A summary of my gallivanting around Europe over the past few weeks

[Rhyfelwyr]

Great pics there hooah, looks like some trip.

[Strike For The South]

That is really cool

[Gregoshi]

Thanks for sharing your pictures. It is sounding like Europe is going to be a second home for you.

[Hooahguy]

Was nice to have you over, kinda embaressed about the state I was in, screw these medicins. It only lasts an hour or so then it's over. Klazien always gets me home luckily she's a great friend. That isn't the main gate by the way, it's was just for ships, the real entrance is the Kamperpoort. The oldest ring has long be destroyed it's a hundreds of meters further and only a tiny but of the old wall remained intact. Amersfoort is really old, lots of history.

Don't sweat it! I had a really nice time with you and your friends! Also my bad, I will change it... eventually.

So, what did you like the most?
I'd be for Bruges, one of the most beautiful European cities, second only to Strassbourg. Excellent architecture.

In what concerns the Waterloo re-enactment, the feedback has been rather negative, with complaints about lack of organisation, amateurism and disrespect towards history (according to British nationalists). Is it true or the Brits overreact, as usual?

As Frags said, Bruges is a nice place, but its basically one giant tourist trap. Native Belgians Ive talked to said that Ghent is much better as it has the old buildings of Bruges but is much less touristy so I will have to visit there next.

As for the Waterloo reenactments, its a bit complicated. On one hand, the reenactors themselves were amazing. Absolutely professional and did a great service to the people they are representing who fought and died 200 years ago.

The organization, on the other hand, left something to be desired. Its kinda a long list.

First off, the whole thing was such an obvious money grab by the organizers. Charging to ascend the Lion's Mound and then only give a couple thousand of those tickets out? Come on! I have a friend who ascended a couple months ago for free. And the encampments? Very well done, the reenactors are truly devoted to their craft. But they did not add more tickets to the encampments when they added seats for the reenactments. I hung around the battlefield and encampments for two days. I did not have time to get a ticket for the encampments, came too late for it, but when I was there I saw a sparse crowd among the reenactors. They could have easily added another few thousand tickets for the encampments, but they didnt, much to my annoyance. Though I dont know about the museums, they might have been right to limit the attendance.

Now for the reenactments themselves. They butchered the seating. If you bought tickets in the second round of sales, you were basically condemned to a not such a great view. See the picture I crudely drew:



So you can see that I could not see a good chunk of the action, and I didnt have the worst seats either. If you were further back from where I was, you were basically screwed. I did get a great view of the cannons, but thats pretty much it. My camera wasnt so good either so thats why my pics are not so great. Arent terrible but they leave much to be desired. Didnt see most of the infantry action or it was too far away to get a good view.

And for seating on the second day, this was my wonderful view:



A number of people asked them to remove at least that banner, but the organizers refused as it was a breach of contract or something. Stupid.

Especially on the first day, hundreds left the stands to try to get a better spot, so many that the employees had to push people back a bit to ensure they didnt enter the battlefield. People were generally angry that so many people got screwed out of a good view of the action. There were so many better places they could have put stands which shows the amateurism of the organizers.

Now for the actual reenactments. They were done well as in the movements of the reenactors and all that stuff was great. The sound of gunfire and cannon was amazing! To see the smoke over the battlefield was awe-inspiring. I now have some semblance of an understanding of what that battlefield might have looked like with the smoke and how hard it was to see for commanders. So yeah, I didnt see everything I wanted to, but there are other videos from other people, and the overall experience was well worth it. I do not regret a thing.

I do wish that the commentary was better, besides the whole "I cant see very well" thing. I dont want to know the background or what Napoleon had for breakfast. I want to hear whats is going on in the reenactment right then and there to make sense of what I am seeing. In that sense they failed, but all in all, I had a fantastic time. So yes, I do think those Brits were being a bit dramatic. In no way was the legacy of the battle disrespected, at least in my view.

Thanks for sharing your pictures. It is sounding like Europe is going to be a second home for you.

Oh how I wish...

[Husar]

Thank you for sharing and good to know that you had a great time.

[Fragony]

Glad to hear, welcome any time. All orgah's are, just let me know in time so I can arrange things, I will, and I will do it free. Got plenty of friends that have a nice room available at any time.

[Hooahguy]

Glad to hear, welcome any time. All orgah's are, just let me know in time so I can arrange things, I will, and I will do it free. Got plenty of friends that have a nice room available at any time.

Likewise!