Doesburg Part VII

Today was our last day with Getty and Jan before we went back to Hoorn. Getty organised a trip to the Openluchtmuseum, which is an open air museum that shows Holland throughout the ages right from the beginning of farming through to the 20th Century and the ways in which people lived. The museum layout is in such a way that you start at the earliest recorded point in history and work your way through with a lot of the house and displays having live demonstrations. These were really interesting but they were in Dutch so i got bored very easily and wanted to keep walking but i had to wait for everyone else ofcourse, which only made me more resentful. By the time we reached the 18oo's i was well and truly fed up and there was nothing left to do but sit down and have a good cry. I think this made everyone else feel a tad awkward becuase they were only sitting about 10 metres away but mum came and sat with me and afterwards she explained to them that i was still not feeling to good and i was feeling a bit homesick today. After this they all steered even more clear of me but atleast they didn't mind that me and mum wandered off and looked around on our own for a bit. Its funny when you're are around new people and you find yourself acting in a very different way. I wanted to say to to them, " i am a fun person, i have lots of friends back home, people like spending time with me, i am not always grumpy or boring or crying, i swear!" but what difference would it make except perhaps them thinking i was even more strange. Anyway i was experiencing Holland through the ages, hundreds of years of history was at my fingertips, i really didn't have time to be worrying about feeling lonely or left out.
To start out you walked through a huge forest that had farmhouses dotted throughout, all from different provinces of Holland, so they all farmed different animals or resources. They also varied from the very poor farmers who had a little house of one room which the entire family lived in through to the very wealthy who had huge homes filled with beautiful furniture. Most of the buildings are original ruins that they have found, relocated to the museum and lovingly restored and furnished down to the finest detail to try and demonstrate the way in which people lived.



a demonstration of how they made brooms. more interesting then it sounds



There was so much there that it is very hard to try and write about all of it. There were old windmills and gypsy caravans, there was a little village and an old laundry house, a mini brewery, a train station, a hospital, a bakery and even an authentic old lolly shop. I didn't get anywhere near enough pictures of everything but i still felt like i saw most of the place through my camera. There was just so much.

gypsy caravans

This was an olden days bakery where you could not only watch the baker bake the bread but also buy it once it was cooked. The bakery stood in the town square of a village where there was also a restaurant and a grocery store and a lolly shop amongst others. In the town square they had toys and bikes from the era set up for children to play with.

The two people walking towards the camera are Getty's daughter Lisa and her boyfriend. When i took the photo i hadn't even seen them so that was a handy coincedence. I really wanted to eat poffertijs at the restaurant here but apparetly we were now in a hurry because they wanted to take a train ride around the museum. On our way to the train station we got to see an old laundry house.

this is all washing laid out to dry and bleach in the sun

Seeing and learning about the ways they had to do their washing back then makes me slightly ashamed of myself, that i can let weeks worth of washing pile up because i'm to lazy to put it in a machine where all the work will be done for me is pretty pathetic.

I had to admit i was a bit excited about taking a train ride. The station there had all different kinds or train carriages on show, even the one that used to be pulled by a horse and and when we caught the train it reminded me of the old trams we used to have in Glenelg.

The train ran all the way around the outskirts of the museum and you could just hop on or off at any number of stations around the museum. I had been here the last time i came to Holland and all i remembered from coming was the 'funky chickens' they had. I was finally reunited when we got off the train at the kids petting zoo. It may not have been the exact same chickens from my last visit but probbaly a distant relative instead.

i have no idea which was the chicken is looking, it could be at me. I couldn't even work out how it was managing to eat becuase at no point did i see a beak

Conviniently they had the childrens petting zoo right next to the old brewery. Here they demonstrated all the stages of making beer, including a taster.



i think this means i have my responsible service of alcohol now



 We found the most amazing exhibition towards the end of the museum. It was called 'Spaarstation Digenliefde' (Collectors Paradise) and it showed a number of peoples different collections. They were really amazing, one person collected crucifixes, another money boxes, one guy collected airline sick bags! I really enjoyed looking at the collections, it must be nice to have such a definite hobby. By that time we were all getting tired and it was almost time for Mum and I to be dropped at the train station so we could catch the train. We went back to the museum cafe and had a nice cup of tea and waited until everyone was ready to go. Goodbyes were said and then we were on our way home. We only had a few hiccups on the train, and the irst leg of hte journey was a bit had becuase the train was so full we had to stand with all our luggage. Getting off the train at Hoorn i can't remember the last time i was so happy to be somewhere. I imagine its a small indicator of what it'll be like to arrive at the airport in Adelaide. It was a very happy night that night at the Roos's house, a full table with lots of conversation and i couldn't wipe the smile off of my face.

Thank you so much to Getty and Jan for having us, especially Getty for keeping us entertained every day and organising so many lovely things for us to do. I'm sorry i was such a shit, but being home sick and also being sick sick isn't a very good combination for becuase i've learnt i turn into a spoilt 5 year old. I'm sorry you all had to witness that. I did have a very nice time and i wouldn't have changed it for the world.