"Naarden would be just another satellite town to the capital if it wasn't for the magical fortress. This work of art is best seen from the air: a 12-pointed star. This defence system was unfortunately built only after the Spanish massacred the inhabitants in the 16th century. The bastions were still staffed by the Dutch army thoughout the 1920's...
There's a really huge marina close by so we pulled in for the night. The old city is pretty spectacular and now seriously upscale. Only a couple of Fiat 500's parked on the street. The dual moat system is still intact; nobody was going to massacre the inhabitants of Naarden ever again ... until they invented airplanes that is.
While there we visited the 14th century Grote Kerk. There are some great ceiling paintings that are really hard to take pictures of but we still have a hard time walking on the gravestones in the church floor. As near as we can tell, de Hier Schuyt was buried here in 1612 and his wife in 1631, then his son in 1664 and his wife in 1670.
Friday morning was beautiful (I really have a hard time typing that) so off we went to Amsterdam. After crossing the big water in nearly flat calm conditions we navigated our way back to the Sixhaven Marina. John and Patti are supposed to be here sometime tomorrow (Saturday). It's also Uitmarkt time, a major music and film festival (what did I day about festivals?) here in Amsterdam so the next couple of days should be pretty busy!
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