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| climbing the Lion Mound |
In 1815, the fields south of Waterloo, Belgium were farmland. Napoleon and Wellington there contested the Battle of Waterloo The fields are still there and are still being farmed. The main change to the landscape is the enormous man-made hill topped with a lion statue - a memorial erected by the Kingdom of the Netherlands (of which modern Belgium was a part) to mark the spot where the Crown Prince Willem was injured during the battle. We climbed the hill for the views out over the battlefield after watching the movies in the interpretive centre. Unfortunately, many of the other historical sites, including Napoleon's headquarters, are undergoing renovation in preparation for the 200th anniversary of the Battle. According to the tourist bureau employee, a new visitors' centre is being built, which will include a trail to one of the farmhouses (she didn't say which) involved in the battle.
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| la Haye Sainte farm in background |
The town was bustling even on this mid-March day. While the boys were eating dessert, Craig also took in the Wellington Museum (located in town at the inn where Wellington and his staff slept) and the Église Saint-Joseph de Waterloo. The museum contains a number of interesting artifacts, including uniforms, weaponry, an artificial leg, and even a couple of graves (in the courtyard in the back) of officers killed in the Battle. The church was expanded just after the battle with the addition of a rotunda, which now contains a dedication to the officers and men who fought; inside there are many stone memorials propped up against the wall dedicated to various officers who died.
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