You brighten my day..

Showing posts with label Museums. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Museums. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

A peek into an open air museum


I cannot believe that October has come rolling in. How did the months fly by? I do not know. 
As a new month begins, I wake up with the thought.... another one down. For those who do not know, it's a countdown to our return. With each passing month, the excitement builds up...:-) 
With the countdown it means that I have a bucket list of things to do, places to visit, events to experience and so on. I do not know whether it has something to do with the fixed time frame or pressure, but to my delight so far we have been able to achieve it successfully.
Like a visit to the Franconian open air museum over the weekend. The only sad part was that due to a misunderstanding we ended up without our camera's. Hence the pictures from my mobile which finally gave out after 15 and odd shots..:-(
Lesson learnt: Before setting out, cross check with your love if the camera bag is in the car or not.


Who doesn't love going back in time? Well, we do, especially our son. Museums help him go back so many years to the eras and times of the past, sometimes making him wish that he lived then..:D It helps him to imagine and wonder what life must have been like eons of years ago.
Open air museums are unique ones exhibiting collections out doors. You can step into homes of the ancient past, have a look at the rooms with actual furniture, see pictures of the families that lived in them and wonder how did they all fit in the small sized houses. 


The day we visited, we were lucky to witness costumed interpreters portray life in the medieval ages. There were women cooking on an open hearth in the kitchen, meat and sausages hanging from the ceiling along with onions and garlic(I missed my cam boo hoo hoo). I stood for the longest time taking in the strong smell of the crackling fire and as my eyes burnt with the smoke around, it reminded me so much of my grandmother's home!! I happened to mention it to my girl that this was how her great grandma cooked(looks like we were still in medieval cooking methods back home..:D). 


Another highlight was watching the traditional craftsmen in medieval clothes at work. We had the longest chat with a bead maker who made beads with animal bones. It was interesting to see how he worked and also listen to the stories of the years gone by. And the musician, what sweet music he played as the women were preparing the smoked mackerels for dinner. Did you know that the medieval violin had 5 strings? 
Over all it was a day well spent. The museum is spread over vast areas of land filled with fruit tress and patches of vegetable gardens here and there. It was a delight to see the luscious red apples peeping out from here and there. Also interesting sights are shepherds grazing their sheep along with a sheep dog(a delight to watch), lazy pigs waiting for a feed or two of apples and goats who do not mind being petted for a long time..:-)
Definitely a fun time with kids during a weekend!!



Sunday, November 6, 2011

Sunday's in my City

The kids and I were home for a week'a autumn vacation. Generally, I look forward to the school reopening, but not this time. For those who do not know, I have been attending full time classes for the past 6 months in an attempt to learn the Deutsch language. So, this means I too need to drag myself back to school tomorrow......:( 
If you do drop my home tomorrow morning, I will be like a little kiddo repeatedly muttering to myself..." I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go". And then hubby dear tries to make me feel better by saying.."You have come this far. Another month to go and then you are done!!" My man sure knows how to slowly encourage and motivate me to learn something new.

So much for my lessons. Coming back to what we did. Kids and museums, this combination can never go wrong during a holiday. I must admit that Germany does have many impressive museums. The museum of Natural History in Coburg was one where we accidentally stumbled into. A visit to the fortress coupled with an autumn walk was the plan when the museum came into view on our path. And then to pleads of "bitte, bitte" which means "please, please" we had to give in. I am glad we did. 


As much as I am not waiting for winter, it's funny how the wild boars in the fake snow excited me....:D Really..lol!!!



To me, they all looked real, just like in the zoo. Only difference being these were up close!!
I love bears!! They remind me so much of Brother Bear..

Check out the otter with a fish underneath his paw watching out to see who is eyeing his meal. Impressive??

This lioness was a beauty. I also began to wonder whether these animals at some point were real?? What do you think? 


Unknown Mami

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Sundays in my City





The world famous Deutsches Clock Museum at Furtwangen, Schwarzwald. Here is where the world famous cuckoo clocks originated.


Unknown Mami

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Sunday's in my city!!

Welcome to this week's edition of Sundays in my City hosted by Unknown Mami!! Thanks to her, Sunday's has turned out to be my favourite day of the week!! Two months ago, I had mentioned in my post here about my disappointed howling boy. Disappointed because the museum which he wanted to visit was closed!! We took him back yesterday to the Criminal Museum in Rothenburg Ob der Tauber, a good hours drive from home.


Quite an interesting museum, portraying the methods used to torture criminals in the medieval times. Pictured below are some shame masks put on  women for acts such as telling tales, or men who were lazy!!


This tickled my bones! Below is portrayed a double neck violin for quarrelsome women. On the spot they were locked into it, until they got along with each other. It seemed an effective measure.


A similar violin for a married couple who would constantly fight too. They too were locked up, till they got along as well!!



The above is a chain used for cheating at cards or dice. 


Finally, a cage for craftsmen who faltered at their jobs!! They would be locked in this cage and repeatedly immersed in water!! Am I glad, that I wasn't around during the medieval times!!!




Sunday, May 16, 2010

Sunday's in my City!

Today was International Museum Day!! All over Germany, museums participated by having special tours and activities for visitors. Today we visited the Spessart Museum at Lohr. The museum has exhibits on the wood processing industry, glass manufacture, forestry, hunting and so on. It tells us the life of the Spessart inhabitants...










































We had a terrific Sunday and I hope you all did too..For more Sundays head over to Unknown Mami who host Sundays in my city!! Have a great week everybody!!!!