Today was the second of three historic days we planned for this trip (really, there should have been more.) We spent the morning at Waterloo – the battlefield of Napoleon’s big defeat in 1815. It was such a significant turning point in European history, they have done a good job of “big dealing” it in the town of Waterloo. We stopped first at the farm where Napoleon and his officers slept the night before the battle and where he laid out his plans for attack. There were several interesting artifacts in that farm house including his death mask, strands of his hair and lots of rifles and military effects. Then we drove just down the street to the big national park there and saw a bit more. Kaleb informed us that Napoleon didn’t die in the battle – he was exiled to an island in the Atlantic and died of possible stomach cancer five years after Waterloo. Kaleb also told us he’d read in a book that the reason Napoleon always had his hand in his shirt was because he had some kind of mite infestation and constantly itched. We didn’t see much about either of those facts today, but they certainly displayed the battle well using every kind of media possible.
Right in the heart of the battlefield, not long after the battle was over (which involved 300,000 troops from 7 countries and over 70,000 died or were seriously wounded), the locals made a huge mound with 226 steps to the top to get an overview of the area. Canons that were left behind were melted down and used to cast a huge lion which sits on top of the mound and is visible for miles away. It’s all very impressive and it was a good way to have that page in history sink in a little better. We did find out Napoleon wanted to go to America after he lost, but he was denied passage on any ships. I wonder what impact he would have had if he were allowed to immigrate.
Kory has never been to Belgium before so he wanted to drive through Brussels on our way to my favorite town in all of Europe – Brugge. I’ve driven through Brussels before and there’s nothing spectacular about it and in my estimation, it was wasted time as we could have avoided the city and made it to Brugge an hour sooner – but it was Kory’s deal. As it turned out – the GPS we used to navigate our way through the city to be sure we’d come out heading in the right direction – lead us on roads that mostly ran underground – so Kory only got to see the tunnels of Brussels – not the buildings. I thought that was funny. Kory somehow missed the humor in it all.
Both Kory and I are suckers for cool architecture and we love to do nothing more than walk around and look at the buildings. I knew he’d like Brugge, and I was right. Brugge is something special – with willow trees dipping down into the canals right where all the swans hang out and in the back ground is some spectacular church steeple and a six hundred year old bridge spanning the canal. Buildings line the canals like in Venice – many of them built in the 1600s and many much older than that. We took a canal boat ride as soon as we got to town because it was the perfect thing to do on a warm summer afternoon. It wasn’t too romantic with 30 other people along, but it was impressive just the same. Kaleb enjoyed trying to touch the bottom of the bridges we passed under as many didn’t have much clearance. And the best sight we’ve seen this whole trip, we saw from the boat. One house right on the canal had an open living room window with a big fluffy pillow partially sticking out - and plopped on top of the pillow was a very sad and lonely looking yellow lab. His legs hung over the window ledge, his head rested on his legs and he just watched the boats full of people coming and going. Obviously he was home alone. I got a few photos of him but we hurried back to that spot after the boat tour, hoping to get a really good photo of him with the canal visible under him, but by then his owner was home and he was off the pillow and out of sight. It was just the cutest sight, ever.
Belgium is known for its waffles and chocolates but Brugge in particular is known for it’s lace. Even thirty years ago it was hard to find handmade lace in Belgium, now it’s impossible. Just like Norwegian sweaters are being made in the Slavic countries, all the lace in Brugge is made in China. For centuries, women in Brugge made beautiful lace things, but the cost of labor is too high now to keep that going, but that doesn’t stop it from being sold by the boat load. I’m sure half the stores in Brugge are either chocolate stores or lace stores – a bit of an overkill – but it’s a big tourist town so they know their market.
The rain finally came just as we were walking back to our car after dinner tonight. Good timing. Tomorrow we head to Holland.
Right in the heart of the battlefield, not long after the battle was over (which involved 300,000 troops from 7 countries and over 70,000 died or were seriously wounded), the locals made a huge mound with 226 steps to the top to get an overview of the area. Canons that were left behind were melted down and used to cast a huge lion which sits on top of the mound and is visible for miles away. It’s all very impressive and it was a good way to have that page in history sink in a little better. We did find out Napoleon wanted to go to America after he lost, but he was denied passage on any ships. I wonder what impact he would have had if he were allowed to immigrate.
Kory has never been to Belgium before so he wanted to drive through Brussels on our way to my favorite town in all of Europe – Brugge. I’ve driven through Brussels before and there’s nothing spectacular about it and in my estimation, it was wasted time as we could have avoided the city and made it to Brugge an hour sooner – but it was Kory’s deal. As it turned out – the GPS we used to navigate our way through the city to be sure we’d come out heading in the right direction – lead us on roads that mostly ran underground – so Kory only got to see the tunnels of Brussels – not the buildings. I thought that was funny. Kory somehow missed the humor in it all.
Both Kory and I are suckers for cool architecture and we love to do nothing more than walk around and look at the buildings. I knew he’d like Brugge, and I was right. Brugge is something special – with willow trees dipping down into the canals right where all the swans hang out and in the back ground is some spectacular church steeple and a six hundred year old bridge spanning the canal. Buildings line the canals like in Venice – many of them built in the 1600s and many much older than that. We took a canal boat ride as soon as we got to town because it was the perfect thing to do on a warm summer afternoon. It wasn’t too romantic with 30 other people along, but it was impressive just the same. Kaleb enjoyed trying to touch the bottom of the bridges we passed under as many didn’t have much clearance. And the best sight we’ve seen this whole trip, we saw from the boat. One house right on the canal had an open living room window with a big fluffy pillow partially sticking out - and plopped on top of the pillow was a very sad and lonely looking yellow lab. His legs hung over the window ledge, his head rested on his legs and he just watched the boats full of people coming and going. Obviously he was home alone. I got a few photos of him but we hurried back to that spot after the boat tour, hoping to get a really good photo of him with the canal visible under him, but by then his owner was home and he was off the pillow and out of sight. It was just the cutest sight, ever.
Belgium is known for its waffles and chocolates but Brugge in particular is known for it’s lace. Even thirty years ago it was hard to find handmade lace in Belgium, now it’s impossible. Just like Norwegian sweaters are being made in the Slavic countries, all the lace in Brugge is made in China. For centuries, women in Brugge made beautiful lace things, but the cost of labor is too high now to keep that going, but that doesn’t stop it from being sold by the boat load. I’m sure half the stores in Brugge are either chocolate stores or lace stores – a bit of an overkill – but it’s a big tourist town so they know their market.
The rain finally came just as we were walking back to our car after dinner tonight. Good timing. Tomorrow we head to Holland.
