Band of Brothers - Bastogne 2016

Welcome back readers (and, hopefully, fans) for my blog...

I am writing this post on the 26th of December which is somewhat appropriate as it is just a few days past the 72nd anniversary of the 'Battle of the Bulge'. This post isn't a tour of Bastogne that was covered a few posts back, in 2014, when I toured the area with my friend, and author, Ian Gardner (from the 3rd Battalion perspective mainly). This post covers an opportunity I had to join in the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Band of Brothers being released. Being a big fan, as anyone who knows me will tell you, there was no way that I was going to miss the chance to meet some of the actors from the show!!!

As this was a 'quick' trip, that meant an early (0-dark thirty) departure for Luxembourg City and the drive to Belgium. Given the popularity of the anniversary, on top of the normal celebrations that the town put on every year, it was always going to be busy. That being said, we managed to book a room at the Hotel Du Commerce which is in Houffalize. 

Those of you who know the history of the battle of the bulge know what occurred in Houffalize and the pivotal role it played. It was also very convenient in that it was a 15 minute drive straight down the N30 to Bastogne, passing through Foy. For those fans of BoB you'll, no doubt, remember the scene where Speirs charges through the Foy.

 

 

 

 The photo above is the view of the church from the bridge on the N30 in the town.  The Tiger, in the following picture, was recovered from the river after the battle.

After checking in to the hotel, and the compulsory Belgian beer (be warned, 8% very strong)...

We headed for Bastogne and some quick sightseeing. We managed to have a quick coffee in the 'Nuts' café (Icon for all Bulge history fans) and took in a few of the town center sights.

The evening was dedicated to a VIP reception hosted by WW2 Foundation head, Tim Gray, honouring the vets of the battle of the Bulge and celebrating the 15th anniversary of Band of Brothers. The event began with a Q&A session involving the BoB actors and two vets of the battle, Vince Speranza and Bob Izumi. hearing the vets, and the actors, speak about what the battle meant to them was a unique opportunity that will stay with me for a very long time...

Following the Q and A session, we had a chance to meet the actors and to get some pictures and autographs...Obviously, some of us were better at getting the chance to meet and greet the guys than others. :-)

Nadia with Doug Spain...

Nadia with Rick Warden and James Madio....

Nadia with Rick Gomez and Ross McCall...

Although Nadia was more successful with the photos, I didn't walk away empty handed! I managed to meet the legend that is Captain Dale Dye. The Captain was a seriously nice guy who spent a lot of time with the fans..

The night was also about meeting some of my Facebook friends (Yes, some of us actually meet those we connect with on social media).

The photo above is me with Linda Cautaert and Chris Langwah. What is great is that Chris is the grandson of Doc Roe, played by Shane Taylor in BoB, and an all round really nice guy. I am honoured to have been able to meet both Linda and Chris. I also had the chance to catch-up with, and say hi to, a few other friends that I've met before including Joey Van Messen. Now Joey is definitely worth knowing as he produces one of the best WW2 history VLOGs out there, specialising in metal detecting across Europe, the kids a star!

The following day, we decided to take a break from Bastogne and head out into the countryside. We drove North from Houffalize for about an hour or so into the Netherlands to visit the American cemetery at Margraten. The cemetery is the final resting place for over 8000 American soldiers and airmen, many of which were killed during Market Garden.

Whilst visiting the cemetery we paid our respects to an Easy Company member killed during Market Garden...

After paying our respects, we drove East for 90 minutes into Germany. We found ourselves at Remagen. Specifically, the bridge at Remagen where US were arguably the first to cross the Rhine in force. The Western remains of the bridge have been converted into a museum which houses some interesting relics from the battle.

After visiting the museum, we drove back past the Eiffel Forrest skirting Luxembourg and back to Houffalize, Belgium...three countries in six hours which has to be a new record for me!

The following day, our final day of the trip, saw us heading back to Bastogne. The first stop was at the Bastogne war museum which is co-located with the Mardasson memorial and is a few kilometres from the town. The museum is a new, modern facility with interactive displays and three cinema style shows. The museum has quite a few displays including a battle damaged Sherman and a Jagdpanzer. I would definitely recommend a visit if you are in Bastogne.

The war memorial is just outside of the museum. The memorial is imposing and gives a fantastic view of the surrounding area including Bastogne....

After visiting the museum we headed to the Bastogne barracks. The barracks are an active Belgian army site which also contains two museums and a vehicle refurbishment center. The barracks are a must see, containing one of the finest collections of military vehicles I've seen. The collection includes a British centurion tank, a number of panzers, armored support vehicles, etc...go see it before they succeed in closing it for good.

We were also pleasantly surprised to run into some of the BoB actors again...

After visiting the barracks, we headed for our last stop which was the Hamm American Cemetery in Luxembourg, just a few kilometres from the city airport. The cemetery is another fine example of the memorials erected to the losses of American forces during the war.

We also had the chance to pay our respects to three Easy Company members who were killed during the Battle of the Bulge...Alex Penkala, Skip Muck and John Julian.

 

 

The final part of the visit was to pay our respects to the most well known of those buried at Hamm, general George S Patton.

It is a common misconception that Patton was buried at the head of his troops. However, the reality is that his gravesite originally had so many visitors that it was causing the surrounding graves to be desecrated. An agreement was reached between the government of Luxembourg and the family to move his grave hence it's current location.

All in all, another great trip with a number of firsts. I hope that this brief glimpse into it entertains you and encourages you to get out and search for history...

Zion National park, Utah

Hi everyone, over 4500 views of this blog now...incredible!!!

This post is just a quick summary of a few days spent in Zion National park, Utah.

Fist of all, as a surprise to most of my British friends visiting Las Vegas, there's actually beautiful and interesting things to do outside of the Strip (besides the Grand Canyon). :-)   Zion is one of those places, it's a national park about 2.5 hours from Vegas. Actually, there's a number of parks within easy driving from the city and that includes Red Rock (25 minutes from the city), Valley of Fire (about 45 minutes) and Death Valley (a couple hours) to name a few.

To get to Zion, just head Northeast along US15. You'll drive through Nevada and parts of Arizona before heading into the South western corner of Utah via the Virgin River Canyon. The canyon is itself pretty impressive, cutting through the mountains whilst rising to over 6000 feet. However, the goal is Zion, so keep on going!

I've included a map of the park, apologies for the quality.

The main purpose of the map is to show that the park is made up of two major sections. The first section is to the Northwest and is comprised of the Kolob canyons. The canyons are very much like mini Zion canyons with very similar geology. For me the biggest attraction is that there are less tourists. The downside is that the scenery, while beautiful, doesn't rival that of Zion.

As with the rest of the park, there are a variety of trails to choose from and a number of websites that can help you decide. Personally, I used the following website as it provided a good synopsis of the trails, basic maps and guidance for those visiting.

Joe's guide to Zion national Park

Given that we had a limited amount of time in the park (24 hours from time of arrival to departure) and were not, by any stretch of the imagination, experienced hikers. We decided on an 'easy' trail to begin with, the 'Taylor Creek trail'. The trailhead is approximately 2 miles from the Kolob Canyon Ranger Station and gives you three options (North, Middle and South forks). We decided upon the middle fork which is estimated to be a 5 mile round trip (although, by my calculations it was slightly longer but that could be due to a few 'diversions).

The hike started at 0930 which, with hindsight, was pretty poor planning on my part. Despite it being the 9th of September and being at over 6000ft it was still very hot (easily 30c by mid-hike) but at least the views were very nice...

A little trail information: The trail is doable in hiking shoes or running shoes (my choice for this hike). I actually saw a young woman in sandals but wouldn't recommend them. The trail is also well marked with only a few spots that require any real effort. There are a few creeks to cross which didn't present a challenge (although, I would expect them to be a bit deeper during Spring and Fall.

The decision point between the three forks is near the Larson cabin which is a cultural site dating back over 100 years.

We headed East towards the ultimate goal of the hike which is the Double Arch Alcove. One of the nice things about the trail is that a lot of the walking is through the forest which offers respite from the heat.

We managed to make it to the actual arch in well under 2 hours which was good considering the number of stops that we took to take photos and to enjoy the scenery.

Made it!!!!!

Okay, hike over...drive to Springdale by following US15 Southwest to US9 then head east to Springdale. Now, Springdale is 180 degrees out from kolob. Think the South rim of the Grand Canyon but a bit classier. The 'town' has a number of nice places to stay with fantastic views and features but you will pay for it, obviously.

Apologies for the blatant advertising here... :-)

I'd suggest eating at 'jack's' as the food was amazing, relatively inexpensive and they had a reasonable selection of beers, some locally produced, which is a key for me.

Just a few points about the Eastern part of the park...first of all, unless you enter the park early (as in before 8am) then forget about parking. Although the park signs say that parking is unavailable after 10am, that's not even close. Most visitors don't heed the advice and try to drive in to hike late...Don't do it! The park offers shuttle service which picks up at a number of stops before and in the park, leave your car along the road (or in the hotel) and get the shuttle.


As with the rest of the park, there are a number of great options for hikes. If time isn't a problem then I'd suggest going for some of the trails within the park such as the emerald pools trail. However, the downside of those trails is that they are usually busy...I prefer a bit of quiet so opted for one of the few trails that started at the Visitors center in Springdale. The trail that we decided upon was the 'Watchman Trail' which included a shorter 'Loop' at the end. As with many of the park trails, this one was an out and back. It is rated as 'moderate' due to the climb and the sheer drops along parts of the trail. The trail itself was a bit shorter than the 'Taylor Creek trail', only about 1-1.5 miles each way not including the extra .25-.5 mile loop section.

The trail climbs up through a canyon and winds around to a scenic overlook. I would suggest starting early (as soon as the sun rises) to avoid the heat and the 'busy' period. The views with the sun rising, whilst not on par with some of the more popular trails, are still stunning and worth the less than 2 hours roundtrip.

Okay, that's it for today. keep an eye on future posts as have a few other trips planned in the next few months.