Before we move on to Bastogne, here are a couple of final pics from Antwerp. The Central Station was built in 1836 and is a big tourist attraction. Our hotel was right across the street.
This post is for all of the history buffs out there as the last two days has been all about WWII. But foodies, there may be a pic or two in here for you.
Very quickly, the Battle of the Bulge took place between 16 Dec 44 and 25 Jan 45 and was the last big German offensive push. They were trying to split the Allied lines and cut off the port of Antwerp. The Allies were surrounded and on December 22nd the German command sent a message to General McAuliffe stating that the Allies either surrender or be annihilated. McAuliffe famously replied, “Nuts”. The good guys won in the end. OK, that’s it in a nutshell. If you want to know more, talk with Peter…he knows everything!!
Our only stop in Bastogne yesterday (Tuesday) was the Bastogne War Museum. We’d visited in 2018 but wanted to see it again. It tells the story of the battle through the eyes of 4 people who were involved – an American soldier, a German soldier, a 19-year-old Belgian teacher and a 14-year-old Belgian boy. Of course, there were the usual dioramas, weapons, tanks, etc., but it was the stories I enjoyed the most.
There were 3 movies but there weren’t just on flat screen. The 2nd one showed the movie on a screen behind a set that looked like the Ardennes Forest (the battle is also called the Ardennes Offensive).
Another one was set in a cafe where all 4 “characters” meet. Fourteen-year-old Emile’s parents sent him to his uncle’s cafe in Bastogne for safety since the cafe had a basement and was safer during a bombardment. The teacher was already there, and the American soldier was escorting the German soldier (who had been captured) to headquarters when they stopped at the cafe during a bombardment. This is a true story. All four of them survived the war.
There was also a new exhibit called Generations 45. It followed the story of an American and German veteran after the war. The German, who moved from the Berlin’s Soviet sector to the American sector just before the wall went up in 1961, was there when the wall came down in 1989. Here are the pieces of the wall he took as a souvenir.
It was a very enjoyable 2 hour visit in the museum and is a must-see for history buffs. Then it was on to our Airbnb flat in Saint Hubert, about 30 minutes from Bastogne. But it was the closest accommodation we could find that didn’t cost $250/night. It’s an easy drive through the Ardennes Forest so we don’t mind being a little far out.
OK foodies, here’s one for you.
Today we went back to Bastogne to visit the 101st Airborne Museum. The 101st (The Screaming Eagles) was one of the groups that participated in the battle. The museum is in a 3-story brick building on a residential street and was filled with memorabilia donated by veterans and/or their families.
What I loved most about this museum was the stories about the veterans. There were cases of memorabilia with a story about the veteran who donated the items.
The other part I enjoyed was seeing pictures of people and then a recreation as a diorama. I thought it was very cool.
I’m also fascinated when I see pictures of people wearing the clothes or using the items I’m looking at.
You might wonder what Patton was doing there as he wasn’t in the airborne. Well, his 4th armored division broke through the German lines to “rescue” the airborne division but if you read anything written by someone from the 101st, they will say they didn’t need to be rescued.
The 101st Airborne jumped into Normandy on D-Day. My favorite TV show of all time, Band of Brothers, was about one of the companies of the 101st. The story followed them through their campaigns in the last year of the war, including Battle of the Bulge (episodes 6 & 7).
Of course, there were plenty of other dioramas, but I thought they were more interesting than some of the others we’ve seen.
There were more displays in the basement, but the stairs were too steep for Peter to climb, so I went down to check it out. The most interesting thing was a recreation of what it was like during the bombardment of Bastogne during the battle. The video is just over 5 minutes long, which is much longer than I usually post, but I wanted Peter to be able to see the entire thing and I don’t have any way to edit the video. So, grab your popcorn.
Even though I knew the ceiling wasn’t going to fall on my head, it was actually a bit scary listening to the bombs and rifle fire. I can’t image what it must have been like for the people who experienced it for real.
After a very pleasant 90 minutes in the museum, we headed out for a stroll in town. On our way we stopped at Place General Patton to see his monument.
There was also one dedicated to General McAuliffe in a square named after him.
Outside of the museums, there isn’t much to see in Bastogne, but it was a sunny day (but cold, only in the 40s), so we enjoyed our walk down main street.
At the end of the street, we found St. Peter’s Church and the Treves Gate. The church is from the 16th century and was badly damaged in the battle. Fortunately, they were able to restore it.
Because of the restoration, everything looked new, but the artwork is an exact replica of what was originally in the church.
The Treves Gate was built in the 14th century and is the last remaining piece of the city’s medieval history.
Then it was time to head home as I had yet another load of laundry to do. Unfortunately, our flat doesn’t have a washer so I had to go to the grocery store to do laundry. Seriously, I did.
On the walk back from the laundry, I grabbed a pic of the Abbey of Saint-Hubert (now a basilica).
Tonight is our last night in Belgium as tomorrow we head to Aachen Germany for one night. The only reason we’re going is to see the tomb of Charlemagne in the Aachen Cathedral. We visited Aachen in 2018, but by the time we got to town the Cathedral was closed. It’s sort of on our way back to the Netherlands and we had the extra day so we figured it would be a cool place to stop. Fair warning, be prepared for Cathedral pictures in tomorrow’s post.
Oh, before I go, here’s something else for the foodies (assuming they didn’t check out ages ago).
On behalf of all the foodies…….Thank you!
Any time. Stay tuned for more.
Was it a chocolate covered cake? I’m going to say yes to that and have two slices. Yum!
Yes, it was lightly covered in chocolate with little shavings. Two slices would have been wonderful.