Honsinger impresses with 2nd place European World Cup finish

Belgium and the areas around it (Duchy of Burgundy) are a beautiful part of the world, lots of history, battlefields, and bike races. The northern plain, Flanders, Brebant, Zeeland, Gelderland, and Holland is flat but has always been pretty rich since the 1100s, with cities to match. The south, Wallonia and Limburg, is hilly, sparsely populated, forested and a bit poorer, is well worth exploring.

I’ve passed through the rugged Ardennes region several times: between Brussels and Luxembourg, which is a fairly scenic fast train that passes through Namur; between Luxembourg and Liege Belgium on a slower train, which is REALLY scenic, lots of canyons, tunnels, and streams; and I also once took a train through a back route from Trier to Koln, on the German side; Trier to Koblenz along the Mosel is a long canyon with incredible trellised vinyards. Luxembourg is a city built on forested mesas, with very deep canyons – Patton is buried near there. Nearby Trier is the oldest historic city in Germany, lots of Roman buildings and ruins. Arlon and Bastogne are also Roman in origin. Along with Namur, I highly recommend Bruges and Ghent/Gand/Gaunt in the north, in Flanders (not Ned).

I once took a train from Lille to Amiens in France. All along the route was cemetery after cemetery – I later learned I was passing through the Somme battlefield. Agincourt (now Azincourt) is just a bit north of Lille, near Belgium.

I enjoy reading about history and then visiting places involved, including WW2 areas like the Ardennes, but to be honest I had never heard the Battle of Hurtgen Forest until you mentioned it, still apparently the longest battle the US Army has ever fought (3 months in late 1944, before the Battle of the Bulge). If you get a chance, the nearby city of Aachen (Aken in Dutch; Aix-La-Chapel in French) is well worth the visit – I have never seen a cathedral even remotely like theirs, plus Charlemagne’s bones are in a glass box inside. Nearby Maastricht is also worth visiting, actual hills in the Netherlands.

Memorials commemorating WW2 are rare in cities in Europe – I saw one in an out-of-the-way spot in Worms, a few in Britain, and a big plaque in Luxembourg – but mostly what you see are the rebuilt cities bombed by the various sides. However, I did look closely at a structure that the Germans built in all their cities (and most occupied ones too) that resembles an huge oversize outhouse about 60 feet high, reinforced concrete, asymmetrical construction, designed to house a hospital and fire station even as the rest of the city is being bombed and destroyed. The one I saw was in Trier, but apparently Vienna has 4 of them and was completely unsuccessful dynamiting one of them a few years ago (they are very ugly.)