how much space you have on your nearside, and at times in roadworks you'll find things can get a little tight! Going through roadworks I'd advise you to stick to the inside lane. |
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Post by baggins on Mar 6, 2017 12:07:30 GMT
Long weekend in Dorset and hopefully a week in France. Not practical to fly so car it is. Thinking of driving to Austria next year with the odd stop off in a Germany, so perhaps Nobby, you could give me a few tips on autobahn driving. Ah, driving on the Autobahn. In dry, daylight conditions it's no problem. The only thing to be wary of is the speed of others. You may be tootling along at 100mph, but there are others who are probably going at 150mph. It means you have to constantly check your mirrors because these speedsters seem to appear from nowhere. Plus, if a faster car comes up behind you, then you are expected to pull over into another lane to let it pass ASAP! There are speed limits, especially at every junction, but there are large areas where there are no limits. The difficulty comes at night, especially if it is raining. In Germany the have no Cats Eyes in the roads, so if it's raining it is difficult to see the white lines, especially with the spray. Secondly, Germany doesn't believe in having miles of lights lighting up the autobahns. In fact, they are all dark. The German attitude is "cars have lights don't they?". So at night and if it's raining, it can be difficult at times. Austria is easy. They have low speed limits. Compared to Germany it's really boring driving on their autobahns. Also watch out for roadworks. The temporary lanes tend to be a bit narrower than you get in the UK.Add in the effect that you are driving on the wrongside, so you'll probably be a bit wary of how much space you have on your nearside, and at times in roadworks you'll find things can get a little tight! Going through roadworks I'd advise you to stick to the inside lane. Just take the Panzer. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2017 12:11:43 GMT
Ah, driving on the Autobahn. In dry, daylight conditions it's no problem. The only thing to be wary of is the speed of others. You may be tootling along at 100mph, but there are others who are probably going at 150mph. It means you have to constantly check your mirrors because these speedsters seem to appear from nowhere. Plus, if a faster car comes up behind you, then you are expected to pull over into another lane to let it pass ASAP! There are speed limits, especially at every junction, but there are large areas where there are no limits. The difficulty comes at night, especially if it is raining. In Germany the have no Cats Eyes in the roads, so if it's raining it is difficult to see the white lines, especially with the spray. Secondly, Germany doesn't believe in having miles of lights lighting up the autobahns. In fact, they are all dark. The German attitude is "cars have lights don't they?". So at night and if it's raining, it can be difficult at times. Austria is easy. They have low speed limits. Compared to Germany it's really boring driving on their autobahns. Also watch out for roadworks. The temporary lanes tend to be a bit narrower than you get in the UK.Add in the effect that you are driving on the wrongside, so you'll probably be a bit wary of how much space you have on your nearside, and at times in roadworks you'll find things can get a little tight! Going through roadworks I'd advise you to stick to the inside lane. Just take the Panzer. He said he's going to Austria, not Poland ! |
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 6, 2017 12:13:21 GMT
Ah, driving on the Autobahn. In dry, daylight conditions it's no problem. The only thing to be wary of is the speed of others. You may be tootling along at 100mph, but there are others who are probably going at 150mph. It means you have to constantly check your mirrors because these speedsters seem to appear from nowhere. Plus, if a faster car comes up behind you, then you are expected to pull over into another lane to let it pass ASAP! There are speed limits, especially at every junction, but there are large areas where there are no limits. The difficulty comes at night, especially if it is raining. In Germany the have no Cats Eyes in the roads, so if it's raining it is difficult to see the white lines, especially with the spray. Secondly, Germany doesn't believe in having miles of lights lighting up the autobahns. In fact, they are all dark. The German attitude is "cars have lights don't they?". So at night and if it's raining, it can be difficult at times. Austria is easy. They have low speed limits. Compared to Germany it's really boring driving on their autobahns. Also watch out for roadworks. The temporary lanes tend to be a bit narrower than you get in the UK.Add in the effect that you are driving on the wrongside, so you'll probably be a bit wary of how much space you have on your nearside, and at times in roadworks you'll find things can get a little tight! Going through roadworks I'd advise you to stick to the inside lane. Just take the Panzer. Don't call my wife names! Besides, who would look after the kids? |
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 6, 2017 12:16:11 GMT
One car we had used a central digital display. Wife nodded off while I was driving along a French motorway so I changed it from miles to Kms. She woke up thinking I was doing 130 mph.
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Post by baggins on Mar 6, 2017 12:25:00 GMT
One car we had used a central digital display. Wife nodded off while I was driving along a French motorway so I changed it from miles to Kms. She woke up thinking I was doing 130 mph. Digital display? You were either in something French or you're Marty McFly. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2017 12:30:55 GMT
Last time I was in the UK I had this French thing from Avis.....Yep, big central display. It was horrible.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2017 12:33:23 GMT
One car we had used a central digital display. Wife nodded off while I was driving along a French motorway so I changed it from miles to Kms. She woke up thinking I was doing 130 mph. Although I used MPH in my examples, it sounds even worse in Kms. I usually drive at about 160kms on the Autobahn, and I get cars whizzing past. They must be doing a minimum of 240kms. |
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Post by baggins on Mar 6, 2017 12:36:28 GMT
One car we had used a central digital display. Wife nodded off while I was driving along a French motorway so I changed it from miles to Kms. She woke up thinking I was doing 130 mph. Although I used MPH in my examples, it sounds even worse in Kms. I usually drive at about 160kms on the Autobahn, and I get cars whizzing past. They must be doing a minimum of 240kms. Kms? Kilometres per second? That's practically light speed! What the hell are you driving? |
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 6, 2017 12:52:49 GMT
One car we had used a central digital display. Wife nodded off while I was driving along a French motorway so I changed it from miles to Kms. She woke up thinking I was doing 130 mph. Digital display? You were either in something French or you're Marty McFly. Yup, French Citroen (although actually built in Spain). Car was fine but the display was annoyingly visible to the passengers and pleased to trade it in. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2017 12:55:34 GMT
Although I used MPH in my examples, it sounds even worse in Kms. I usually drive at about 160kms on the Autobahn, and I get cars whizzing past. They must be doing a minimum of 240kms. Kms? Kilometres per second? That's practically light speed! What the hell are you driving? I drive ok. It's the hundreds of buggers who drive the wrong way on the autobahn that's the problem ! |
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 6, 2017 12:56:15 GMT
One car we had used a central digital display. Wife nodded off while I was driving along a French motorway so I changed it from miles to Kms. She woke up thinking I was doing 130 mph. Although I used MPH in my examples, it sounds even worse in Kms. I usually drive at about 160kms on the Autobahn, and I get cars whizzing past. They must be doing a minimum of 240kms. Large fuel tank or lots of petrol stations? My car is wheelchair adapted which means that the tank is around 2/3rds it would normally be so I will need to fill up more often. |
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Post by baggins on Mar 6, 2017 12:56:18 GMT
Kms? Kilometres per second? That's practically light speed! What the hell are you driving? I drive ok. It's the hundreds of buggers who drive the wrong way on the autobahn that's the problem ! Bloody foreigners. |
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