Sailing to Volendam and Muiden

Brock and I tried on some Dutch clothing for size:

What do you think?

We rather enjoyed our spacious room at the Old Dutch Hotel. Brock spent a lot of time at the window checking out the view onto the lake and the street below.

Our room was right above the "Heineken" sign on the hotel!

We had a delicious meal of Mussels at the hotel the night before. But I think they were a little skimpy on the portion size, don't you?

The Dining Room of our hotel was rather attractive at night:

Tuesday, August 23: We rolled our bags back to the boat, passing that amazing kiddie water park at the marina:

We departed the marina around 10:15 a.m. Because the wind was light, we motored the whole way to Muiden (pronounced "MOW-den"). Along the way, we paused to assist Brock with his open water swim:

These sailboats were dwarfed by the wind turbines they passed below:

We arrived under motor in Muiden around 2:30 p.m. Anne-Marie was not able to get a slip at the marina of her choice on the castle side, so we had to settle for a slip at the Royal Netherlands Yachtclub in Muiden, which is the oldest water sports club in the Netherlands, established in 1847.

We starving souls walked into town for a bite of lunch by the water:

Central to this very small town is a lock with slips for each direction:

After lunch we toured the picturesque Amsterdam Castle Muiderslot:

This is the oldest and best preserved castle in the Netherlands. The castle was built around 1285 and has been a museum since 1878. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site!

Brock noticed swans swimming in the moat.

This was used to close the drawbridge:

Inside the courtyard, this lion guarded:

Anne-Marie looked wistfully at the marina she wanted her boat to be in:

Views were pleasant from the towers:

We admired the armor:

I even got to touch a spear!:

The courtyard:

Time to leave:

Since there were no accommodations for us in Muiden, Brock and I caught a taxi to Naarden, the next closest town, where we stayed at "The Room One-Twenty-One", which was essentially the whole upstairs (3rd floor) of a house. A very nice female proprietor showed us to our room and got us settled, and even turned on the air conditioning for us! Brock's sleep suffered the previous evening because he was too hot due to lack of air conditioning, so we really appreciated this. After getting settled, we enjoyed a drink on our upper porch, then walked through town to find a place for dinner. On the edge of town, a quiet spot named "The Arsenal" beckoned us for dinner:

From our seats, we had a view of the lighted clock on the town chapel:

We both enjoyed our meals very much! We started with lobster bisque, which featured lobster ravioli's in it! Very unique! My main course was sea bass, and Brock's was duck!:

We were exhausted. Time to rest and get ready for another day of sailing to come.

We are really enjoying getting to see some small villages in the Netherlands.