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Belgium Waterloo

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  • TravelerBelgium Long Weekend, 2025
    Day 5

    The Lion's Mound - Waterloo

    April 7 in Belgium ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    To finish off my trip, I got off the bus to the airport in a field just outside a town to the south of Brussels called Waterloo. In 1815, this was the site of the final battle of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Waterloo, in which the allied army led by the Duke of Wellington inflicted a crushing defeat on Napoleon Bonaparte, condemning his fate to be exiled to Saint Helena for the remainder of his life.

    This was the third-bloodiest battle of the Napoleonic Wars and so, to memorialise the fallen soldiers, an enormous mound was created topped with a steel statue of a lion looking out over the battlefield, protecting a globe with its paw.

    Today, a delightful little museum can be found next to the mound which gives a really good overview of the background to this battle, from the French Revolution to the rise of Napoleon and his wars of conquest across the continent. It also houses an impressive 360º panorama in which the key aspects of the battle are painted in great detail, as well as a lovely restaurant where I ate some Belgian meatballs - Boulettes Sambre et Meuse.

    The view from the top of the mound was fantastic - you can really see why this part of the world is called the Low Countries; there are no hills for miles so you can see Brussels and other, further cities on the horizon! It was a nice way to end the trip - sat in the shadow of Belgium's national animal looking out over this country which, while it admittedly still feels like an artificial smorgasbord of Dutchiness, Frenchiness and quite a lot of Citizen-of-the-Worldiness, I'd like to think I understand a bit better now than I did a few days ago.    Read more

  • Cruiz' in Europe
    Day 15

    Waterloo

    April 15, 2024 in Belgium ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    Vi kan jo ikke bare køre forbi monumentet for slaget ved Waterloo. Egentlig troede vi bare at vi skulle op på toppen, men der er et kæmpe museum under jorden. Utrolig godt lavet, men en barsk historie. Tusindevis af soldater blev dræbt. Billedet er fra den runde bygning, hvor selve slaget er vist, med lyden af kanoner, geværer, sabler, råb, skrig, galoperende heste, vrinsk og stønnede soldater. Det var virkelig en stærk oplevelse.Read more

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  • Fritesland...WE'RE BACK ! 🇧🇪
    Day 3

    Mémorial 1815 de Waterloo

    August 23, 2024 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    À la découverte du musée retraçant l'une des plus grandes défaites de Napoléon et du symbole de la Waterloo

    (Il y avait aussi une expo sur ABBA avec la chanson qui tournait en boucle... non ce n'est même pas une vanne)Read more

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  • Nadine und DominikBelgien Tour 2.8. - 14.8.24
    Day 9

    Der Löwenhügel - 226 Stufen zur Aussicht

    August 10, 2024 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Der Hauptgrund für uns her zu kommen war eigentlich der Löwenhügel, wobei uns das Museum am Ende auch sehr gut gefallen hat, da die Informationen gut und in vielen Sprachen aufbereitet waren. Auch das Panorama war sehr beeindruckend, das Highlight dann trotzdem der Löwenhügel inklusive Ausblick. Der Löwenhügel ist das Hauptmonument der Schlacht bei Waterloo und markiert die vermutliche Stelle, an welcher der Prinz von Oranien während der Schlacht am 18. Juni 1815 verwundet wurde. Der niederländische König Wilhelm I. ließ dieses Denkmal 1820 zum Gedenken an den Mut seines Sohnes Wilhelm von Oranien errichten. Der Hügel ist 40 Meter hoch und seine Basis hat einen Umfang von 520 Metern. 226 Stufen führen zu einer kleinen Plattform auf der Spitze, in deren Zentrum eine Löwenstatue auf einem Sockel steht. Die Bronzestatue ist 4,45 Meter hoch und 4,50 Meter breit. Einer Legende nach soll sie aus den von den Franzosen auf dem Schlachtfeld zurückgelassenen Waffen gegossen worden sein. Vom Aussichtspunkt auf das Areal der damaligen Schlacht ging’s wieder zurück zum Auto und schließlich mit dem Auto weitere gut zwei Stunden durch Belgien und nach Luxemburg.Read more

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  • Nadine und DominikBelgien Tour 2.8. - 14.8.24
    Day 9

    Waterloo - Ort der Schlacht von 1815

    August 10, 2024 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Am Morgen hieß es nach einem Frühstück mit tollem Ausblick und perfektem Wetter auschecken und los auf unsere Fahrt, einmal quer durchs Land nach Luxemburg und damit dem vierten Land in diesem Urlaub und unserem gemeinsamen 29sten Land! Die Fahrt dauert knapp 3,5 Stunden, aus diesem Grund und aus Interesse steht nach ca. 1,5 Stunden ein Halt in Waterloo auf dem Plan. Die Fahrt war zum Glück ohne Vorkommnisse, also waren wir zeitlich wie geplant in Waterloo. Waterloo ist nicht nur ein sehr berühmtes Lied von ABBA, sondern auch eine Gemeinde in Belgien und der Ort einer sehr berühmten Schlacht. Die Schlacht ist auch der Grund für das gigantische Denkmal und warum wir hier für gut 1,5 Stunden gehalten haben. In Waterloo gibt es neben einem gigantischen Denkmal auch noch ein monumentales Bauwerk mit einem 360 Panorama als Darstellung der Schlacht und ein Museum. Zuerst waren wir im Museum, dann beim Panorama und zum Abschluss noch auf dem Denkmal Hügel. Die Schlacht bei Waterloo vom 18. Juni 1815 war die letzte Schlacht Napoleon Bonapartes. Sie fand rund 15 km südlich von Brüssel in der Nähe des Dorfes Waterloo statt, das damals zum Königreich der Vereinigten Niederlande gehörte und heute in Belgien liegt. Die Niederlage der von Napoleon geführten Franzosen gegen die alliierten Truppen unter dem britischen General Wellington und dem preußischen Feldmarschall Blücher beendete Napoleons Herrschaft der Hundert Tage und führte mit dessen endgültiger Abdankung am 22. Juni 1815 zum Ende des Französischen Kaiserreichs. Nach dieser zweiten völligen militärischen Niederlage innerhalb kurzer Zeit wurden Frankreich im Zweiten Pariser Frieden verschärfte Friedensbedingungen auferlegt. Napoleon selbst wurde als Kriegsgefangener der Briten auf die Atlantikinsel St. Helena gebracht, wo er am 5. Mai 1821 starb. Beteiligt an der Schlacht waren circa 150.000 Mann, wovon nach Schätzungen circa. 10.000 starben und 37.000 verwundet wurden. Wie viele der Verwundeten im Anschluss noch an den Verletzungen gestorben sind ist nicht bekannt. Erschreckenderweise ist die Schlacht von Waterloo nur die dritt blutigste von Napoleon nach der Schlacht von Leipzig (110.000 Tote und Verletzte) und der Schlacht von Moldau (90.000 Verletzte und Getötete).Read more

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  • TravelerDal Lussemburgo alla Bretagna
    Day 3

    Waterloo

    July 24, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Nel tardo pomeriggio ci siamo recati a Waterloo per visitare il monumento a Napoleone e fare una passeggiata nella campagna circostante. A Waterloo abbiamo anche passato la notte in un un parcheggio molto silenzioso della cittardina.Read more

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  • TravelerTour of Europe
    Day 178

    Waterloo

    July 4, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Waterloo, Brabant wallon, Belgien

    Dienstag stand ganz im Zeichen von Napoleon. Wir starteten in Waterloo, wo ich das Wellington Museum besuchte. Ein kleines Museum über die Schlacht von Waterloo mit einigen tollen Videos und Geschichten über den Verlauf. Danach wollte ich natürlich auch noch das Schlachtfeld selbst sehen und so gingen wir weiter zum Butte du Lion. Da der Eintritt recht teuer war, verzichtete ich auf einen Besuch des Museums und lief stattdessen zur Farm Hougoumont, wo eine entscheidende "Schlacht innerhalb der Schlacht" stattfand.

    Anschliessend besuchten wir noch das Fitnessstudio und machten uns dann auf den Weg nach Dinant.    Read more

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  • TravelerJorden rundt 2024-2025
    Day 15

    Slagmarken

    April 9, 2024 in Belgium ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    Så ikke særligt meget, de forlangte 24 euro i entre og det ville jeg da ikke give. Hvis man gik derop var der sikkert en fin udsigt og nok også plancher som ville oplyse om hvad hvor etc.

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  • TravelerWedding and Honeymoon
    Day 21

    Brussels

    November 3, 2022 in Belgium ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    We were up from about 3 - 6:30am with an alarm set for 8. Both crashed and ended up waking at 11:30 🥴🥴 glad we’re not wasting our time here.
    Never have I had such a hard time adjusting as I have this trip in Vegas and now here.
    We got on the go by 12 and walked to the station. I had our map preloaded so we were ready to go. Their ticket buying system is very simple. Bless them. Found our platform immediately and ran for the train because it was departing.
    Arrived at Braine L- Alleud and walked 2.5km to the 1815 museum.
    Love the suburbs. All the houses were beautiful and quaint.
    I said to Will “i like all the whom.. weeping Willows” and he said “you were about to saying whomping willows weren’t you” 😅
    Mebbe.
    Walk walk walk. Overcast day but ok.
    Arrived and went straight to the restaurant.
    I feel like less people speak English than last time. Maybe they all had a break with Covid? Idk. But young people always can and a few haven’t been able to.
    Paid €3.5 for a coke and it was a 200ml bottle. Half a can. Excuse me where is the rest of my drink 😆
    Food was nice, I got pasta, Will had a burger.
    It started to rain of course so we went to the museum and bought our tickets.
    Don’t think I mentioned above - 1815 museum is on the battle site of Napoleon’s battle at Waterloo.
    Museum was excellent. The front lady thought she could speak English but couldn’t. No annunciation so I only got half of what she said. Had an electronic card for something. Still not entirely sure for what.
    Museum starts with background about the start of the revolution.
    I really enjoyed an animated guillotine where it projected a head and then it got chopped and would land in the basket with a thump sound. 😆
    I think it was brilliant. Each display was a sentence or 2. A paragraph max. Some museums are walls and walls and walls of writing.
    It had all the outfits on display, and loads of weapons too.
    We went into a digital movie thing. Half was french half was English. It was good only I was annoyed because one side of my 4D glasses wasn’t working so I had to close one of my eyes the whole time so I couldn’t actually see half the screen cause it was a wrap around the room one.
    Who knew having to close one eye was such a bother lol.
    Outside was a skeleton they found 7 years ago when they did an archaeological dig and the stuff the found with him. I like that he had a iron ball in his ribs.
    188,000 men fought but only 10,000 died which doesn’t seem like a lot to me because the animation was very lord of the rings - just run into each other and see what happens. I’d have approached with no hope. Absolute kuddos to the men at the front. I couldn’t do that. My legs wouldn’t cooperate.
    Big timeline on the wall. I wish I had a more organized brain. I know facts about lots of things but combining them in any sort of order just doesn’t work out for me. I don’t know how to mush my knowledge together which is annoying because I find history so interesting.
    This person was doing this, this person was doing that which caused this is about as complicated as i can get. More than 2 stories and I’m a goner.

    We then walked to the next exhibit which was a panorama painting which was HUGE. The whole building in a circle. Very cool. Must have taken a loooooooong time. There was a display in the foyer of that battle that took someone 30 years.
    This was a bigger feat.
    I find it amazing they are able to break down the day down to the hour. The painting was at 4pm or something.
    Can’t remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday but everyone’s accounts were so detailed you could piece this together?? Okkkk.

    Next was the lions mound. Brilliant. Loads of stairs to get to the top but the view was worth it to see the battlefield.
    Back down and our legs are jello.
    There is another museum 4 km away which has napoleons stuff from the night before I believe bur no Wi-Fi so don’t know which direction to walk so we skipped. Happy with what we have seen today. Very very cool.
    Walked back to the station in the rain. We are clever chooks and brought our rain jackets though so we are all good. Longer wait this time. It feels much later than it is. Very dark and gloomy.
    Got home safe and sound. Currently in the bath as I write this. Must stay awake until reasonable hour!!

    Struggling.

    Could not muster energy to leave hotel. Eating Doritos and jam sandwiches for dinner.

    We may have bed bugs. Will has 3 bites. I felt itchy last night but he boils so we will await results tomorrow morning.    Read more

  • Tom BanksDüsseldorf and the Vicinity
    Day 18

    Waterloo - the Bicentenary

    June 21, 2015 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. So, infamously, begins Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, his novel about the French Revolution. it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.

    The epoch of belief began on the 14th of July 1789 when an amalgamation of peasants and a Parisian militia stormed the Bastille. It came to an incredulous end, 26 years later, when Napoleon was defeated on the fields of Waterloo on the 18th june 1815.

    For 26 years, France was in flux: from Robespierre and the Jacobins, to the Reign of Terror; from Napoleon and his Consulate, to Louis XVIII and the reinstatement of Feudalism. Before Waterloo, Napoleon had been defeated once before by the Red Army in Moscow (ah, War and Peace, the best novel of all time) and sent to exile on the Mediterranean island of Elbe. But he had returned and it would be Waterloo which would be his final defeat, the epoch ending battle.

    After Waterloo, Louis XVIII (who had been living in exile in Prussia and the UK) retook his throne and the Ancien Regime was restored. The Congress of Vienna returned Europe to its pre-Napoleonic, pre-revolutionary order of authority, aristocracy and monarchy. The establishment was reestablished.

    The French Revolution gave way to the Industrial Revolution, and -- for almost exactly a century -- Europe was nearly at peace (Bismarck's Prussia took bits of France). Industrialisation forced European powers to search for global markets, and the rush in to empire and colonisation took precedence over the balance of power on the continent.

    This weekend is the 200th anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, but are we any further to answering Dickens’ questions? Was it the spring of hope, or the winter of despair? Did they have everything before them, or nothing before them? Were they all going direct to Heaven, or direct the other way? What has Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo meant for today’s Europe?

    For France, the main legacy of the Napoleonic era has been a huge demographic problem. Geographically, France is by far the largest country in Europe, and for centuries this was reflected in its population. At no point before the 19th century did the UK (or England) have a population anything close to France’s; since the 19th century, they’ve been about the same. 200 years later, though, there are signs that France is finally recovering: the vast majority of all non-immigration population growth in Europe (all of it in 2006!) has been French.

    For the UK, the defeat of Napoleon meant the premature death (the still brith) of liberalism, socialism and secularism. Fighting against Napoleon's Grande Armée were a coalition of forces from the Netherlands, Hanover, Prussia, Nassau, Brunswick and the United Kingdom (including many corps from Ireland and Scotland) so it’s complete nonsense to say that the battle was won on the playing-fields of Eton, as is often claimed. If not a victory by the Eton, though, it was certainly a victory for Eton. 200 years laters, the UK is still ran by (and for) Etonians. I don’t know why anyone puts up with it. Come back Boney.    Read more

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