Me myself and 3 other gentlemen (debatable for 2 of them) arrived about 4 clock.knowing check in time was 5 o clock (as stated when booking) we headed for the ramparts pub/museum for some well deserved drinks (parking no problem ! Across the road) we stayed there sampling the lovely beer on offer ,word of warning ,the toilets round the back have been designed to smell of mustard gas to replicate the stench in the trenches so gas masks are provided if you ask behind the bar.this did not deter us as we wanted to experience what our soldiers went through on our second trip to Flanders.
B&B Hortensia:
When we arrived we had a lovely welcome from Veronique,we were shown to our rooms,two of us were on top floor(three shorts flights of stairs with rest space in between each if you are not good with stairs (as I am)but I had no problem .
After dumping our gear in the rooms we were welcomed with coffee /tea and cake,lovely a great start to our three day stay.
Breakfast:
As usual when you are on the continent the normal choice,bread,cakes,cereal,jam,yoghurt,cheese ,ham etc........just remember it is not the UK and expect this .
Also we were given scrambled egg with slice of bacon and beans..once again lovely. If you wanted a boiled egg or two you were also given the choice,which one of our group did and commented that they were boiled perfectly (quite evident as most of it ran down his chin !!)
They breakfast covered everyone's needs. More than our soldiers got in the trenches and no bullets flying overhead!
As someone who is in to motorcycling I loved the shelf with the nice helmets on display.
Talking about helmets,a couple of residents decided to whistle and talk very loud at 8 o clock the first morning,waking us up if you are reading this thanks !
Packed lunch:
We usually try and find somewhere to eat on our drive around the battlefields which can be difficult especially in the remote areas,we could of dined on raw potatoes and carrots from the fields but that could of been dangerous as an old mills bomb looks like a potato.
We paid 5 Euros each for packed lunch of 2 filled rolls fruit,water,fruit juice and health bar.FANTASTIC so we could stop anywhere for lunch without leaving our route.
The room:
Spotlessly clean comfy beds television,kettle,shower and a hair dryer which we didn't use so women I don't know what horsepower it was,the bloke whistling at 8 in morning nearly got shrapnel wounds from it !
In a nutshell
Veronique recommended places to eat,we went to one place where the food was superb (can't remember name) but food was superb slow cooked pork shoulder was to die for (wish the whistler had!!!) We couldn't get into others as they were full because we were late going out.
Chicken soup:
We had great difficulty finding somewhere that served chicken soup,as one of the group just loves chicken soup ,so if chicken soup is your favourite I suggest catching one from the many free wandering ones in the country and cook it in an old crater!
Noise:
Its a cobbled street everywhere.does not matter where you stay in Ypres you will get road noise so stop moaning.wear earplugs for god sake. Much quieter than what our soldiers had to endure,I have sensitive hearing,I can hear a fly fart from 2 yards but cobbled road noise didn't bother me (few pints of hoogharden does the job better than earplugs)
Overall,:
The hortensia is a great place to stay ,just 50 yards from lille gate and 10 minutes walk from the centre of Ypres.
Diolch yn fawr iawn Veronique am gwneud fy penwythnos ,gobeithio aros gyda chi rhyw dro eto (Welsh)
Thank you very much Veronique for making our weekend,hope to stay with you again some time .