Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
you'll learn that farmers often made paper in their spare time
to help make ends meet. Inside, you might see a demonstration
of linen rags being turned into pulp, and then into paper. Peek
upstairs at the finished paper hanging to dry.
•
Leaving the mill, walk straight ahead on the brick path, passing
various buildings on your right-hand side until you reach the...
Herb Garden
(#11.1): This tranquil, hedge-lined garden is
worth exploring. The map at the entry explains the various parts of
the garden, each growing herbs for different purposes: dyes, food,
medicine, and so on. Listen for the squeals of lively children from
the playground behind the garden.
•
Continue past the garden and cross the tram tracks to the...
Freia Steam-Dairy Factory
(at #7.1, with the big smoke-
stack): Named after Freia, the Norse goddess of agriculture, this
was the Netherlands' first, privately owned cheese and butter fac-
tory. Borrow the English explanations at the entry, sample some
free cheese, and try to follow the huge belt of the steam engine as
it whirls through the factory.
•
Leaving the factory, loop around to the right—past the little black-
and-green windmill—then turn right again, down the path just before
the brick-and-thatch forest hut. On the right, look for the...
Peat Hut
(#7.6): Humble little huts like these were used by
day laborers and covered with the same turf that those laborers
were paid so poorly to gather.
•
Continue to a big, thatched-roof...
Fa rmhouse
(#8.1): Step into the vast and rough 1700s interior,
listen to recorded animal noises, and scope out the layout: grain
stored up above, cows along the main room, and at the far end, a
(no doubt smelly) residential zone for people.
•
Cross the tram tracks in front of the farmhouse to reach the tiny...
Schoolhouse
(#8.2): Aside from its brick construction (most
were made of clay), this is typical of village schoolhouses from
around 1730. Only boys from 6 to 12 years old attended school,
with an emphasis on reading and writing, and summers off to help
on the farm. Imagine the schoolhouse back then, fragrant with
smoke from the peat fire. Notice the slates used to follow along
with lessons (stored in the wooden “lockers” on the walls). An
underperforming student would have to wear the donkey picture
around his neck.
Just beyond the schoolhouse is the
Pancake House
(# 9.1;
good for a snack or meal—see “Eating,” next page), with an adja-
cent playground.
•
Cross the tram tracks to peek into the...
Church
(#10.1): In the typical Dutch style, the church has an
austere white interior, central pulpit, and wooden pews.
•
Then continue along the tracks through the village, past the
Brabant
