I took Doggo to see the Štoln Tunnel today. The Austrians moved over 400,000 men through this during WW1 prior to Caporetto, making it possibly the most important tunnel on the Italian Front.

Up at Čelo today (Austrian second-line positions near Bovec). Excellent views of the Bovec valley, where the successful Austro-German gas attack in October 1917 launched the battle of Caporetto.

More Isitt family Type 2 Fun…a ride up the old WW1 road over the Vršič pass (built by Russian POWs) to see the Russian chapel. It’s estimated that as many as 10,000 Russians died during the construction of this road. It might be considered Slovenia’s Road of Bones.

It has been suggested that I do local wine pairings for each chapter of my forthcoming book. Vines nourished by the blood and bones of the glorious dead? Better than “Waterloo Teeth” I guess. All these were produced on WW1 battlefields.

Back in the Vosges mountains today, this time on Tête des Faux (1208m ASL). It’s an extraordinary battlefield, wild and covered in slowly crumbling remains from the war. There’s even a German cable car station (1st photo) up there.

Tête du Voilu in the Vosges today. Very atmospheric. These are the German WW1 positions on the eastern slopes. I’m staggered by how much of WW1 remains in the these mountains.

And so to Reims, where the great early medieval Gothic cathedral was hit 300 times by German shells during WW1, causing world-wide outrage and condemnation.

Bisous, France. À bientôt. ❤️

The 2025 Grand Tour is over, no one was seriously injured, and we got to walk the ground on the battlefields of Pasubio, Zugna, Adamello, Ortler, and the Vosges. By bike and on foot I covered 101 miles and climbed 24,806 ft. Thank you for your interest, I’m going for a lie-down.

A slightly speeded up video of the Ellison Stollen, the key WW1 access tunnel to the Dente Austriaco (Austrian Tooth) position on Monte Pasubio. Warning: these tunnels are not safe, I did this so that you don’t have to.

Quite pleased with this photo…the collapsed remains of the Dente Italiano position on Monte Pasubio. When the Austrians fired a 50-tonne mine beneath it, in March 1918, around 40 Italian soldiers were entombed here.

Then, and now. The Austrian WW1 military village at Monticello Superiore (8,335 ft ASL), Presena sector of the Italian Front. The three Monticelli peaks dominated the important Passo Tonale, and allowed observation as far as west as Ponte di Legno.

“Minimal wear to the cover”? I’d like to see what a scruffy copy looks like. I suppose for £3.40 inc postage I shouldn’t expect too much.

AUSTRIA, GIRO DI VITE CONTRO L'OVERTOURISM E GLI IMPRUDENTI IN MONTAGNA Il Soccorso Alpino Austriaco introduce punizioni corporali per i turisti impreparati, una proposta che fa discutere shrturl.app/CS6pgn #soccorsoalpino #ai #Reve #overtourism

From the official Austro-Hungarian record of WW1, concerning the Battle of Vittorio Veneto: “The appearance of the British caused universal terror”. It’s hard to imagine Tommy Atkins frightening anyone, but in late 1918 the Austro-Hungarians didn’t want to fight the British.

Stop the boats! Send ’em back! It’s the Great Replacement! Oh, they’ve been here for at least 1300 years. I wonder if the Telegraph, Express, Mail etc will be pointing out that many of their readers are descended from African migrants?

Today is one of the very few days of the year when I’d rather be in England than Italy. Happy Ferragosto*, tutti. * Ferragosto is the day everything is closed because everyone’s stuck in a traffic jam in 36°C on the way to Rimini, and the only people working are the burglars.