We managed to drag our weary selves off the plane at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam and stumble into the arrivals area and customs. We were hoping to be on the 8:30 train en route to Maastricht, but long lines were making us doubt that possibility. Once again, Tony shows what a master he is at kiosk transactions and he had our tickets in hand with about four whole minutes to spare. Not to mention this helpful sheet of directions:
Doesn't that seem simple? It actually was - all we had to remember was to change trains in Utrecht, and that was a matter of crossing over from "Spoor 19" to "Spoor 18." Piece of cake! The train gave us all a welcome opportunity to doze and we had the added benefit of having landed in the "Silent" train car. Perfect!
At just after 11am, our train rolled in to Maastricht and I honestly forgot about how tired I was and just got darned excited to see Baby Girl!
Here she is, ready to corral all of us through the streets of her temporary hometown. We soon met up with B, who was sorting out bus day passes for all of us (after having accidentally purchased "day passes with bicycle" tickets. I'll say it again - Dutch is confusing!
We took the soon-to-be-familiar Number 6 bus to BG and B's adorable studio apartment on Ambyerstraat-Nord and enjoyed a lovely smorgasbord lunch. We immediately realized that there are quite a few foods that are superior to American food, particularly the cheeses and meats.
After our yummy repast, we set out for "Maastricht Underground" - in one of the highest spots in Holland, miles of tunnels make for a unique experience. A tour beneath Saint Peter’s Mount allows you to explore the caves that were excavated by men through the centuries. We spent about an hour underground and it was pretty cool. One of the most memorable parts was when our tour guide had us extinguish all lights, put a hand on the wall, and walk as a group for about two minutes in utter darkness. Creepy and cool at the same time. When we emerged, even the gloomy Dutch skies looked bright!
Next BG and B took us on a meandering tour through their sweet little town and we saw adorable shops, quaint cobblestone streets, an ancient city wall, french fries swimming in sauce, BG's digs at the University of Maastricht Law School, and lots more. I was very concerned about the weather prior to the trip, and while pretty chilly at times, it was easy to duck under cover for the very brief periods of rain and then just continue on your way. Layering was key!
We wound up on the more suburban side of the river (where BG and B live) for dinner and found a great restaurant with very good food. Only one problem - this menu, which took a LOT of Googling to decipher:
After dinner, we said goodnight to the Bigs' and jumped back on our trusty #6 bus - hoping we could remember enough letters in the name of our stop to find our hotel. It was no problem, but I have to say that long walk in the cold mist, dragging suitcases, after a night of almost no sleep nearly did me in. It was ALL I could do to drop my bag in the hotel, wash up, and collapse into bed. Hilariously I pulled out my book, but never got past the very first sentence.
No comments:
Post a Comment