A Themeless Day

We headed out of Belgium with an eclectic day ahead. Our first stop on the agenda was Waterloo. Although we didn't specifically study Napoleon, during our time in Utah we listened to Jim Weiss' tapes of the history of the world in which we learned about Napoleon, his wars and his final fall in Waterloo. The children listened to stories about his rise to power, reign and finally about his exile, so we were excited to see where his final battle, which changed the course of Europe's history, took place. We climbed to the top of the mound where a lion rests looking towards the battlefields. Afterwards we visited a panorama of the battle, which was a fresco painted by a French military painter. The exhibit had sound effects and life sized visuals, which attempted to transport us into the heart of the battle. Apparently, based on the photo of Sophia, the display was successful. 

 According to Roz, we couldn't miss Villers Abbey. Once again we were grateful for a good trip adviser who is familiar with all the "off the beaten path" sites to see! Villers Abbey is an ancient Cistercian abbey that was founded in 1146. The abbey was abandoned in 1796 and has fallen in ruins, creating the perfect place for a car full of children to explore and a peaceful place for the adults to walk. It also was such a fun place to photograph!

 

In planning our trip, Roz mentioned the possibility of stopping in Aachen. "I can't miss it," I replied. After all it is where our most famous ancestor is buried. On my father's side, our genealogy ties into royalty, so our family records are well documented and preserved. Years ago, I think while I was a teenager, it was discovered that our family comes from the third concubine of Charlemagne. Yes, Charles the Great, The Holy Roman Emperor. Although the genes are heavily diluted after about 1,300 years, it has been a fun tidbit to use in an ancestry report here and there. So off we traipsed to find our great, great, etc. grandpa. We found his remains in the nave of a beautiful cathedral, entombed in a golden box.   

 We crossed the country line and added Germany to our list of nations "under our belt". In Cologne we stopped for our first authentic German dinner in a charming little cafe.

 We then walked around the cathedral. I was excited about this stop because I remember so vividly visiting Cologne with my grandmother as a ten year old. She told me that the Cologne Cathedral was the tallest in Europe and we learned upon this visit that it was the second tallest in the world. It was built in the 1200's to house the reliquary of the Three Kings. I have a charm on my bracelet of the cathedral that I bought with my grandmother almost thirty years ago.

This is what Mia looks like after a day driving in the car. Note the green marker on the boared child's hands. She must have run out of entertainment options in the back seat.

 I have been so intrigued by the custom of hanging locks on bridges in Europe. We saw a few scattered locks here and there throughout our trip, but on the Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne, the locks go on for hundreds of yards. The locks seem so mysteriously romantic, adding a strip of colorful hope in an other wise harsh urban setting.

This day was really a traveling day, making it across Belgium and into Germany, but fortunately we were able to fill it full of interesting sites along the way.