Traveling Across Belgium to Germany

After the two days of exploration in London, the tour of Normandy and the visit to the city of Rouen, the group proceeded to Paris. After a full day in Paris, they traveled to Bastogne, Belgium and spent the night at a resort at Houffalize, Belgium.

It looks like Elyse enjoyed the local rural scenery and some of its residents.

Houffalize is peaceful now, but but very violent in times past. It is situated in the Ardenne Forest, the location of one of the largest battles of World War II, the "Battle of the Bulge". German troops occupied the town from 20 December 1944 to 16 January 1945. The Allied planes struck Houffalize many times. Involved with aerial bombardment during the Battle of the Bulge were the American Army Air Force and the Royal Air Force. Rod's brother Edgar was a part of the Army Air Force and possibly worked on some of the planes involved. He followed General George Patton across Europe with close air support landing strips. Patton entered Bastogne in one the decisive actions in the battle. Edgar was in this part of Europe throughout this period.

After the night spent in Houffalize and the area around Bastogne, they proceeded to Cologne, Germany. In Cologne, they visited yet another dramatic cathedral.

They were privileged to tour part of the cathedral and see the ornate pulpit and the beautiful stained glass window.

Elyse with a view of an ornate entrance and rows of sculpted statues.

They arrived in Cologne by bus, but proceeded from Cologne to Berlin by train. Elyse is shown here with Joe, their Irish guide, as they were preparing to board the train to Berlin. They arrived late into Berlin and spent the night.

On June 10, Day 9 of their trip, the did some sightseeing in Berlin. This is a view of "The Needle", which is a television tower, but has come to symbolize the rising again of the city after its troubled past.

Elyse stands on the steps of the Konzerthaus Berlin. Severely damaged by Allied bombing and the Battle of Berlin, the building was rebuilt and given this name in 1994. The acoustics are ranked in the top five concert houses in the world.

They got to take a tour along the Berlin Wall, which is mostly covered with artwork now.

This section of the wall gave some history. Erected in 1961, the Wall was breached in 1989.

This one has impressive symbolism: the breaching of the wall and the horde passing through.

Elyse gets to stand by the Berlin Wall in Berlin, a great symbol of hope that the evil oppressions of the world can be overcome with principled action and good will.

The next day they started their homeward journey, flying back from Berlin to Heathrow in England and then back to the US. They had to get up at about 2am in Berlin, leave at 3am for an hour trip to Berlin airport. I am guessing that it was the Brandenburg airport in Berlin, the new airport which opened 2020.