The open air museum

Which in Holland could also be translated as "The Wet Museum". With rain falling, gently at times, more vigorously at others. We set off in our trusty stroller -- designed to crawl the suburban malls of the "homeland" not the cobblestone streets of the Netherlands. We shook, rattled, and rolled our way to the train station and caught Elena's first train without mishap. After a brief scare on the train (she was very excited to get on) Elena settled in and spotted horses, sheep, and goats out the window as we rolled along.


We arrived in Arnhem, about 30 minutes eastish, and were impressed to see our first natural topography in months. Hills. Real ones. Pretty ones at that. Also different trees, different soil. A bus ride later on "our bus" as Elena called it and we were at the open air museum where our recently purchased museum cards greased the skids for a line-free entry. What was the first thing we saw? Duiven of course!



After a quick trip to the one bathroom at the museum (the Dutch not being long on public restrooms) we grabbed a quick lunch and set off on a walking tour of Dutch history. The country has been around for awhile and there was a lot to see so it took some time. Especially since someone had to stomp in every puddle we passed (you can take the kid out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of the woman :)).

We walked, and we stomped, and we walked, and we sloshed. And we say ducks, and geese, and sheep, and cows, and houses where people lived with all of the above. Sleeping cupboards. Cheese houses. Sawmills, flour mills. All powered by Windmills:



There was even a very large windmill (flour mill) that we could climb to the top of for quite a view:




Not only of the countryside, but also of the millstones and the "works" of the mill. The wind picked up while I was up in the grinding room and it was a little eerie to have those big gears whirling away over your head (the upper stories of the windmills are not long on headroom):



Of course, headroom may have been unnecessary as part of Dutch history seems to be celebrating a time when all Dutchmen were not close to 7 feet tall:



All, however, had quite luxuriant facial hair and the most darling dimpled cheeks!

At this point, the rain had stopped and we were pretty tuckered:




So we caught the next train home



And called it quits for the day. Elena was a champ and as long as all the museums we go to have flooring that features rocks, water, and mud I think we should be able to see quite a few of the cultural attractions here in the Netherlands.