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Road Trip to Tankfest
Jun. 28th, 2015 10:20 pmFriday night we left for Tankfest, the Road Trip, the Thing of Legends, the Wonderful Excursion of the Month, or, if you insist on being British about it: "Well, everyone's got problems, dear."
We drove to Rotterdam and picked up Funguspower, who had borrowed his parents' Peugeot stationwagon for a more comfortable trip. Fungus drove us to Calais, where we nearly ran over some refugees who are illegally trying to cross the Channel and are walking in droves by the roadside. None of us had ever parked on a train before, and the Eurotunnel was an adventure in itself. First there was the check-in to see if you had an appointment, but this was license-plate-activated and went smoothly. Then there was Leaving La France, followed shortly by Entering the UK. And then we had some time off before we had to actually get on the train with the car.
I slept on the train, but when we arrived in Folkstone I took over the wheel. It was pitch-black, midnight (local time), and driving on the left-hand side. There were no signs anywhere on what the speed limit was, but there were oodles of signs advertising speed camera's. At some point Eisirt took over and we arrived in Bovington, UK at a quarter to five in the morning.
After a good 2 hours sleep, we had a little breakfast and entered the queue for the tank museum. The gates opened promptly at nine and we discovered the wonders of the Tank Museum.
There was a huge hangar (the conservation centre) filled with tanks. Big tanks, little tanks, yellow tanks and green tanks. Tanks with rust, with battle damage or with camo paint slowly peeling off. I kept asking "what tank is this?" but in truth, because we play World of Tanks we could quite easily recognise most of the tanks on display. It also speaks well of the game, for portraying these historic vehicles so truthfully. We found Tortoise, Churchill VI, Matilda, and many others. The tanks were parked side-by-side, often no more than a few centimeters apart. It was quite difficult to get around, because there were already a lot of people trying to see the tanks in this hangar, and I am lucky to have so many clear pictures.
Leopard commander waving at the crowd.
Around 10:30 we found a spot at the Arena to await the opening and the following "Leopard Shock & Awe" display, which was followed by a spectacular Spitfire aircraft fly-over. We were squinting against the bright sunshine to follow it, and my pictures and video do not do it any justice. (And my dad would have LOVED it! I kept thinking of him as the Spitfire tumbled into barrel rolls over the arena.)
We went into the museum proper to view the regular displays. There were replica's of trenches and the early models of tanks that were invented to help in that particular type of warfare, which finally resulted in the tanks we know today. The museum then opened up into another hangar, filled with models of tanks we all know and love. Cruiser II, Hetzer, Jagdpanther, Tiger II, Stug III, Stuart IV, Luchs, Chaffee, Locust, M26 Pershing and finally, after all that: the TOG II.
I <3 my Luchs!
We also met Jingles, Quickybaby and Ritagamer on the scene, famous YouTubers who were greeting fans. I can only imagine how much of their time they sacrifice for their game and their fame. Jingles had a queue forming that probably never stopped, and he was busy with his fans the entire day. (He's also taller than you'd think.)
And then there was a whole other wing of the museum, with some of the more modern tanks on display. We saw the Renault FT, but also a Grant, Panzer II, M4 Sherman, Stuart IV, and what I think is a Centurion.
I also took a lot of pictures of uniforms, interested in their overall look and the technique. Some of the uniforms were shoddily stitched together, others showed hand-stitched repairs. One pocket higher than the other pocket, an odd pair of collar points that were nowhere near the same shape, and wonky topstitching jumped out at me from several different coats. But then: there was a war on, and sewing machines were far less advanced than they are now. I even saw topstitching that might be evidence of fabric interfacing stitched onto the breast of a jacket to provide support for welt pockets, since glue-in interfacing probably didn't exist yet (my theory). One display of German Panzercrew spoke of how all buttons were hidden so they couldn't snag on the equipment inside a tank. (I haven't got the uniform pictures up on my Flickr yet, as most of them are poorly lit and shoddily shot.)
As by that time we had seen everything but the re-enactment side of the Tankfest, we promptly went down to the re-enactment side, but we were all feeling the long journey. It was warm in the sunshine, there were thousands of visitors, and our feet and knees were hurting. There was still more to see. The re-enactors had all set up camp, and WWII stood right alongside Vietnam and Korea War re-enactors. In the food court, the Decadettes were singing songs from the 30s to the 50s, and people were Lindy-hopping to the music playing from the PA system.
We found a spot of grass near the arena and I just curled up for a nap while the boys ogled more tanks. The Arena afternoon programme featured tanks from various parts of the world being showcased geographically, but as I am not an expert on eastern-european tanks I figured a nap would do me just fine.
Around five they set up for the final battle: tanks and re-enactors would enter the arena together. If this does not scare you, then take a moment to think about it. Tanks and re-enactors together in one battle scene with smoke. And poor vision. And the tank does not stop if you happen upon a re-enactor playing dead.
Which is exactly why the tanks were mostly stationary, except when a Surprise Tiger I entered the scene and FURY-from-the-movie-with-Brad-Pitt outflanked it to show off its superior speed. Fireworks, some minor pyrotechnics and the re-enactors guns firing blanks made for a really pretty picture overall.
Final battle (German side). I can't help but notice all the safety crew in the background. Battles are scary.
Finally, it was time to go. We took a last tour to the bathrooms and went back to the car. There was no real traffic jam because people were not leaving en masse, so that was good. We ran into a final set of famous YouTubers next to our car, so that was fun. I drove us down far to many left-hand roundabouts and nearly caused an accident at the first one (I was looking for traffic coming from the left, just like 'normal' roundabouts, never noticing all the cars rushing up from the right!). We now had enough light to enjoy the beautiful English countryside that had been shrouded in mist when we drove up just that morning.
It was still a bit bizarre to just pack up a car with a picknick backpack and drive to the South of the UK! And now our adventure had ended, and we slowly returned to Folkstone. Eisirt drove us, after a quick dinner at some motorway service station, the rest of the way back to Folkstone. We arrived so early that we could take an earlier train to Calais free of additional charge, which meant we only had to wait for an hour. After the UK border control on Friday night in Calais, the French border control in Folkstone was a piece of cake. I think if I had tried to hand the offical an empty packet of crisps he would still have waved us through.
We all slept on the train, and it was my job to help Fungus stay awake on our trip to Rotterdam, but we were all tired. By the time we hit the Ring around Antwerp I had so much trouble keeping my eyes open I was very glad when Eisirt woke up and could take over navigation and talking to Fungus.
When we got to Rotterdam, Eisirt bundled me up in the passenger seat and drove me back to Eindhoven while I slept and slept and slept. We were home by 8 am this morning, and we dove into bed for some well-deserved actual sleep (until noon).
Still, I was very glad to have gone, because I love crazy adventures like these.
I made so many awesome pictures and one-minute movies, that you should really take a moment to check out all the pictures and movies of the Tankfest on Flickr.
We drove to Rotterdam and picked up Funguspower, who had borrowed his parents' Peugeot stationwagon for a more comfortable trip. Fungus drove us to Calais, where we nearly ran over some refugees who are illegally trying to cross the Channel and are walking in droves by the roadside. None of us had ever parked on a train before, and the Eurotunnel was an adventure in itself. First there was the check-in to see if you had an appointment, but this was license-plate-activated and went smoothly. Then there was Leaving La France, followed shortly by Entering the UK. And then we had some time off before we had to actually get on the train with the car.
I slept on the train, but when we arrived in Folkstone I took over the wheel. It was pitch-black, midnight (local time), and driving on the left-hand side. There were no signs anywhere on what the speed limit was, but there were oodles of signs advertising speed camera's. At some point Eisirt took over and we arrived in Bovington, UK at a quarter to five in the morning.
After a good 2 hours sleep, we had a little breakfast and entered the queue for the tank museum. The gates opened promptly at nine and we discovered the wonders of the Tank Museum.
There was a huge hangar (the conservation centre) filled with tanks. Big tanks, little tanks, yellow tanks and green tanks. Tanks with rust, with battle damage or with camo paint slowly peeling off. I kept asking "what tank is this?" but in truth, because we play World of Tanks we could quite easily recognise most of the tanks on display. It also speaks well of the game, for portraying these historic vehicles so truthfully. We found Tortoise, Churchill VI, Matilda, and many others. The tanks were parked side-by-side, often no more than a few centimeters apart. It was quite difficult to get around, because there were already a lot of people trying to see the tanks in this hangar, and I am lucky to have so many clear pictures.
Leopard commander waving at the crowd.
Around 10:30 we found a spot at the Arena to await the opening and the following "Leopard Shock & Awe" display, which was followed by a spectacular Spitfire aircraft fly-over. We were squinting against the bright sunshine to follow it, and my pictures and video do not do it any justice. (And my dad would have LOVED it! I kept thinking of him as the Spitfire tumbled into barrel rolls over the arena.)
We went into the museum proper to view the regular displays. There were replica's of trenches and the early models of tanks that were invented to help in that particular type of warfare, which finally resulted in the tanks we know today. The museum then opened up into another hangar, filled with models of tanks we all know and love. Cruiser II, Hetzer, Jagdpanther, Tiger II, Stug III, Stuart IV, Luchs, Chaffee, Locust, M26 Pershing and finally, after all that: the TOG II.
I <3 my Luchs!
We also met Jingles, Quickybaby and Ritagamer on the scene, famous YouTubers who were greeting fans. I can only imagine how much of their time they sacrifice for their game and their fame. Jingles had a queue forming that probably never stopped, and he was busy with his fans the entire day. (He's also taller than you'd think.)
And then there was a whole other wing of the museum, with some of the more modern tanks on display. We saw the Renault FT, but also a Grant, Panzer II, M4 Sherman, Stuart IV, and what I think is a Centurion.
I also took a lot of pictures of uniforms, interested in their overall look and the technique. Some of the uniforms were shoddily stitched together, others showed hand-stitched repairs. One pocket higher than the other pocket, an odd pair of collar points that were nowhere near the same shape, and wonky topstitching jumped out at me from several different coats. But then: there was a war on, and sewing machines were far less advanced than they are now. I even saw topstitching that might be evidence of fabric interfacing stitched onto the breast of a jacket to provide support for welt pockets, since glue-in interfacing probably didn't exist yet (my theory). One display of German Panzercrew spoke of how all buttons were hidden so they couldn't snag on the equipment inside a tank. (I haven't got the uniform pictures up on my Flickr yet, as most of them are poorly lit and shoddily shot.)
As by that time we had seen everything but the re-enactment side of the Tankfest, we promptly went down to the re-enactment side, but we were all feeling the long journey. It was warm in the sunshine, there were thousands of visitors, and our feet and knees were hurting. There was still more to see. The re-enactors had all set up camp, and WWII stood right alongside Vietnam and Korea War re-enactors. In the food court, the Decadettes were singing songs from the 30s to the 50s, and people were Lindy-hopping to the music playing from the PA system.
We found a spot of grass near the arena and I just curled up for a nap while the boys ogled more tanks. The Arena afternoon programme featured tanks from various parts of the world being showcased geographically, but as I am not an expert on eastern-european tanks I figured a nap would do me just fine.
Around five they set up for the final battle: tanks and re-enactors would enter the arena together. If this does not scare you, then take a moment to think about it. Tanks and re-enactors together in one battle scene with smoke. And poor vision. And the tank does not stop if you happen upon a re-enactor playing dead.
Which is exactly why the tanks were mostly stationary, except when a Surprise Tiger I entered the scene and FURY-from-the-movie-with-Brad-Pitt outflanked it to show off its superior speed. Fireworks, some minor pyrotechnics and the re-enactors guns firing blanks made for a really pretty picture overall.
Final battle (German side). I can't help but notice all the safety crew in the background. Battles are scary.
Finally, it was time to go. We took a last tour to the bathrooms and went back to the car. There was no real traffic jam because people were not leaving en masse, so that was good. We ran into a final set of famous YouTubers next to our car, so that was fun. I drove us down far to many left-hand roundabouts and nearly caused an accident at the first one (I was looking for traffic coming from the left, just like 'normal' roundabouts, never noticing all the cars rushing up from the right!). We now had enough light to enjoy the beautiful English countryside that had been shrouded in mist when we drove up just that morning.
It was still a bit bizarre to just pack up a car with a picknick backpack and drive to the South of the UK! And now our adventure had ended, and we slowly returned to Folkstone. Eisirt drove us, after a quick dinner at some motorway service station, the rest of the way back to Folkstone. We arrived so early that we could take an earlier train to Calais free of additional charge, which meant we only had to wait for an hour. After the UK border control on Friday night in Calais, the French border control in Folkstone was a piece of cake. I think if I had tried to hand the offical an empty packet of crisps he would still have waved us through.
We all slept on the train, and it was my job to help Fungus stay awake on our trip to Rotterdam, but we were all tired. By the time we hit the Ring around Antwerp I had so much trouble keeping my eyes open I was very glad when Eisirt woke up and could take over navigation and talking to Fungus.
When we got to Rotterdam, Eisirt bundled me up in the passenger seat and drove me back to Eindhoven while I slept and slept and slept. We were home by 8 am this morning, and we dove into bed for some well-deserved actual sleep (until noon).
Still, I was very glad to have gone, because I love crazy adventures like these.
I made so many awesome pictures and one-minute movies, that you should really take a moment to check out all the pictures and movies of the Tankfest on Flickr.
