Waterloo

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We headed 15 km south of Brussels on Wednesday to the Waterloo Battlefield. June and I had listened to Bernard Cornwall's excellent audiobook on the battle so had some background before we got there. As you can see, the battlefield is working farmland today but keep in mind that on June 18th 1815, there were about 185,000 soldiers in the frame (or nearby). Of those, over 50,000 were wounded or killed. This was truly a fight to the death with consequences that influenced the next century of European history. The chateau Hougoumont which never fell that day played an important role in events.

In the middle of the main British position, the King of Belgium built a monument to his wounded son (whose irresponsible behavior almost cost Wellington his victory). The edifice is called the Lion's Mound and it is 226 steps to the top. There is an excellent museum here (underground next to the mound) which explains all the events of that day.

After the excursion we successfully returned our car (yay!) and had lovely dinner outside on Grand Place at an Italian cafe. A very good day.

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