What would it be like to live like in the Middle Ages? Yvonne Lammers wanted to know that. She accepted the challenge and lives in a medieval house in the preHistorisch Dorp in Eindhoven for two months. “The biggest challenge is that I don’t have a fridge.”
Visitors who spend a day in the preHistorical village go back 650 years in time. Yvonne is a manager at the museum and wanted to experience that in real life. She now lives in one of the thatched cottages and spends all day just surviving. And that means cooking on a wood fire, walking up and down with buckets to a well for water and making your own cheese.
“I get up at five in the morning and then do my office work first, because that will continue,” says Yvonne. When she’s done with that, her medieval day starts around half past eight. “That’s actually just like in the Middle Ages. People then first went to work for hours and only then had breakfast.”
“I have to keep my attention, otherwise I won’t have anything to eat.”
So far Yvonne’s step back in time is going pretty well. The bed is comfortable and cooking she already did without packages and bags. “The biggest challenge is living without a fridge, especially in hot weather. And all the water I always have to fetch,” says Yvonne. Keeping the pests away is also a challenge, she says. But she found a solution to that. “Cover everything and wipe with vinegar. That helps.”
The museum manager has now become a living attraction. Many visitors come to the museum especially for her. “I underestimated the Glass House effect a bit,” she says. “It is therefore difficult to divide the attention. I also have to continue with my daily activities, otherwise I will have nothing to eat.”
