Maastricht

For the weekend, I went to the tail of the Netherlands and the city of Maastricht with my buddies Henry (Australia) and Curt (South Dakota). The city was pretty impressive and felt nothing like the rest of the country. The streets were wider, no canals and there were ruins from way back when all over the place. I did not know until I received a text from my mom that there are more bars per square kilometer in Maastricht than any other city in the country. Thanks mom, but I'm all about experiencing history and culture, not sitting in some bar and drinking gross Belgian beer.

The biggest difference between the tail and the rest of the country were the elevation changes. Leiden and other parts of Holland that I've been to are flat, and I mean completely flat, much more so than Florida. Ant piles are the most they have. But there were legit hills in the tail and on the train to Maastricht, we passed a little town with ruins up on a hill. We went back the next day to check it out and the ruins turned out to be the only castle to be built on a hill in the Netherlands, built to be more secure than others. It was destroyed three separate times and eventually burned. Not much was left but the views were good.

Saturday, we went to an old fort on the outskirts of Maastricht. From the top, you could see Belgium and we decided to walk across the border. The walk turned out to be a massive trek but the weather and scenery made it worth it. We eventually made it to the town of Kanne, just inside the Belgian border. It was a great time but thankfully, we caught a bus back to Dutch-land.

The trip was one of the highlights of my time here so far despite Easter Sunday brunch being train station Burger King. Now, I only have a few more days left before heading back to the US of A. Time flies, especially when you're 6 hours ahead. Terrible joke.


Maastricht


Valkenburg Castle


Walking to Belgium


Who could say no to more raw herring?