As I was planning my trip to the Non-Catholic Cemetery, I noticed that another cemetery was in very close vicinity, the Rome War Cemetery. This is a Commonwealth cemetery of WWII graves that lies alongside the old Aurelian walls of Ancient Rome. Continue reading “Site 179: Rome War Cemetery”
Perhaps the most controversial place in Japan is Yasukuni Shrine, located in the heart of Tokyo. It certainly didn’t start out that way – after the end of the Boshin War, a civil war between forces loyal to the shogunate and the emperor in 1868-69, the emperor Continue reading “Site 154: Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine”
I’ll be travelling a lot this year, mostly work-related, but as I began sorting out which places I wanted to go to, I realized that there will be quite a shift on this blog as I venture further away from cemeteries, and more towards what are commonly known as “dark” Continue reading “2019: Going Dark”
Having just visited my 150th cemetery/memorial site in just over 3 years, I thought it might be interesting to look at the overall numbers of where I’ve been and what I’ve seen. Just sorting through the numbers have given me a few surprises – I didn’t realise Continue reading “Cemetery Roundup 2015-2018”
The biggest Commonwealth cemetery in the world. During our tour of the Ypres battlefields, we weren’t quite circling around it, but everywhere we went we could see it in the distance. The cemeteries and other sites we visited were leading up to this one, following the history of the war, from the first two battles of Ypres, to the final battles at Passchendaele. Continue reading “Site 95: Tyne Cot Cemetery”
There are always at least two sides in every war, but one thing that is common to both is having to deal with the dead. Cemeteries and other mass graves spring up out of a matter of necessity. In my previous post I mentioned how many small cemeteries I saw from the train window as we approached Ieper, I did not mention how all of them were from the Allied Continue reading “Site 94: Langemark German War Cemetery”
Sitting on the train from Kortrijk, the flat Belgian countryside rolls by much like any other. But the small military cemeteries, easily spotted with their white, uniform headstones, are what quickly jolts you into reality that this is the place where upon countless numbers of people were killed, Continue reading “Site 93: Ypres’ Essex Farm Cemetery”
I only had a few days in San Diego, but I knew I wanted to visit the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery when I was there. I don’t get many opportunities to visit military cemeteries, but I always appreciate the opportunity to do so. Not only are the cemeteries very moving, Continue reading “Site 52: Fort Rosecrans Cemetery”
stone and dust 