Travel with Blueginger: The City of Muiden

"I travel because seeing photos in the books and brochures was not good enough for me. To be there, that was everything."

Muiden (Pronounce as Nai Den)

Another hidden secret of Amsterdam, another ideal day trip from Amsterdam.

Muiden is an ancient village with rich history background. It is now known for its peaceful streets, small cafes, historic landmarks, and an Instagram friendly harbor. The small streets of the medieval town were designed for horse carriages which transported us back to the time. With a population of 4000, Muiden is pride of The Netherlands, attracting visitors from all over the places.

History of Muiden

The city dates back to 10^th century and was the key defend line of Amsterdam from the invaders.

After the Dutch took back the town from the Spanish forces, Muiden was fortified with city walls.

Access to Muiden

Muiden does not have a railway station. The nearest train station is Weesp station and change to bus 110 to reach Muiden Centrum bus stop in 5 min. Nevertheless, Muiden can be easily accessed by most kind of transportation like boat, bike, motorcycle, car, and bus.

For us, we took a train from Schiphol Station to Weesp station and change to bus 110 (30 min ride ) and alight at Muiden Centrum bus stop.

This is Weesp Station

The small bus terminal is located right outside of Weesp Train Station.

Immediately after we alight, this sign is here to welcome us.

At this point, this is the entrance to Muiden, the main town centre is still further in

The 2nd bridge, the entrance to the town centre.

Happy Boy so happy.

It is 8 am in the morning, the town is still sleeping. That is why there is barely 10 people we came across. So, what lure us here ? The first stop, we are heading for unprocessed milk from a dairy farm nearby.

Cross this bridge and turn right and the farm is there.

10 minutes scenic walk along the canal at the right and the meadow at the left where we saw dairy animals roaming around from a distance. Along the way, the air was fresh, and the wind was cool, it was drizzling but it did not deter our excitement we are expecting for the day. Several cyclists even rode past us with nodding smiles of greetings.

This is the entrance of the dairy farm.

We are here for this mini shop.

Home-made products including honey, jam and eggs are available for sale here.

this is the vending machine we are looking for.

You may purchase milk bottle here at EUR 1.00.

“Do Not Feed The Cat"

There is tables and chairs nearby .

It taste real good.

Now I understand the warning sign on the milk vending machine that telling us not to feed cat. This kitty appeared out of nowhere and jump up onto this table trying to rob our milk.

We explore around the farm and hear "Baaa" Baaa" "Baaa", there is a small herd of sheep calling out for us. At this point, we also heard massive crowing sound from chicken, there is an enclosed chicken farm nearby too.

De Koeienkade (Dairy Farm) - Address : Noordpolderkade 2, 1398 PD Muiden, Netherlands

De Koeienkade Dairy Farm is owned by Meester Family, it has been here for about 200 years in a unique location with a view of the beautiful Muiderslot.

The main reason for us to visit this dairy farm is to purchase Real Fresh Milk.

There is a drive-in service here in this farm which is "Milk Drive-In. The world's only milk drive in." Look out for a sign "Melkdrive" in a tiny hut like shop, where you can purchase real fresh milk. The milk has not been processed; it is a raw product, so the shelf life is 3 days. The milk contains 4.7% fat and 3.6% protein, it is however filtered and being sold from vending machine the fresh milk is drained from the large cooling tank before being transfer into the vending machine. There is a stirer in the vending machine which will stirs the milk a few times per day to prevent it from over rise. Per liter sold at Euro1.10, Please bring your own cup or container for the milk unless you want to buy the milk container at Euro1.00 each. In this small shop, you can also buy some of their home-made products including honey, jam and eggs. Make sure to bring in some loose change as there is no cashier manning the shop. You just have to leave the money on the table for the purchased items.

The next stop, we are heading to a well-preserved castle - Muiderslot, which is the core of the town. Here are some photos we took since the castle is not open yet. Locals strolling with dogs, chit chatting with us.

Muiderslot

Slot is a Dutch word that means Castle so another name for Muiderslot is Muider Castle.

Muiderslot is a well-preserved castle from The Middle Ages isnt it look like the one from most fairy tale?

This is a piece of ancient brick wall.

The castle is not big but it is very well maintained from yesteryears. Over the years, it has been used as a location in various TV shows set in the Middle Ages. It is a sight to behold, the castle has a drawbridge, five towers . I am wondering if there is a flying Dragon guarding the compound, blowing fire balls at the visitors.

In 1281, Muiden was ceded to the County of Holland and the Muiderslot was built in 1285 and been collecting many interesting stories over the 700 years. The views from the watch tower are magificient, there is also a souvenir shop and cafe in the slot.

This is an ancient well, the main well is nearby where connect up to kitchen.

Ancient door with Ancient lock

Ancient window where soldiers can take up their positions.

Ancient bed.

I am wondering how come the beds are designed short and covered ?

This is the Ancient Hall.

Ancient candle holes

Below is the kitchen that fascinate me!

See the pulley above, door shuttles foods or stuff in between the levels.

See the giant tap by the basin, kitchen staff must push the water up from the well below manually.

These 3 photos is the Ancient Toilet. There is no door for private business. You can do your business here while people walked by or even chat up a conversation.

I asked the curator where the poos goes to since it goes all the way down ? He replied me that it goes directly into the water surrounding the castle!!!!! At this point, I start to imagine..... the poos went down into the water and people are walking by... gosh!

Muiderslot's Gardens

The castle was surrounded by moats, garden, and a plum orchard. Since 17^th century, the owners of the slot constructed the gardens, these gardens not only served as decorative purposes, they also supplied vegetables. fruits to the tables and herbs to medicines. Here are the spots we explored in the gardens:

1) The green tunnel of beech foliage corridor.

2) The vegetable garden for every day's meal as the castile is quite a distance away from vegetables market and online groceries shopping and supermarkets were not exist during those days.

3) Herbs garden for kitchen use, medicine use, paint use and ornamentals use.

4) Plum orchard - The first Plum Tree was planted here in the 17^th and this orchard been weathering in the wind ever since.

Muiden Town

Strolling through Muiden's centuries old walls and explore one of the country's oldest villages. Exploring this sleepy town by foot can take up couple of hours. The small streets, old buildings and the charming castle that made up the picturesque village with unique sight and peaceful feel, can fill up anyone's camera.

Our Lunch in Muiden - Graaf Floris V van Muiden

Before heading to the next town - Naarden, we had our lunch here to have a taste what the local food like.

We choose the restaurant by the canal, located at the entry point to the centre.

The food is good, coffee is great, staff are polite and helpful too.

The building itself is more than century old whereas the restaurant is here for more than a decade.

Lastly, something interesting unfolded before us... See this video.

Most of the places in The Netherlands is below water level, so does Muiden. This place tells us how the people live below water level. Long ago, boats have to wait for the water level to rise before they can enter the canal. This blog on Muiden end here, we are going to another town - Naarden - the whole town is within a star-shaped fortress.