ROYAL BELGIAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCES

 February 17, 2015

I visited this museum which I had never seen when my son and grandson were on visit. 

Between 1889 and 1891, the museum moved into a former convent. The building quickly became too narrow, and the director at the time asked the architect Charles-Émile Janlet the construction of a new south wing. The works began in 1898 and ended in October 1905.

In 1950, several modern buildings were added to accommodate new exhibition halls and reserves, as well as premises for the Royal Institute of Natural Sciences. Today it is the biggest museum of this kind after London and Paris.



The view from outside. Behind the glass vault is the roof of the European Parliament



A dinosaur greeted us at the entrance. It still was wearing a Father Christmas hat !



Then we went down to see the dinosaurs skeletons











They were so huge ! just amazing ! An elephant would look like a mouse besides them




The bone of a leg



A smaller one



Dinosaurs nest with eggs and babies



Then we went up to see the mammals



But first there was a mammuth skeleton



an elephant



and an over thousand years old turtle, exactly as it was found. Apparently it was surprised by sand or water and didn't even have time to hide its head.





An overview of the big mammals exhibition hall.

It was really very interesting and there were lots of educative games for children. A nice excursion to do on rainy days !

You read more about the museum here

WELLINGTON AND ALLIES HEADQUARTERS RENOVATION ONE YEAR LATER

February 10, 2015

During 18 June 1815 the walled farms of Hougoumont was attacked seven times by Napoleon’s infantry and was defended with tenacity and resilience by soldiers of the light companies of three British regiments of Foot Guards under the leadership of the Duke of Wellington, soldiers of the 1st Nassau Regiment and the 1st Hanoverian Brigade.

For the bicentenary of the battle in June 2015 this farm should be renovated and be a memorial in honnor of the Wellington and his alleys soldiers.



Old paintings of the battle around the Hougoumont farm



In 1945 the farm started to detoriate



in 2012 it looked even worse



When I went there in March 2013 it looked  like this, the works could start !



I came back in March 2014 and indeed the works had started



and one year later it looks like this ! I couldn't see very much as the entrance was closed. But from the little I saw I sincerely started to doubt if it would be finished in June !









There was still a lot of work to do to repair the walls





Only one commemorative plaque had been cleaned



The rear side looked only slightly better





At least the big door had been repaired and apparently inside there had been some progress









But the surroundings looked like a big mess



Only the battle field looked renovated, because there was nothing to be done ! 



And here is the maquette how it should look when it is finished ! I think a Harry Potter team is badly needed !


A link to a video made by Peter Snow (UK) is here

WATERLOO BATTLE FIELD RENOVATION ONE YEAR LATER

February 2, 2015

In less than 200 days, Waterloo celebrates the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo. The festivities will take place over five days, from 17 to 21 June 2015.

The organizers expect more than 120 000 spectators. 5,000 soldiers will participate at the reconstitution of the battle with 300 horses and 100 cannons !

As there is no much time left and I live nearly on the battle field, I went there yesterday to see how the renovation works had progressed since my last post in January 2014.



When I arrived the Lion hadn't changed its look



The Wellington café was still there



The Panorama too





as well as the posters representing the battle



A part of the battle field was behind a fence



 And then the nightmare started on the other side



Napoleon was wrapped in a plastic bag, so he couldn't see what happened



Just besides him the beautiful old houses had been demolished and a new built was under construction !



From far the remaining houses looked quite normal






but on a closer look they hadn't been renovated yet ! 



A memorial had been built under the ground



There is still a lot of work to be done







And on the top of the  memorial there was a real mess. I wonder for what these white blocks will be used.

Now I start to doubt if everything will be finished for the 17th June ! There is still so much work to be done !

Previous post about the renovation  here