On Saturday, June 19th and Sunday, June 20th, I really didn't do a whole lot of anything.
It was a very relaxing weekend.
On the Saturday, I spent my morning at a coffee shop with my friend Helena. We just sat and talked for a bit. I did some choreography work and later some laundry.
Dr. Brooks stopped by to take us to le Grand Beguinage--an enclave where wives of crusaders used to live while their husbands were away.
This little village is now used to house the many students and professors that attend the many universities in Leuven, but it seems like a perfectly preserved peaceful piece of medieval European society. The little squares with wells and a tree and the canals and bridges--all within a very small area of the city.
During the Crusades, women would go to live there with their children. Men weren't allowed to live there, but they were employed to take care of the place. Built in the 13th century, it still amazes me that structures like that can withstand the test of time.
On the other side of town, the main square was filled with people and carts for the Summer Solstice fair that happens in Leuven on the longest weekend of the year. At one point, Adam and I were standing in the main square watching Korean drumming and a Judo exhibition. There was something that didn't feel quite right about watching Asian arts performed by white Europeans in the middle of an Early Modern-designed European plaza.
On Sunday, we got up early to see the largest re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo.
The drive would have been unbareably long as we sat in traffic (bumper to bumper with no movement) for about 1 hour. Fortunately, Dr. Brooks' friend Marguerite was driving our car. She's a character and a half! But, Waterloo wasn't made for recieving 40,000 people by car--it was made for recieving 500,000 soldiers on foot and by horse. But they got to remove the obstacles in their way.
And despite the chilly, rainy weather, it was a spectacular show that only occurs every 5 years. This year was the largest they've had so far. They had 3,000 reenacters, 250 horses, 50 pieces of artillery, and 40,000 spectators.
The reality of the battle (minus the killing people and the spectators and number of soldiers, etc. etc.) was really quite astonishing. From the uniforms, the the reenactment of the French cavalry charge, to the cannon fire (you could see the air vibrate everytime a cannon was fired). And they had real projectiles flying out of the cannons! For anyone who has played Total War, the movement of the units was pretty much exactly the same--the long lines and the reorganization into squares when the calvary attacked--it really was something I can check off my bucket list.
There were a few injuries apparently--watching a flourescent yellowambulance drive through the field was an interesting anachronism.
But my favourite part was definately Napoleon. He had the coolest costume and the best (and biggest) hat. I admire Napoleon as a political leader for his ability to administer his empire and to even build his empire across Europe--even though it didn't really last that long. His drive to keep expanding and to create a United Europe (under France) loosely ties into our course, studying the European Union. In a way, Napoleon attempted to create the first European Union. Just by force instead of diplomacy. Many rulers have attempted to bring Europe under one power: Charlemagne, Charles V, Hitler. Most of them attempted to do so by force, but none of them ever succeeded. Considering we're closer to a united Europe than ever before, maybe we're on to something with the Union.
After the reenactment, we went back to Leuven and finished off the rest of our weekend relaxing.
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