Showing posts with label Waterloo lion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Waterloo lion. Show all posts

19 Apr 2022

TRAVEL TUESDAY

On Easter Saturday I went to the Waterloo Lion, to have a coffee and then go to Rick. Before the renovation of the site for the 200th anniversary the site was always packed with tourists from the whole world, plus the locals. Now you only see tourists, no locals anymore. 

To my surprise there was a little show going on French soldiers against the English and Scottish once.

I thought on TV I see wars and now again, but this one was cheerful, because of the colorful uniforms and the all the death which resurrected after a while, slapped each other on their shoulders and went back to the others. 

 

Not many people climbing up the 53 (renovated) steps.




The commanders yelled
and a dead soldier lay on the canon (be reassured he wasn't dead for long !)


 

Sometimes the canons shot and made an horrible noise

and smoke !

After having demolished all historical houses, the new built should represent the"Bivouac of the emperors" They tried their best inside that it looked old, it's nice but not old ! There were not many people outside and the terrace in front of the Lion was not open yet. 
What I like at this place is, I have the feeling that I am on holidays when I see people from all over the world armed with their cameras admiring the battle field !

 


 

 Linking to

TRAVEL TUESDAY

 THROUGH MY LENS

14 Apr 2017

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE - FIVE ON FRIDAY

1. Finished the days where you could sit outside, we are back to winter and had to scrabble inside ! Our heads were smoking so much did we think to find words which bring the most of points. At the beginning I always looked for long words which brought little points now the penny dropped and even if I only place one letter and get more points I do it. Result for the first time I won !



our scrabbble board is a special one for half blind people, with huge letters. This suits everybody because they all need glasses to read, except me, I have to take the glasses off because I am shortsighted !

2. My oldest neighbor Vivi since 1975 had lost first her cat and then her dog one month later and she was in a terrible state. On top of that she is not allowed to drive anymore because even with the shots in her eyes she doesn't see enough anymore to be able to drive. It would be too dangerous.

Being prisoner in your own house is not very good especially when you were used to often go out. Her daughter who lives with her and takes care of her decided to take another dog, not a young one but an older one and she found this cute dog a little female 5 years old which was found on the street and brought to the shelter.



I crossed the street to see the new family member, which is very cute.  They called her "Fripouille" which means "Scoundrel" but in a nice way and now Vivi is happy, at least she has a companion and can walk outside with her.  She is far bigger as she looks on the picture and is not a pure breed neither.

3 After shopping I thought I will have a drink at the Waterloo Lion, to see if there were many tourists climbing up the hill. The sun had come out and I could sit on outside.



There was a group of Russians and some other nationalities, ever since the renovation of the site for the bicentenary in 2015, where all old restaurant and houses were shaved away, it looks rather empty and Napoleon is not very pleased. I saw a tent for probably a show on weekends to attract tourists and payed 4 Euros (4,30 $)  for a beer which a year ago costed half the price !

4. My friend Nicole had asked me to come with her to the Waterloo Bowling. She wanted to celebrate her 78th birthday not the traditional way but a little different. She wanted to book a bowling party  for her son and daughter plus partners and the 3 adult grandchildren and as she lives nearby afterwards the traditional cake at home. I found that a great idea and we met at the bowling



Despite the sunny (but cool) afternoon there were quite a lot of people playing.



There was also a Mini Golf for children, which she wanted to show me for my grandson. It was real scary in there, dark and full with monsters and everything what little once like today ! The children all wore fluorescent jackets, so that you could see them.There was a group of 6 to 8 year old kids playing, and had a lot of fun.

5. As desert for Mr. G's birthday I had bought a chocolate cake which was made out of
little bunnies.



They were like a mousse and declicious.



For Easter my cleaning lady had crocheted this beautiful bed cover, which Rosie had to try out of course and a little nest sweets in the red Bunny and a chocolate chicken ! We really were spoiled !



For the first time in my life the lillies of of the valley are blooming in April !! Normally they always bloom beginning of May and it is the use to offer a lilly of the valley for the 1st. of my. But this year I could offer a little bouquet to Ilona's mother for Easter ! She is 90 and couldn't remember either that this ever happened !






more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.




18 Jul 2016

WEEKEND REVIEW June 16

It was warm although the sun was not shining and we sat on Ilona's terrace with a nice fresh drink and chatted about ...... politics  ! Not like we are supposed to do, chatting about grandchildren, family, to do household works, no we started first with the terrorist attack in Nice, and came to the conclusion, that the actual situation is like a 3rd world war, only not in the classical worldwar style, but different. it can hit you everywhere, anywhere and finally you are not safe at all nowhere in the world. The best thing to do is live our life and enjoy it to the fullest before a car hits you when you cross the street.

Then we thought with the looks of actual politicians it's no wonder ....



Unfortunately they are not in a mad house, but working hard in politics. I wonder if they are twin brothers ? Maybe they have the same father and were adopted by different mothers ?? Fantasy has no limits !



Then we talked about the Brexit and all the British people living here in Belgium who have asked to become Belgians. I can't blame them, because I had never thought that the British government was such a mess !

So far everybody thought that the British people were disciplined, honest, and that at least their government was also like this. And then came the Brexit, which nobody understood, not even the British people themselves.  Ilona said that this referendum was a big mistake, it is just as asking a school class if they prefer holidays to school. Most of them would choose holidays, only those who understand that learning is very important would vote for school.



We ended our chatting with the Belgian politicians, and the fact that this little country of 11 mill inhabitants has now 14 ministers, which sounds a lot, but compared to 2011 when we had 67 it has improved. Of course they still cost a lot of money, especially now with the bodyguards for each one because of the terrorists !

When we realized with what subject we had spent the whole afternoon, we had to laugh, because the world didn't get better ! We hadn't improved anything !

Sundays Waterloo is a ghost town ! All shops closed, only restaurants open. 



It is empty, because there is nothing to do, not even a café to sit outside. During holiday times you see some tourists, visiting the church and the Wellington museum and then they leave.

But now there are quite a lot of tourists at the Waterloo Lion and the new built restaurant, which is the only one there, so you have no choice if you want to eat or drink something is very busy.



I went there to see if this time the soldiers did their weekend performance. The restaurant's terrace was full and indeed the soldiers were there !



They walked a little around, and then shot with these old guns which made a noise like a canon shot and flames came out of the gun. I was just chatting with a couple of English tourists with their son and daughter in law, when we jumped into the air not prepared to hear that shooting. Then the soldiers sat down and had a beer.

I explained a bit about the new site and how it was before and they told me that were not happy at all with the announced Brexit as for them now holidays are expensive, the pound compared to the Euro has almost lost half of its value.

Then they continued their way and I returned home, it was very hot and stuffy, no sunshine but no thunderstorm either.

21 Aug 2015

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

1. I brought my laptop to the shop where I had bought it to get it repaired, some of the keys didn't work anymore.



Mr. G. had the good idea to install a big screen connected to my travel laptop, so that I could  better see my pictures. It took me some time to get used to it, because sometimes I have to drag the program with my  mouse on the big screen. But now it works ! I have to wait 6 to 8 weeks before my computer will be repaired ! That I call a quick service. A snail in a race makes it quicker !

2. My friend Claudie arrived from the South of France fortunately on the last day where it was very cold. Poor girl was freezing ! After having dropped off her suitcase, we went for a drink to the Waterloo Lion.



Unfortunately it was too cold to sit outside so we went to the Wellington Café and had our drink inside.
As Belgium has more than 2000 sorts of Beer, each time we have or had a drink she tries out a new one !

3. The weather got better and even the sun came out, so I went with her to Mons which is about 60 km from Waterloo. Mons became the European Capital of Culture for 2015 and there is a lot to see.



First went to see the little monkey  the emblem of Mons which sits just besides the entrance. You have to stoke its head with your left hand which will bring you luck and happiness. That's why its head is so shiny, because everybody passing by strokes its head. We walked around this beautiful place and looked at the city hall, before we sat for lunch on a terrace of a café and had a "Croque Madam". It is a toast with ham and cheese and on top sits a fried egg. It was very good.

4.



After lunch we went to see the "Beffroi" which is Belium's only baroque belfry and dates from the 17th century. We climbed up the hill which was quite hard, but then inside the tower there was a lift which took us about 60 m high from where we had a panoramic view all over Mons. Touchscreens were installed at each window and you could zoom on buildings and find a description.



Of course we wanted to see the house where the famous painter van Gogh has lived as a preacher before he decided to paint again. We didn't go inside as there were no paintings or furniture to see. It was a little outside of Mons and really worthwhile to see.

5. I wanted to show the nice Chinese Restaurant to Claudie so we had lunch  there. She was delighted ! We ate that much that we felt like two balloons when we got out ! We walked a little around in a nearby located park, sat on a bench and tried to digest !



The rest of the day we spent on the terrace, and also did our fingernails. Mr.G. took the picture.

Claudie had brought us two enormous tomatoes from her garden !



They were so huge that they  just fitted on the plate. We ate them for supper together with Mozarella cheese. They tasted delicious !





more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.









14 Aug 2015

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE


1. I am pleased to say that the warm to hot weather continues. It's a miracle, for once we have a real summer in Belgium.



I went with Dominique to the Chinese restaurant, I had recently discovered which was so good. She had never been there ! I love the decoration. There are beautiful paintings on the walls and the tables are separated by these "art deco" looking glass panels. As the food is served as a buffet, we had two starters, one cold one hot, then the main course, the dessert, fresh melon, Kiwi, Litchi and pineapple cubes with ice cream and then a coffee. She couldn't believe the amount of the bill, 12 € (13 $) per person ! She immediately thought to take her family there for a special event.

2. Although I enjoy my "office" on our terrace, I need to go out to see some people. Nicole was in the same case, so we went again tourist watching at the Waterloo Lion.



There were as always quite a lot and we also noticed that now a bus is running from the Lion mound til the Hougoumont farm.

3.



Before we had a little train like this which took the tourist from the Lion mound into the Waterloo city center. Now it doesn't exist anymore and is replaced by this stinky bus only going to the farm ! I really wonder who has decided that !

4. Chantal another friend had invited me for the afternoon to show me her new Pergola and also how she had arranged her terrace.



She had restored an old rusty bench, and painted it in black and yellow. The old sewing machine was freshly repainted too and a new flower pot sits on the top.  It looked very pretty together with the yellow flower boxes. When I looked in the little pond all fishes came, they thought I would feed them. Apparently they are not as stupid as one could think.

5. My fringe had grown and fell into my eyes and I really hate that. I didn't want to go to my hairdresser only for the fringe so I went to Ilona who is very talented in cutting hairs. The result was perfect and now I look like new ! It was so hot that we couldn't sit outside, her terrace was like a furnace. In the evening we had a terrible thunderstorm, the sky suddenly became so dark as if it was already night. It also pourred in buckets and I could hardly see the neighbor's house. It lasted for about an hour, fortunately we had no damages.





more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

18 Feb 2013

WHAT DID YOU DO THIS WEEKEND ?



Helps you to remember what you have done on the weekend of February 16. If you participate please put the little logo on the top of your post and leave your link.

On Saturday I had my little morning chat with Toby on Skype



He had been at the hairdresser with his Dad. In the corner right you can see the both of us talking to Toby.

In the afternoon I went with Ilona to the Boccia clubhouse of Waterloo city. It looks a bit like a Swiss chalet, all in wood inside and is very well equipped.



There are several pistes where groups can play together. On a Saturday afternoon there were quiet a lot of
people.



There is a nice little bar where you can get drinks, the trophy cups where all lined up above the entrance. Whole families where there, with kids and dogs and it was a very nice and warm ambiance. We had a coffee there and watched a friend of Ilona playing.

Sunday morning it was so misty, that I could hardly see the house of my neighbor. My heart sank ! But around noon the sun came out and I thought I could go to the Waterloo Lion to take some pictures.



I had completely forgotten that the whole site will be renovated and the works had started last year in June. It is a battle field, but now it really looks like a modern battle field ! They have digged a huge hole just besides the Lion hill.  It's enormous. I wondered what they will do with such a big hole ? There was space for a two floor parking space. I thought I would inform myself once at home. I took pictures of the battle fields and walked around together with many tourists despite the cold weather. The old restaurants, dating still from the battle in 1815 where full ! I drove a little further to the farm where Wellington had gathered his troups and saw a lot of people walking there too.

When I came home I knew about what I would write for "Our World" on Tuesday. The rest of the afternoon I spent with collecting information about the renovation. It should be finished by 2015 when Waterloo celebrates the 200 anniversary of the battle.

22 Jan 2013

WATERLOO IN WHITE



Since a few days it has snowed in Waterloo



and the Lion looking towards France has a white coat



Some 30 years ago, children went here with their sleighs on this historical place, which now of course is reserved for tourists who want to see the Waterloo battle field from the top of the Lion.



Napoleon is also freezing and looks at the also freezing tourists



The huge battle field is covered with snow



so is the entrance to our house

And when I look out of the window










my neighbors are stuck in the snow too !



But views are very beautiful !