Armistice day--Remembrance day

We're off to the cemetery up the street.  Its shocking to realize there are more than 1500 graves of commonwealth soldiers within two blocks of us and we never knew.  There's no ceremony in this location, but there will be today at Grand Place, downtown.  Not likely going to make that one, since it starts in 20 minutes.

Just to remind you and myself, this land I'm on has been multiple times soaked with the blood of soldiers from many wars.  Think back to the 3-4 hours it took Napoleon to be defeated, only meters from where I now work in Waterloo.  Shameful that certain men make decisions that kill others so violently.  Think of the landing at Vimy-- 2 hours from our doorstep.  10 000 men murdered in a matter of days.

Also, since this is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, it too for us was a "remembrance" day of sorts...telling the kids what this means was tough--they just can't fathom it...nor could we that an entire nation was divided...  Here's a pic of us checking out the pieces that are on display at the European Parliament.

Enjoy the day, talk about it and remember so that it never happens again.