waterloo, 1815

Our home is about 5 miles from the cute village of Waterloo, Belgium. Being a history buff, I was instantly intruqued that we'd be living so close and am suprised it too me 7 whole weeks to make it there! ( I've actually been before, but was excited to show the kids). The Battle of Waterloo in 1815 was one of the bloodiest battles in history and offciially ended Napolean's career, for good this time ;) He was exiled (for a 2nd time), no longer to return. At that time, Belgium was a part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the British and Prussians were key and defeating the vertically challenged emporer. The momument is a man-made hill, made of dirt from the battlefield. It was chilly atop the mound, actually snowing when we got down, but a perfect day to have a little history lesson in our new backyard, which i was happy to share with my kids. There's a huge reinactment every 5 years, so if we're still here in June of 2015, you'll likely see part 2 of our Waterloo tour!