Folk & Lace Museums

We started yesterday with a carriage ride around Brugge and it is really an engaging way to see it and gives one a real feel for what it was like when that was the only mode of transportation. Clop, clop, clop, on cobblestones is a sound one hears a lot in Brugge and it is an appealing sound, but I can not imagine how these horses do it all day. Ours was quite a spirited horse and gave Mozart a start when she was sitting in the drivers seat and he just took off. DaVinci pulled her to the back and I jumped in quickly as this horse clearly had a mind of his own.

Then we went to the Folk Museum and onto the Lace museum with demonstrations as we read they were both great for kids and they were. The Folk Museum (Volkskunde) showed what life was like long ago with scenes from cobblers, barrel makers, cloth makers, schools, bakeries etc and the actual items used in those days.Mozart liked the school and kitchen things best.

DaVinci was especially fascinated by the Kancentrum (Lace Museum) where lace workers demonstrate their wonderfully intricate art form.Most of them learned when they were around eight and it is spell binding watching their fast moving gyrations with numerous tiny spools of delicate thread.Lace making use to be big business for the people of Brugge,but now most of it is done by machines,so people only do it as a hobby.It is well worth seeing for kids and adults and they even have lessons available for those that have a little time.