Biking to the Castle
Coronavirus has changed the world. We went into lockdown in March 2020 and things started to open up here in Amsterdam on June 1. By July 1, nearly everything has opened up, including gyms, restaurants, and museums. The Netherlands (thus far) wasn’t hit as hard as other countries such as Spain, Italy, the UK and — natuurlijk — the United States, where the virus is climbing higher every day.
Luckily, we started renting our SwapFiets and so could go on bike rides as things started to open up. We biked out to Muiderslot castle, (re)built in the 14th century, in the town of Muiden, about 75 minutes each way. The trip was beautiful! We biked through sheep and cow pastures, along the coast, and through lush wild areas. We passed lots of little houses with cute gardens.
At the castle, we were able to take two audio tours that took us through the medieval history and former caretakers. Some of the rooms were magnificent, with small beds (people slept sitting up out of fear their blood would rush to their head) and other furniture and paintings. We walked along the towers and guard walks as well. One interesting piece is that their walkways dead-ended each time, so that if one tower fell, the attackers wouldn’t be able to access the rest of the tower – heel slim! (very smart!)
