Weesp & Muiderslot Castle

 29th October 2023, Sunday

Today woke up around 7 plus, thinking it was late as per Singapore time. The weather was also nice and sunny. So we decided to head out to have a walk in the forest behind my friend's house. We had our breakfast and headed out for a walk. The wind was blowing strongly and it was cold (temperature was about 13 deg). We strolled through the path, greeting everyone we saw along the way. Some people were jogging, strolling and walking with their dogs. We saw wild mushrooms in the grass, potatoes ready to be harvest in the fields and modern windmills. There was even a super big dog holding a long branch on its mouth and wanted to bring home with it. The owner said the dog was only 18 months old and it was very obedient. We walked till 9 plus and decided to head down to Almere centre to go to a mediterranean eatery named Eethuis Lila. My friend had dined once and found the food nice by far, so she was recommending to have breakfast there.

Great day for a walk!

Breakfast place - Eethuis Lila

So we went and took the bus to head down to Almere Central.  When we reached there, there was no customers yet. However, they only serve breakfast dishes and soups so we can't order others from the lunch and dinner sections. We decided to go with a Harira soup and a big breakfast set to share which included breads, pudding, eggs, Moroccan mint tea. The food was quite nice. After the meal, we walked to the central area where there were a lot of branded shops around. We also went to a asian supermarket to see what asian food are they selling. After that, we decided to head down to Muiderslot Castle in Weesp and have ice cream there. So we walked to the bus stop and took a free bus to Weesp. It was about 30 mins ride to Weesp main station. From there, we went and look for bus 110 to go to the castle. However, it was a 45 mins wait before the bus comes. So we decided to head down to the town and get ourselves some ice cream from Nelis' IJssalon. It was 15 mins walk to the place, most of the shops were closed. When we reached there, we ordered 2 scoops in a cup for 2.5 euro and we took mango and pistachio flavour. Ice cream was quite smooth and not bad, just the mango one was quite sour and pistachio flavour was not strong enough (not as good as the one I had in Florence).  

Breafkast!

Famous ice-cream in Wessp

Reflection of Sint-Laurentius church

Then, we headed back slowly to the bus stop while eating the ice cream. We took some photos along the way back and waited for the bus to come upon reaching the bus stop. A young couple walked up to us asking if they could pay with their credit cards for the bus fares. My friend told them we were not sure and they could ask the driver when the bus comes. Then we had a small talk with them while waiting for the bus. They were from Mexico and Spain, they met each other while working in Finland and they were there for short holidays. And they told us the expenses in Finland was much expensive as compared to Netherlands. After that, we boarded the bus to head to the castle. From the bus stop, we still had to walk a 10 mins distance to the castle gate. We purchased a entry ticket for myself since my friend had free entry to the castle. And so we went to explore the castle and it started to drizzle too.  There were 2 routes - Knight's route and Tower's route to access different rooms in the castle. The castle was used as a water shield to fend off enemies in early years and served as a trading point in the later years. The count Floris V who lived at that time was collecting trade toll for every boat that passed by the castle. There was also a poet who lived in the castle after the Count. There was a torture room and armoury room too. We spent exploring the castle for about 2 hours. Later we went to the garden outside the castle to take a look. There was nothing there, all the flowers and veggies are all dead. Maybe it will be nicer in spring or summer period.

Knights' Armours

Fire place for warmth with the bench able to turn around

Torture Room

We decided to make our way home as the castle was closing at 5:00 pm. But before we left, we walked to the water shelter outside and took a look inside. There was a video on how the dutch had used water to defend their lands in war times but it also scarified its own people in order to have this water defence system. So it become a question of whether water is a foe or friend to them. After that, we headed out to exit the castle. We walked back to the bus stop and took the same bus 101 to the central station. From there, we took the free bus back to Almere Poort. Along the way, we caught sight of the moon rising out and it was so round and big. The sky was getting dark too when we reached back to Almere Poort. We went to supermarket to buy some ingredients for the coming week and bought a wrap and two Netherlands Balls back for dinner, Once done, we made our way back home where we ate our dinner and rested for the day.

Model of castle

Moon of the night

Photo Album: Click here!

Himeji 姫路, Japan Trip (Day 7)

10th March 2017, Friday

Today was a travel-alone day for me as i had planned to head down to Himeji from Osaka. As my friends had not decided where to go, so i went ahead to prepare my day trip. I left the hotel before them and headed down to the main train station. The train staff had gave a 10 mins later train, which i hurried to buy my breakfast and rushed up to the platform in time. It was a 45 mins ride from Osaka to Himeji, so i reached there around 9.45 am. Then i went to the tourists information area to get some travel information.

From the train station, i could the super white castle, which is the Himeji castle from a distance. Then i walked to the bus terminal to get the bus tickets to Mt Shosha. From the bus terminal, i had to take a bus to the ropeway terminal and from the ropeway terminal, i had to take the ropeway up to the top of the mountain. All in all, it took 1 hour plus to reach the mountain. When i reached the ticket counter, there was one monk to ask the visitors whether to take bus or walk. It costed around 1000 yen for the bus ride up to the temple. Alternatively, it cost 500 yen to walk on your own up. So i chose to walk on my own up.

It was quite interesting to walk on the path up, there were many Guan Yin statues in different forms along the path and each of them had a donation box in front of it. When i reached halfway, there was a spot where i can see Himeji city below. It was quite a great sight and the best was it was super quiet on the mountain. There was not a single soul or car around (but it can get a little scary)...hahaaa....I could only hear sound of some birds and wind blowing. I took a long time to reach the first hall. There were many different rooms along the way, however, the rooms were not opened. There was also a hall with 33 buddha statues in it. There was a small shop selling some food and there were a small group of people around. After which, i continued walking for my exploration. I reached an area where there were 3 halls sitting side by side. One of the halls was a student hall and there were 2 students studying there. One hall had some exhibits on the 2nd floor and oh man, it was cold with my shoes off. Beside it, there was a tomb of hondas, where there were about 6 shrines in it.

After that, i tried to walk to the highest peak and i should have taken a walking stick with me. It was quite tiring hiking that mountain. Luckily, my friends didn't join me today...think they will start scolding me...hahaaa....I spent my whole morning walking around the mountain but i think there were many places i had missed it. I headed back to the ropeway station around 1 pm and there were a group of children waiting for the ropeway. So i waited for the next trip, by the time i reached back to the bus terminal, it was around 2.30 pm.

Shoro Bell Tower

Hokke-Do

View from the Peak

Only eating place

As the closing time for Himeji castle was around 5 pm, i had to walk quickly to the castle. I bought the ticket and went in for my adventure. It was grand and it was very white, with the blue sky in the background. And it was very big...even bigger than Osaka castle. It consisted of 1 big keep and 2 small keeps and a super long corridor surrounding the castle. The main keep had 6 levels and i had to take off my shoes to go up each level and carry my shoes around. It was crowded inside too and saw a drunk uncle on one of the floors. There were plenty of history on the castle and its ground. The surrounding walls had triangle, rectangle and circle shapes and it was meant that the holes are meant for weapons like bow & arrows, guns to attack the enemies. There were also stories like a grandma had donated her hand mill stone to the Castle Lord, Hashiba Hideyoshi at the time of building the castle. There was also a stone coffin whereby it was unearthed from a burial ground and used in a stone wall during the original construction of the castle. Inside the main keep, there were rooms to keep their weapons and a super small warriors hiding room.

Himeji Castle

To defend the castle

Hand Mill Stone

Stone Coffin

Weapons Shelfs

Warriors Hiding Room

After which, i headed to one part of the corridor where there were rooms showing the life of Princess Sen but there was not enough time for me to complete all as it was almost to the closing time. After the castle tour, i walked back to the train station and bought a few of souvenirs at the shops opposite the castle. Bought a lot of the gold coins there too and missed my return train. I wasn't sure the closing time of the JR office, so i was rushing back to the train station to get a return ticket to Osaka. There was a ramen shop that looked nice but was unable to try it. When i finally reached the JR office, it was still open and managed to get a return ticket.

So i ended up eating in one of the eatery in the station. I reached Osaka at around 8 plus and my friends had not returned from their day trip. I finally bought the famous Osaka gyoza to try....hohoho....They had actually traveled back to Kyoto for shopping....hahaa....Hence, i reached the hotel earlier and had my hot shower. When the two came back, they had bought a lot of goodies back...heheee

Hotel Stayed:
Yamatoya Honten