Medieval times...

Yesterday the girls and me went on a school field trip to a medieval castle (the only castle! in SA) called Greensleeves a medieval Kingdom. The whole semester the kids were learning about medieval times, knights, damsels in distress :-) and Joan of Arc. So now at the end all the 3rd graders and some moms went on this field trip.

The kids went in busses and the moms would drive themselves. We were with 3 cars and we were the first ones to leave, and the first ones to arrive.... at an elderly home also called Greensleeves! We were at a total wrong location and after figuring out the right location off we went again, just to arrive the last... 15 minutes late! Send a bunch of women on a field trip and you can guess that we were lost, so hilarious!! But eventually we arrived there at this beautiful location in the middle of nowhere close to the Cradle of Humankind. I think this owner was fascinated by medieval times as a kid and collected hundreds... no thousands of real and replica items out of these times. He build a whole castle with dining rooms, chapel, just amazing.

And the way he explained everything to the kids, they were glued to his stories, examples of the way of living, showing them and experiencing the punishments, the way of eating, dressing. One of the better field trips I have been to!

The kids had an option to dress up in medieval clothing, so they asked me to make a dress like a maiden. So I did! Actually I had help from 2 friends, Jen who helped me with the design/cutting part... i hate to cut the fabric and then one of my best friends Dunke actually sewed the whole dress for me!! She is such a trooper, we had some hectic moments the last 3 days before the field trip!! Thanks Dunke!! You are a gem!

So first we prepared the hair... the night before we curled the hair up in tiny curly bits and they slept with it, so their straight hair would be curly and a bit more messy... since that is the look they saw in the books... a bit more messy. But straight hair is hard to get messy, so we decided to make it curly :-)



Ready for school, they would go like this in the bus... a bit of hesitation, but also fun! We had no time to change once at school, since the busses would immediately go off to Greensleeves.



Real maidens... with a back pack.. LOL



First the kids got some explanation about how they used the knifes, bow and arrows, the typical clothing or armor,etc. etc.
And here a boy can try on a helmet, part of the armor the knights would wear in battle.



Posing next to a knight with their friend Elle, who was also dressed up... actually these 3 were the ONLY ones!!



Here they are sitting in the chapel, listening about the way the kids would grow up in the castle grounds, what they used as toys, schooling, religion, etiquette, courting, marriage etc. etc.. All the kids were happy they didn't grow up in medieval times!



Then off to the dining area, the kids were all hungry but first they had to listen to the table etiquette's of those times, before they could dig in!



Everybody had 2 bowls, one with a drink called mead, I think it was honey with water... and one was for your supper. And a water bowl to share with a few to clean your hands. And a sharp knife, no fork or spoon. Salt was very precious so only the King and Queen had salt in front of them and you could go up to them and ask for a pinch... which a lot of kids did, because as a favor back you had to kiss the Queen or King.. this was the best part of the whole meal!! A boy and a girl were chosen to be the King and Queen :-)



No spoon, so we had to slurp the soup and eat the bread with our hands, it was homemade and delicious... at least for medieval standards... :-) Since we got this huge knife we were all expecting to get a big piece of roasted meat, but the soup and the bread was the whole meal, and for dessert ice cream. I didn't know they had ice cream in medieval times?? Too funny!



Before going home the owner just showed the kids a last thing, the guillotine. A device used for carrying out executions by decapitation.



And one kid was picked out of the crowd to feel how it is to put your head on the chopping block! Of course all the kids loved it!



All the buildings on the castle grounds were really beautiful. It is a great location to have a company dinner or group festivities. They even rent out costumes!





Last shot of the girls as medieval maidens, or princesses as the owner called them the whole time!



Well done AISJ, for such a great field trip!!
The kids AND the moms had a great day!

What about your kids, do they go on great field trips?? Tell me about it!
Mireille

A day trip to Jacaranda City

Last week we made a school field trip to Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, or sometimes called JACARANDA CITY. And you can guess maybe why? There are lots of streets lined with Jacaranda trees. This tree is not indigenous to SA, but was imported from of subtropical regions of South America. These trees flower in October, so the trip was worth doing, just alone to see all these streets full of Purple blossom! An amazing view!!!



But of course we had a full program and our first stop was the Voortrekker Monument. This 50 year old granite construction commemorates the pioneers who trekked from the Cape in 1835. Inside the story of the pioneers are told with magnificent tapestries, paintings and a huge wall with the world's longest historical marble friezes that depicts the story of the women and children during the Great Trek.





The monument is a reminder of the courage, determination and persistence of the Voortrekkers. Inside is a huge long wall build out of marble with the whole story of the war of the Boers against the Zulus.





But not only is it shown in marble, another floor has the whole story on painted panels and another level of just embroidered tapestries, just amazing to see how well this part of history is being documented!







After that we had a stop at the Kruger house museum. The last house in which President Paul Kruger was to live, between 1883 and 1901, before he left South Africa to go into exile in Europe. The interior of the museum is exactly how he lived there, and the furniture reminded me a bit of my grandmothers era. This is how the houses looked like in Holland as well...

His living room...



Bedroom...



and Kitchen.



Next stop we did was Church Square, the historic centre of Pretoria, but when we stopped with our bus I saw this small strip mall and had to smile...
A pawn shop where you can trade in your gold for cash to have surgery and then when the patient is recovering you can come and visit him/her and buy some fresh fruit. A 3 stop in 1.... how funny!!



The Square is surrounded by many historic buildings, some having been erected as early as 1891. Among them stand the old Raadsaal (council chambers), Palace of Justice, Centenary Building, Netherlands Bank and a few others.



Old historical buildings but also many Jacaranda trees...



In the middle of the square stands a large bronze statue of former president Paul Kruger, surrounded by the statues of 4 other Boers. This SA couple was posing with one of the Boers and I thought it was a nice shot, since the lady is dressed in an original ShweShwe dress.



After this it was time for a picnic in the beautiful gardens of the Union Buildings with its magnificent view of the city and its terraced gardens. We sat under a tree in the shade and ate our lunch.



But also celebrated a birthday of one of the ladies in our group, Orit, with Mimosa's and chocolate cake...



And while driving back home we came by a few more streets lined with the gorgeous Jacarandas...



A nice relaxing day, met some new women, chatted, laughed, ate all together and had great fun while learning some history of Pretoria. A good day!!

Mireille