Maastrekking

May 22, 2017

Maastrekking

Let's get Gezellig!

Pearce is either whining or singing?

On Friday Morning we started our trek down to Maastricht. We loaded up all our stuff and started out in the rain. Going through our usual public transportation vehicles, we arrived at the Central Train Station. After some trial and error we found a train that would take us to Maastricht Randwyck the closest station to our hotel on their automated machines. Luckily, the machines take credit cards as not all places do.

We had a bit of a challenge actually getting to our train platform because it didn't seem to have an elevator that accessed it (this will not be the first time this happen to us). We had plenty of time so we tracked down a worker who explained we had to go down two man hallways before reaching the elevator. Once we found it, it was no problem to get up to our train. We set up our waiting spot and the took turns go down to the hall on the bottom to use the restrooms an get food.

Pumped

Over it

The train ride was uneventful and I don't remember much as I was still pretty exhausted. It's actually a wonder we could get anywhere successfully as tired as we were. After 2 hours 40 minutes we jumped off at Maastricht Central. We had to deboard, walk thorough the station and reboard on a train to the station by us which was only about 5 minutes away. At the train station we needed to go up to exit except the elevator was broken so we had to carry the stroller upstairs. Our system is one person brings the big bag up, then that person runs back down and and then together we get the stroller with Hendryx up the stairs. Thankfully Lucille can walk herself.

Its always hard when you are initially orienting yourself to a new place, but we had downloaded a really cool program called Maps.me that allows you to look at a map offline. I went ahead and pinned a bunch of sites before we arrived, including our hotel, to make it super easy on us. What we didn't realize is that it would actually have a little arrow of where you were at any point in time (as long as you had downloaded the map before). It was so useful to us.

Front Entrance

The Apart Hotel is not what you would call a fancy hotel, but it fit our needs. We had a two bedroom (really just two rooms with a corridor connecting them) "suite". Each room had a full bed, a desk, a couch and some chairs. The suite also had a bathroom, a small kitchen including a small sink, small fridge and microwave. Thankfully we had two travel tents with us since the only air was from the windows. For the most part the temperature was fine. The cleanliness and overall staff was left to be desired, but for the price is more the manageable.

Grownups room

Kitchen/Bath

Kids' room

It was nice to get everything settled in and put in its place for the next three weeks. The kids got set up with Lucille on the bed in her tent and Hendryx on the floor in his tent with a big comfy comforter to sleep on. She set about making some decorations in her room coloring some pictures to stick on the wall.

We would find out later how the laundry system worked. The washing machine cost 5 euros for a special coin. You inserted this into the machine and it dispensed you soap and everything for you. You then could use the dryer for free. This presented some problems as everything is in dutch. Luckily a manger walked by so he showed me which button to push. I put the time I needed to return on my watch, but when I came back someone had taken our clothes out still damp and put them aside. I took his clothes out and put them aside and put our clothes back in. I then went upstairs got the kids and brought them to the basement so I could monitor the situation. The man came back and had a lovely chat about manners and I got my clothes dried.

That evening we headed out to see some of the town. We passed a memorial to the American soldiers who in the spot had sent boats to free the people of Maastricht during WWII. There is actually a cemetery here with about 10,000 American soldiers and it is an honor for Maastricht families or businesses to adopt one of these graves to take care of. Each Memorial Day these families and many others go to the cemetery to commemorate these fallen soldiers. In fact, in 2005 President Bush attended the ceremony and said this in his speech:

"On this peaceful May morning we commemorate a great victory for liberty, and the thousands of white marble crosses and Stars of David underscore the terrible price we pay for that victory. For the Americans who rest here, Dutch soil provides a fitting home. It was from a Dutch port that many of our pilgrim fathers first sailed for America. It was a Dutch port that gave the American flag its first gun salute. It was the Dutch who became one of the first foreign nations to recognize the independence of the new United States of America. And when American soldiers returned to this continent to fight for freedom, they were led by a President (Roosevelt) who owed his family name to this great land."

Loving it!

We are about 20 minutes walking from the historic parts of town, but we found a lovely walk by the river Maas. It was a picture perfect evening.

As we crossed the bridge over the River Maas we were instantly transported into the baroque, historic part of town. The first square we came to was a small open area with a church on the corner, Onze-Lievw-Vrouwebasiliek (Basilica of Our Lady). The small square was filled with tables and chairs of several adjacent restaurants with their al fresco options. With the storm clouds and full trees this was an idyllic first impression of Maastricht. We ate some local dishes, including Zuurvlees, a sour beef stew with ginger and apple, while the kids played in the churchyard. Lucille even made a donation and prayer for our resident, family Catholic, Peggy "Gigi".