Marvelous Maastricht

I was starting to feel antsy to get out of Bonn so we took a day trip to Maastricht, Netherlands on Saturday. I don’t know how we picked Maastricht. I didn’t really know anything about it other than someone on a tour in Luxembourg was from Maastricht and said that there was good shopping. It is now my new favorite day trip from Bonn.

We didn’t really have any sort of an itinerary for the day. Our plan was to simply wander the streets, shop and eat some good food.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to Maastricht until about 2:30. Jim wanted to ride before we left and then needed to stop at Decathlon on the way for some bike stuff. So I’ll just have to go back sometime soon to see more of the town.

We parked near the train station which was a good base. The street from our parking lot to the pedestrian center of town was lined with cute boutiques and funky restaurants.

The main part of town was across the bridge to a maze of cobblestoned streets for pedestrians only. The streets were packed full of shoppers on a Saturday. Like most of Europe, the shops are closed on Sunday so Saturday is the big shopping day.

Maastricht is surprisingly about half the size of Bonn, but feels so much more cosmopolitan. It also feels a lot cleaner than Germany. I’m not exactly sure why.

I have come to love the Netherlands. I’m sure that part of it is the fact that every Dutch person speaks English and also probably German and French. Their ability to switch between 4 different languages is amazing. You never have to ask if someone speaks English, they all do. Plus they can figure out your language based on your accent and switch to that language within seconds of speaking to you. The main reason for their language ability is that their TV programs aren’t dubbed so they are hearing French, English or German TV shows in the original language with subtitles in Dutch.

One of my favorite finds in Maastricht was a bookstore. It was an old church that had been renovated to a bookstore. I loved the combination of old world architecture and modern bookstore. There was even a café in the front of the church where the alter would traditionally be located.

Jim and I were both successful in acquiring a few new purchases so after the shops closed at 5:00; we went to the various squares to get a look at the non-commercial side of Maastricht. Of course, we both said that we’d love to come back in the summer when the trees lining the squares have their leaves. We seem to say that a lot here.

While wandering the streets, we happened upon a restaurant that Jim’s coworker had recommended. We decided to have dinner there- http://www.rest-beluga.com/. It was too early to eat dinner and the restaurant was empty so we decided to go get a coffee somewhere and come back.

While Jim was looking for the perfect café, it started to pour. After wandering around in the rain for 45 minutes and refusing to share my umbrella, Jim was soaked and freezing. We decided to scrap dinner and simply go home.

Of course as soon as we started walking back to the car, the sun came out and a huge rainbow appeared.