It’s that time of year again. I’ve been to numerous steam shows, antique vehicle displays, antique tractor exhibits and a recent antique tractor auction. I’ve seen rows and rows of antique tractors and vehicles on display. The first time I saw restored tractors at the International Plowing Match (IPM), I was impressed. I don’t want to see any more restored tractors for a while. I’m all antiqued out!
I am a history buff so don’t get me wrong — I love looking at our past and going to museums.
Last week an old friend I chummed around with in the 1960s, dropped by for a visit. He’s a retired automobile mechanic and has lived and worked in B.C., where mechanic wages were much higher than in Ontario, for the past 40-some years. Every few years he and his wife visit family and old friends here in the Ottawa Valley. He volunteers a day a week at the B.C. Farm Museum in Fort Langley helping restore antiques. I have toured the museum and it is incredible.
My brother-in-law and his wife, who are also from Langley, B.C., visited with me this past Monday. He’s a history buff and we both enjoy going to museums. We chatted about some of the great museums that we’ve visited over the years.
If you have had enough of restored tractor exhibits, go to Europe and go back in time at their many open-air museums. If you want to see something amazing and you love travelling, go and visit some of the great marine museums in Europe, such as the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.
One of the great joys of European travel is to journey back in time at their many open-air museums. They are usually located in spacious parks near big cities from Britain all the way up to Finland and from The Netherlands to Switzerland. Open-air museums are especially appealing to families. The museums imitate an historic village setting where visitors can wander around farms, log cabins, thatched cottages, mills, old school houses and ships collected from every corner of a country and carefully reassembled at one location. Inside you’ll find original furnishings and local people dressed in traditional clothing, tending to their crafts.
The Netherlands Open-Air Museum (NOM) in Arnhem is one of the best folk museums in Europe. It’s in the outskirts of Arnhem in a beautiful park. It was Holland’s first open-air folk museum, and is still its biggest and best. You can learn how the Dutch harnessed wind power through its fascinating windmills, cross a drawbridge dating back to 1358, and see demonstrations of papermaking and the workings of a cheese and butter factory.
There are 80 historic houses on display that were gathered from throughout the Netherlands and reassembled as they were. There are complete farmyards on display and, of course, huge windmills — everything from the past describing the centuries of Dutch history.
In a Frisian (province of Friesland) farmhouse the bags and suitcases are packed. The family is immigrating to Canada. You can see what the 1950s house looks like. The large family is starting a new life in a land of unlimited opportunities. Lots of nostalgia!
