April 2, 2011- Today for our third weekend of excursions we went to the open-air museum, or Openluchtmuseum, which is located in Arnhem. Today was the warmest day yet since arriving in the Netherlands with a temperature of 73 degrees! At the museum, we started walking around and looking at various types of Dutch houses in the past. These houses ranged from being made from mud with straw roofs to the more contemporary houses.
I noticed, however, that many of the older houses have very small doors and low ceilings. This baffled me since Dutch people are normally tall but the houses seemed to be built for short people.
The museum had many different areas and buildings. A cheese shop, train station, restaurants, windmills, a brewery, and a playground were all located in the museum. These are the types of buildings found in a typical village in the Netherlands. The museum created a feeling that we were walking through an actual village. After walking around for a while, we found ourselves at the playground. We spent some quality time there playing on the swings and other things. We also rowed a boat across a little pond just for fun. The museum was enjoyable and gave a picture into the way life was in the past. This included seeing the progression of architecture that occurred throughout the centuries. After the museum, we headed over to the locks.
The concept of locks is very simple and I have seen many in the past. These locks change the water level on various canals and rivers where dams are located. This happens so that boats can continue past the dam while changing water levels. The last stop of the day was to a small town. We ate lunch and walked around the town for a while and also stumbled upon an old castle.
April 3, 2011- Today we went to Leiden for our Sunday excursion. At Leiden, we toured the city and saw where Jane’s barn is located and where her relatives live. The city had a very cozy feeling in my opinion and had a different feel to the other cities I have visited.
The highlight of the city was the Science Museum. This museum covered a very wide range of topics , some were interesting and some were not. The beginning of the museum focused on early medicine and astronomy. The first part of the museum bored me up until we reached the simple machines and physics related exhibits. This is probably why I am an engineer. After spending a long time there, I moved onto the anatomy of humans and animals section.
There were a lot of skulls and skeletons of various animals along with other things. Some of these things were disgusting, such as a human fetus. There was also a big emphasis on dental care while being there. A large exhibit was focused primarily on appealing to younger kids as to why they should take care of their teeth. It was a nice reminder for me also. Upon leaving the museum, Uko and Jane bought everyone a small meal to tithe us over until we arrived back in Amstelveen. This restaurant was located on a boat in a canal. Many restaurants such as these can be found throughout the Netherlands as the country has water everywhere!
I was quite happy and the food was delicious!
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