Muiderslot, Netherlands

The newly introduced Jet Airways direct flight from Bengaluru to Amsterdam is very convenient. The hassle of transiting in Middle East or European city is gone with this direct flight. Also, I reach Amsterdam in the morning which gives me some time to explore the place. During my recent official travel to Netherlands, I had some time on Sunday morning after landing in Amsterdam. I did a quick search and found the castle of Muiden interesting. 

The travel from our hotel required transport via metro train and change bus twice before we reached the Muiden village, though it was just 15 km from Amsterdam. The last km involved walking through the nice streets of the village. The weather was cold (in single degrees) but pleasant.

The castle built about 700 years ago looked beautiful with a large moat surrounding it and some nice gardens. We paid entrance ticket of 13.5 euros that also included 30 minute guided tour.

The guided tour basically concentrated at one part of the castle consisting of five rooms. It provides a glimpse of the the saturation in 17th century. Some interesting pieces were the superstition that caused people to sleep in sitting position as the blood could rush into the brain in sleeping position!! Some nice pairings adorned the rooms of the castle.

The guided tour was mainly in dutch but considering the presence of non dutch visitors, the guide also provided English explanation. We were also handed out an english booklet that contained information about the rooms.

After the guided tour we spent some time roaming around the castle. As it became very cold, we went inside the small restaurant in the castle to have some hot tea. That helped us to get warm again to walk back to the bus stop.

It was a short and a nice visit in Netherlands!!