Open Monumentendag

Yesterday was "Open Monumentendag" (Open Monument Day) across the Netherlands.  This is the only day all year where several monuments, museums and buildings are open and free to the general public.  We lucked out, and took advantage of the days' activities around town.  The weather gave us a great opportunity to break into all of the kids' new rain gear - they were very excited about that.  We explored several places around Kampen, all fairly close to our house, and incredible sights to see.

The morning found us venturing to the Broederpoort Gate, just down the street from us.  It was built in 1615, as one of the original city gates attached to the wall that surrounded Kampen.  Later, as the town expanded, this gate was moved to its current location.  The inside can be rented out for small weddings or other special events, but otherwise, is not open to the public (as I mentioned earlier).

Looking up the stairwell.

Maddie loved all the stairwells we climbed throughout the day!

Looking out the window, down the street we live.  Our current house is located on the left-hand of the street, behind the further street lamp. 

Inside the main room of the gate, and the only one accessible to the public.

Picture of the gate when it was first built.

Outside view of the gate from our street.  Pretty cool, huh?

After the gate, we headed to the old town of Kampen (sort of "down town") to see what was happening.  So many people were out, despite the weather (but again, this is fairly normal weather, so it doesn't keep people away).  There were several side tents set up along the streets, with people reenacting medieval life, doing blacksmith work, carving wood, or just "living life."  Additionally, there were two different stages set up on opposite sides of town as part of the reenactment.  One was filled with townspeople, while the other was the gallows.  The people were dressed up in costume, complete with wooden shoes, long dresses and aprons, going about their day.

The horse was brought in, carrying the caged wagon, because someone was being arrested and sent to the gallows (from what we gathered by sight - everything was in Dutch, so not entirely sure what happened). 

Meanwhile, as the prisoner was being carted away, we were greeted by a very friendly and amusing Dutchman, who was selling filled pretzels.  He struck up a conversation with Maddie, and held her attention with his questions for close to 10 minutes!  I wish I could have recorded the conversation.  It was pretty funny, as his sarcasm and English-with-a-Dutch-accent sometimes got lost in translation for Maddie. 

A man in character, complete with a rooster in a basket, on his back. 

The other stage, surrounded by the crowd, as the man is being put to trial, and about to have his head cut off.  Lucky for him, a damsel comes to his rescue and helps to set him free (again, all in Dutch, so that is just an assumption.  We just know his head was spared at the last minute). 

The highlight of our day was climbing the bell tower, which I have described in previous posts.  This is the highest point in Kampen, which means you can see all around for quite a distance (everything is incredibly flat here).  The sights were beautiful, and the rain actually broke for the duration of our time on the platform at the top.  It was fantastic up there!

Look to the right of the steeple, and just beyond, and you can spot the windmill (which was moving), that we visited last weekend. 

She really wanted her picture taken in this spot.

They have a knack for not looking at the camera for me at the same time.

The vantage point of the clock - we were almost to the top!

All of the Dutch characters, reenacting daily life down below.

Broederpoort gate in the distance, with Brant's school to the left (with the tallest spires on that side of the picture).

We were happy to have been able to spend some time exploring more of the history in the town on this particular day.  We ventured into a few churches, meandered around the streets, and made it up into another city gate (with no pictures this time).  It was a successful day, enriching our time, here in Kampen.