OT: Has anyone visited Bastonge, Belgium?

[WhiteBus]

Thanks to @MadRU I feel compelled to follow up with asking this board if they ever been to Bastonge, Belgium known worldwide for the Battle of the Bulge.
I'll be in Bastonge on April 20, 21 for cycling but making plenty of time to see the sites. So much stuff to see. War Museum, Bastonge Barracks, 101st Airborne Museum, Le Bois de la Paix etc.

MadRu's post is

https://rutgers.forums.rivals.com/threads/ot-the-history-underground-band-of-brothers.272458/

 

[LOU-RU85]

No but it sounds like a really cool place to visit. Have fun!

 

[WhiteBus]

No but it sounds like a really cool place to visit. Have fun!

Always a bucket list but has been on the wrong side of Belgium for the last few years. This year we are riding and watching the famous Liege-Baston-Liege race. We are skipping Liege all together as we were there before. Should be the highlight of the trip.

 

[T2Kplus20]

Thanks to @MadRU I feel compelled to follow up with asking this board if they ever been to Bastonge, Belgium known worldwide for the Battle of the Bulge.
I'll be in Bastonge on April 20, 21 for cycling but making plenty of time to see the sites. So much stuff to see. War Museum, Bastonge Barracks, 101st Airborne Museum, Le Bois de la Paix etc.

MadRu's post is

https://rutgers.forums.rivals.com/threads/ot-the-history-underground-band-of-brothers.272458/

Only visited via YouTube.

 

[RW90]

We'll be seeing Bruges for our first time this April. Also looking forward to any recommendations here.

 

[Eagleton95.99]

Thanks to @MadRU I feel compelled to follow up with asking this board if they ever been to Bastonge, Belgium known worldwide for the Battle of the Bulge.
I'll be in Bastonge on April 20, 21 for cycling but making plenty of time to see the sites. So much stuff to see. War Museum, Bastonge Barracks, 101st Airborne Museum, Le Bois de la Paix etc.

MadRu's post is

https://rutgers.forums.rivals.com/threads/ot-the-history-underground-band-of-brothers.272458/

I got lost in a forest looking for a war site 30 years ago before internet navigation. Nice forest.

 

[WhiteBus]

We'll be seeing Bruges for our first time this April. Also looking forward to any recommendations here.

Let me ask you a few questions first. When exactly are you going in April and how many days? Are you a beer person? And where are you staying? I can thin out the recommendations that way.

 

[DowntownT_Brown]

Have not been to Bruges but spent a day in Ghent which was great. Grab a drink at a cafe at Graslei or jump on a boat tour of the Leie. Would also recommend the recorded audio tour of Gravensteen, its a bit cheekier than one would have in the US.

 

[WhiteBus]

Have not been to Bruges but spent a day in Ghent which was great. Grab a drink at a cafe at Graslei or jump on a boat tour of the Leie. Would also recommend the recorded audio tour of Gravensteen, its a bit cheekier than one would have in the US.

Ghent is great. My favorite place was Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant. Great food, great bar and right on one of canals. The bike parking lot the Ghent St Peters train station just blew my mind, thousands of bicycles.

https://images.app.goo.gl/s95LRxCNdCvyCJUf6

 

[zappaa]

The Battered Bastards will appreciate your remembering them.

 

[Kbee3]

My father was in Bastogne in the winter of 1944.

 

[WhiteBus]

My father was in Bastogne in the winter of 1944.

God bless him! 101st? Or Patton's group?

 

[RU09FOOTBALL]

We'll be seeing Bruges for our first time this April. Also looking forward to any recommendations here.

IYKYK

 

[gmay8]

My father was in Bastogne in the winter of 1944.

My grandfather spent some time there as well late December ‘44 til Jan. 3, ‘45

He said it was cold

 

[Kbee3]

God bless him! 101st? Or Patton's group?

82nd Airborne....his unit wasn't one of those trapped in Bastogne. He was north of there for the most part...near Malmedy. His unit was one of those that helped end the siege of Bastogne.
The only time I remember him ever talking about it was when me and my brother were complaining about the snow and ice we had to clear. He told us about how much fun it was to dig a foxhole in the frozen ground in Belgium back in '44. Other than that, he never talked about the war...no matter how much I pestered him.

 

[RW90]

Let me ask you a few questions first. When exactly are you going in April and how many days? Are you a beer person? And where are you staying? I can thin out the recommendations that way.

We'll be in Belgium with about four couples the second week of April, for three or four days after a family destination wedding. Most the guys in our party are beer drinkers, and a good half of guys and gals are also wine snobs. Me and the Mrs., however, are not definitely not wine drinkers.

 

[RW90]

IYKYK

IDK?

 

[WhiteBus]

82nd Airborne....his unit wasn't one of those trapped in Bastogne. He was north of there for the most part...near Malmedy. His unit was one of those that helped end the siege of Bastogne.
The only time I remember him ever talking about it was when me and my brother were complaining about the snow and ice we had to clear. He told us about how much fun it was to dig a foxhole in the frozen ground in Belgium back in '44. Other than that, he never talked about the war...no matter how much I pestered him.

My Uncle was the same. His kids never knew anything but my mom said he stopped writing home after June 5. My cousin's only found out after he died that he was piloting a landing craft on DDay.

 

[zappaa]

82nd Airborne....his unit wasn't one of those trapped in Bastogne. He was north of there for the most part...near Malmedy. His unit was one of those that helped end the siege of Bastogne.
The only time I remember him ever talking about it was when me and my brother were complaining about the snow and ice we had to clear. He told us about how much fun it was to dig a foxhole in the frozen ground in Belgium back in '44. Other than that, he never talked about the war...no matter how much I pestered him.

Neither did my dad
DDay and Northern Africa
I do know he used his experience as perspective…. There was nothing he could ever see or do in baseball that compared to the carnage and bloated bodies he witnessed.. baseball was a cake walk.

I salute your dad!

 

[WhiteBus]

We'll be in Belgium with about four couples the second week of April, for three or four days after a family destination wedding. Most the guys in our party are beer drinkers, and a good half of guys and gals are also wine snobs. Me and the Mrs., however, are not definitely not wine drinkers.

Ok just a little heads up. Bruges is such a touristy town. With that said it's absolutely wonderful!!
I'll start with the beers stops. First Bruges own Brouwerij De Halve Maan (The Half Moon) is a great stop. If weather is nice a beautiful courtyard, if not a great bar inside. Beautiful place. Has a nice gift shop too.

https://www.halvemaan.be/en

One block over is Bierpaleis. A bottle shop attached next to a T-shirt tourist type place. You can buy bier and drink it there or in the little outside garden out back. Or buy it to go. Danny is the owner and a nice funny guy.
A few shops from there is the best frits place in all of Belgium. Fritbar. They have like 30/40 styles of dips. Great place for a group too.
The must go to spot is the Grote Market (large market). Again if nice out just grab a table at one of the many restaurants on the Markt and take it all in. Finally, you can't swing a dead cat in Bruges without hitting a Cathedral. Some charge but most don't. Check any of them you pass. Enjoy

 

[Bill 86]

My father was in Bastogne in the winter of 1944.

"Nuts"

 

[S.W.A.I.N]

IDK?

Watch “In Bruges”. It was the reason I spent a week there - place really is a ******* fairytale.

 

[Kbee3]

"Nuts"

Gen. Anthony McAuliffe's legendary reply to a German demand of surrender.

 

[WhiteBus]

Gen. Anthony McAuliffe's legendary reply to a German demand of surrender.

He is legendary in Bastonge as well. The first thing we will see entertaining town is a statue of the General and a Sherman Tank next to him.

 

[WhiteBus]

Watch “In Bruges”. It was the reason I spent a week there - place really is a ****ing fairytale.

I never saw the movie until returning after my 4th trip to Bruges on the flight home. My friends kept telling to watch it "you'll probably recognize some places" About 5 seconds in the camera starts scanning an area by one of the many canals and there was my hotel along the canal. Didn't take long, lol.
I like the move but about 15 minutes in I figured who would survive and who wouldn't. A little too predictable but a very entertaining movie.

 

[Mr_Twister]

My father served in Patton’s Hell on Wheels. What a sacrifice those young men made.

 

[SirPerceval]

My grandfather did 80 years ago

 

[S.W.A.I.N]

I never saw the movie until returning after my 4th trip to Bruges on the flight home. My friends kept telling to watch it "you'll probably recognize some places" About 5 seconds in the camera starts scanning an area by one of the many canals and there was my hotel along the canal. Didn't take long, lol.
I like the move but about 15 minutes in I figured who would survive and who wouldn't. A little too predictable but a very entertaining movie.

I mean…nobody survives. The 3 main protagonists all die. You knew the one female interest would live? She was never in any peril. It wasn’t a Hunger Games movie, that wasn’t really the point. The manner in which they go means something. You definitely didn’t guess Harry would swallow his own or Ken would take a leap to get Ray a gun. It’s a black comedy - not a royal rumble.

 

[Kbee3]

82nd Airborne....his unit wasn't one of those trapped in Bastogne. He was north of there for the most part...near Malmedy. His unit was one of those that helped end the siege of Bastogne.
The only time I remember him ever talking about it was when me and my brother were complaining about the snow and ice we had to clear. He told us about how much fun it was to dig a foxhole in the frozen ground in Belgium back in '44. Other than that, he never talked about the war...no matter how much I pestered him.

Anybody remember what happened at Malmedy ?

 

[knightfan7]

Anybody remember what happened at Malmedy ?

Isn;t that where the SS killed about 100 US POW's? The man who carried out the order was executed by firing squad.

"I was just following orders" didn't work.

 

[MadRU]

My Uncle was on his way there December 24,1944 but while crossing the English Channel their convoy was attacked by a German U-Boat. The largest ship the Leopaldville was sunk. He was redirected to France where he fought and served as a medic and was awarded the bronze star in the battle of Brittany.