Travels - Bastogne

The first of our travels that I will talk about is our trip to Bastogne. We ventured here a couple of months ago on a freezing cold morning! We arrived when it was still dark out and made our way to the crowd of people. Bastogne is known for the imfamous "Battle of the Bulge" and was also made famous by the series, "Band of Brothers." We were lucky enough to have one of the actual Band of Brothers join us on this walk of remembrance. Our family did the short tour of only 5K. Though only 3.1 miles or so it was bitterly cold and snowing. Along the way, re-enactments of how the troops lived, and the clothes that they had or (didn't have) to keep warm were demonstrated. IT was said that many sleepless nights were spent in these areas due to the bitter cold causing the resin in the trees to freeze and subsequently, the tree would explode. This sounded much like gun fire.

Halfway through we had a stop for hot chocolate, this was a welcome treat for the girls who were suffering from painful fingers and toes. Here I must put in a bit of praise for my two daughters. They made it though 1.5 miles of crowded cold before the cold got to be too much for them. Rebekah was in the stroller and despite having a heavy coat, two pairs of pants, gloves and a blanket wrapped around her, she was frozen stiff. Hannah walked a good part of the way and after the hot chocolate treat, she was wore out and had to be carried on daddy's back. After the long walk was over we ventured into the small town of Bastogne and stopped at a local Baguetterie to warm up and procure some type of nourishment. The girls had about 45 minutes to thaw out and their spirits rose as did the reddness did in their cheeks. After our quick stop we toured the town.

All throughout the day we continued to see the re-enactment players driving around the time blending in the rest of the populous as if they had always been there and always lived that way.

In the next picture you will see that a cool picture I took totally by accident. We were about to cross the road when a soldier drove by and looked at me, I simply lifted my camera and snapped a picture of him. Suprisingly the picture turned out ok, especially considering I was still in landscrape mode!!

Last of all is the excursion to the actual memorial. This was the most memorable of all. It was simply breath-taking and had spiral staircases that you could climb up to the roof and you could see over all of Belgium, for miles! It was the most beautiful sight I saw in all of Belgium! Next year we intend to return to that the 20K hike. Hopefully, a babysitter will be available so that we can continue without torturing our daughters.