Friday, May 02, 2014

The Open-Air Museum in Arnhem, NL


After 4+ years here in Dutchland, I found out there is an annual Museum Card that gets you into almost all Dutch museums for free, at the cost of only €55/card.  Astrid and I found this out from our friends in Giessenburg.  It's good for an entire year from when you buy it!

I guess you could say it was a no-brainer for us, after all our disclaimers about NOT liking museums but visiting churches instead.  Bottom line:  we didn't like the price we had to pay to get into the museums. But now that we have a year to see as many as possible on our €55, watch out.  Here we come.

We started with one of the best possible ones:  the Openluchtmuseum (Open-Air Museum) in Arnhem.  Fasten your seatbelts!

 Like all good open-air museums, there were lots of "period" reenactments.

But you know me.  It was the architecture that grabbed me.

And the windmills, of course...all 5 of them.

It was hard to miss the wooden shoes everywhere we went.

 And while walking from one place to the next, friendly faces greeted us.

Or not.  I think there was a pecking order.

Remember the elusive, rascally heron we're always trying to capture?
This one was so still while fishing 6 feet away from us, I was sure it was a taxidermist's joke.
It must be tame from so many tourists day in and out.  It hardly feels fair to show him!

It was a gorgeous spring day that April 11th.  What can I say!

Sometimes it helps to know from where you've come, right?  And from how far.

I could live like that, couldn't you?

How 'bout a nice cup of koffie or tea!

And for those of you so interested, you'd fit right in.

Men and women alike, of course.  No stereotyping here.

The Dutch are big on boat-building and fishing, as you'd assume.

And don't forget the cheese!

Their train/tram system is to die for.
(America could learn a thing or two from the Dutch in this regard!)

I guess shipping/transport is as old as the hills in all countries?

But not drawbridges, which still fascinate me to no end.
Astrid grew up with them her entire life and says she's STILL fascinated by them.

How fun that they even have a functional little typical, old-fashioned town with green houses/stores.
This color of green paint is very Dutch!

In fact, that's where we had our koffie break, at a little café.
While sitting there, we watching all the kids having fun with the old-timey toys.  



It didn't take much to convince Astrid that she, too, is a little kid at heart.
Have you ever ridden a penny-farthing?  Neither have I.

Shortly after we got to the Reformed Church, both of my batteries were dead.
(I'm still figuring out how long they last and when to re-charge them.)
In other words, we saw more, some of which Astrid captured, but you get the picture.

As I always say, impressions, impressions, impressions.
We walked for 5 hours and dropped.  Next time we'll try taking the free tram ride!

I'll drink to that (their own home-brewed beer)!

Do I need to say we HIGHLY RECOMMEND this museum, if you're ever in the area.
And it's only 50 miles from where we live in Gorinchem.
We might just have to go back while we still have our museum cards!

17 comments:

  1. You two are simply adorable. Yes, I could live like that, and am very drawn to those old settings, as I think you know. Living large with that museum pass, as you should! Enjoy every square inch and beautiful roof.

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    1. Yes, Ruth, I know you! his was a great start for our museum card. I think it came at just the right time. :) Thank you.

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  2. It was the perfect day to visit the museum. Not too many people and great weather. I visited for the last time, maybe 50 years ago. So there were made a few changes..... I am impressed what they showed. That bike was great, scary at first, but when I got the hang of it....
    Thank you for these wonderful collages, keeping the memory alive. IHVJ.

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    1. I'm guessing a LOT changed in those 50 years, MLMA, even in your memory. It's one of the best open-air museums I've ever seen. I won't mind going back one day....

      And I'm very glad I convinced you to ride the penny-farthing, against all your protestations. See, I know you!!! You had a blast once you quickly (I might add) got the hang of it. :)

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  3. my goodness there is so much to see there. i would go crazy and like you would have dead batteries :)

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    1. Yes, indeed, Maria. This would be definitely your kind of place. What I didn't realize was that my first battery was already almost dead, so I spent the rest of the day on one battery. I plan to order another one so that when that happens again, I'll be prepared! (I don't like to recharge a battery untill it tells me to. Otherwise I would have been prepared.)

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  4. Your animal photos are terrific, especially the chickens. I know you love to create montages, but I keep looking to look at the best images large. Some very interesting compositions. Now I have to turn to computer repairs. It seems all system fail at once. Must be gramlins.

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    1. Thank you, Ted. I started doing collages because of all the photos I take when we're out-n-about. It has meant that I don't do photo albums anymore, like in years past. My Shutterchance blog is where I serve up the larger images that I pick for extra creative work. That link is under my profile above, called Hart & Soul. Thanks for looking.

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  5. My goodness you ladies make me tired with all the excursions...but I love it and want to visit for weeks to see it all...

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    1. LOL, Donna, because it tires us out, too. But we LIVE for these photo hunts, since that's how we first met each other. You could say these posts are for posterity, so that we can always go back to see what we saw! Thanks for joining us along the way. :)

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  6. What a fun place to visit. I like open-air museums. Is that one "thingy" a bee house? (second collage from the bottom, top right corner).

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    1. I have seen several open-air museums, Carola, and have really grown to like them. You see so much about how life was lived in a bygone time. Very educational, for sure. And yes, I do believe that's a bee house or at least an insect house (I've seen them in other places). It was outside the bee house, so I assume you're right. Very clever.

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  7. I totally cracked up when I read you purchased a museum card when you've never cared for museums! That's great...in fact, I'm learning to like them a little more too! And especially for a good price! Enjoy!

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    1. LOL, Robin. A lot of museums actually bore me, truth be told, so I need to change my mind-set about them, now that we have our museum card. I guess you can sometimes teach an old dog new tricks. :) The nice thing is that we can pick-n-choose what we want to see...and we will!

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  8. So much warmth and comfort and FUN in this post. It doesn't look comfortable, the Penny-Farthing. It looks such a remarkable place to live…

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    1. …not to mention the heron! I'd love to observe so closely.

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    2. It's small enough to be a village, Margaret, so in that regard, you get the feeling you really could live there. Most of it isn't very modern, but enough of it is very doable. How about living there for a week with all our blogger friends? :)

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