Visiting medieval castle the Muiderslot

Wednesday, 29 July 2015

 

If at all cold, the Queensland winters can't be much colder than the Dutch summers.  I am so glad a brought a few jumpers (for autumn in September!).  The Netherlands set a record for the worst summer storm in history, with damages of near  $20 million, and I believe they must have been close to a record of the coldest day in July, the height of summer.  As it is we are not waiting for better weather and are going to brave the showers today to visit a medieval castle: The Muiderslot.

As it still is fairly cool in the mornings (the central heating comes on automatically it appears) we are tempted to sleep in a bit, but by 9.30 am we're ready to leave for the short trip to Muiden.

I have also checked if there are any geocaches in the area.  Always handy if you're cachers like Patrica and me. There are a few.  A multi that we only will attempt if we feel like walking and if it's dry, and two traditionals.  So, I'm prepared.

On the short walk from the free parking area to the castle we get lost, just a little bit, because of a sign pointing the wrong way.  Glad to have maps on my mobile phone.  On the way back we meet a couple who ask us the way to the castle, in English.  They have made the same mistake as we have, and followed the sign.  As you do! As they ask the way in English we ask them where they are from and... it appears they are fellow Aussies, from Perth.  We walk to the castle together, do the guided tour together and at the end, when we are going for a cuppa, we're still together!  We exchange email addresses and after that they go on their way and we on ours.  They leave to go home tomorrow.  Patricia and I walk to the beautiful kitchen gardens, vegies and herbs.

Funny interlude: we have recently learned that we should pronounce the word herb as 'erb'.  Well, I may have been erroneous in the past, I am still not going to change my ways.  Herb it was and herb it's staying... for ever... :-)

Here are some pictures of our visit:

Path leading across a lock

The Chatelaine :-)

A lean-to within the grounds

Stairs to one of the towers

Not sure, but this must be the official entry to the 'front door' I guess

Dining room.  Children were not seated at the table. They stood and were only allowed to open their mouths to put food in it!

The kitchen.  A lot of old Dutch sayings have their origin here.

The back rest of the seat can be tipped over to the other side, so you don't get roasted near the fire on just one side! A bit like the seats on the trains in NSW.

People used to sit in bed instead of lying down.  Blood would run to your head and cause brain problems...

View onto the kitchen gardens. Most likely a later addition.

Patricia with Harry and Merl at lunch time

Patricia spent some time, and money, in the museum shop.  I would have liked to do the latter, but the items I would have loved to buy were too heavy to take in the suitcase. Cast iron is not of the lightest material.  Ah well, we can't have it all...

After we said our goodbyes we walked back at a leisurely pace, albeit not without looking for the cache near the entrance.  Unfortunately it eluded us.  We took shelter from the rain a few times, but after that we just kept going.  In the town of Muiden, which we passed through, we discovered a small souvenir shop.  Not that I needed souvenirs, but I had spotted a very handy water bottle at Dieuwer's house and again spotted a similar one in the shop, so it became mine.

I had wanted to show a short video of a turning bridge as opposed to a draw-bridge, but I seem to lack the technical knowledge that I used to have and can't get it to work... :-(

Soon we arrived at the parking lot again and went in search of the next cache which we knew to be close by.  It was indeed and Patricia spotted it almost instantly.

CCBM Carpool cache bij Muiden

After we've logged this find we take a longer, but more scenic, route back to Vreeland via Nederhorst de Berg, so we can pick up that outstanding cache there as well.

 Winkels rond het plein

 

We checked the 'blue dots' that caused us a bit of a headache in the beginning, and they were indeed part of the supermarket's name.  On Google Earth I had already checked the possible hiding place of the container, which made sense, so we walked a short distance outside town and after some serious searching I spotted the container.  Had I used my head I would have taken all the TBs that needed to be dropped off, but I had left them in the car.  A 10 minute walk to and from the car and I could deposit all three TBs in the huge container.  We signed the log and walked back to the car. We had another perfect day.