Tuesday, May 22nd 2018 - Bokrijk

On Tuesday we spent a very interesting time in Bokrijk in the region of Genk. It is Belgium's largest open-air museum devoted to the origins of current habits and traditions. There is a great collection of historical buildings and objects, a number of traditional animal breeds, some craftsmen at their work and a priest giving a sermon - in Dutch of course. It is divided into sections - East and West Flanders, Kempen, Haspengouw and The Sixties. East and EWest Flanders is devoted to the silence and beauty of the landscape with a view over the lakes in the surrounding area. The Kempen section focuses on  craftsmanship of today, yesterday and tomorrow. Haspengouw takes visitors back to the atmosphere of 1913 and on special days actors play the parts of Flemish villagers caught up in the events on the eve of the First World War.

There was quite a walk to The sixties area and all the time we were expecting a real thunderstorm but we got there dry.

A sixties Delhaize - a Dutch supermarket.

The Sixties has lifelike settings of a living room, petrol pumps and a cafe that take you back in time. This room looks at the musical legacy of the 1960s through iconic album covers, video recordings and other collections.

I took a trip into Yvette's hair salon. I didn't look much better after it!

We got back to Flanders and still no thunderstorm though it felt imminent. We had just got to a small cafe where we were going to get a sparkling water when we heard the beginning of the thunder and then the skies opened. Fortunately we were under huge patio umbrellas and we remained there, dry, until it had passed.

The priest in full flight!

This is a lovely big castle-like house at the entrance of Bokrijk.