Off to Naarden...

Ashlynn was finally able to book an appointment to get her coronavirus vaccination in Naarden, but it was more than one hour away and not easily accessible by public transportation. Carlin came to the rescue and drove us there. Jimmy met us in town afterwards to celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary. Our first stop was the city hall built in 1601...

…where we saw this great old aerial shot of the city, which clearly forms a star.

The city dates back to 1300 and this map is from the early 1600s. Tickets were required to go upstairs for a special exhibit, but we had a nice chat with one of the volunteers...

...and got to see where city official business was held until 2015 when Naarden merged with some nearby cities to form Gooise Meren. 

Across the street was the Grote Kerk, dating back to 1479. Tickets were required there as well, but since it was almost closing time, we were allowed in for free.

 

We zoomed through the photography exhibit to look at the building itself...

…and a fascinating display of posters to try to wake up folks about the horrific conditions of refugee camps in Lesbos, Greece called Now You See Me Moria.

It was very eye-opening and heartbreaking; we felt bad that we had no idea that such a huge humanitarian crisis existed in the EU. 

We still had an hour to kill after the church and before our dinner reservation, so we popped into Cosa Wine Bar for a drink and appetizer. It had stopped raining by the time we were done.