Maastricht Saturday

Dutch Bike

Our first full day in Maastricht

It  was really nice to have a weekend in Maastricht before Pearce's school started. The weather was similar to Amsterdam's- pretty manic changing from sunny to stormy off and on throughout the day. We headed out to go see the caves Maastricht is famous for, specially requested by Lucille. We thought we could hop on a ferry if we went a bit south. It turned out our map lied to us and the ferry had been shut down a few years back.

Old Ferry Launch

However, we did get to see a nature park with horses and beautiful flowers. One of the horses trotted over to say hello to Pearce and Hendryx which Hendryx thought was great! We headed back up north along our river path to the St. Servatius Bridge and crossed over to grab a boat to take us down the river.

Just some horses

We read later not too get this close- whoops!

The girls

One of the swans in the area

We had about an hour, so I grabbed us some toasties (Dutch grilled sandwiches) to eat while we were waiting. I also popped in a darling children's book store that was next door to the restaurant. I was quite happy to find a book I had been looking for before we came and was quite fond of from my childhood. On Amazon it was $40.00. I got it for a steal here. I love that the cow is called Hendrika.

So happy to have a copy for my kids!

The boat tour was lovely and I think it's fair to say everyone enjoyed it more than the one in Amsterdam. At least we were all awake this time around. The boat cruises along parts of the old city fortifications and charming old houses. It was a quick 20 minutes down to the caves and then you trek up the side of the "mountain" to meet the guide. He lead the group back through some lush green pastures to the entrance to the St. Pietersburg caves.

Lucille enjoying the cruise

Going under the pedestrian bridge

The "caves" are actually a series of tunnels quarried by the people of Maastricht. Using handheld saws, it took them 700 years to carve out over 20,000 tunnels. Only 8,000 are still intact. While the original intent of the caves was to to quarry limestone for building, the 18th century residents would also use the tunnels to spy in and ambush invaders. During WWII they were also used as a safe hiding spot during World War II. The residents built a well, a bathhouse, and even a bakery. They even hid important paintings and relics here to keep them from harm.






The guide unlocked the gate entrance and lead us inside the tunnels. It was actually quite cold compared to the outside temperature. It was also so humid that for a period of time the tunnels were used by mushroom farmers. At one point the guide asked if there were any questions and Lucille raised her little hand and asked why there was art on the walls. The guide was thrilled and shared that in the early 1900's art was added to draw tourists in. Lucille's favorite was a giant dragon taking up a whole wall.














The kids did good over the hour of the tour. Lucille was picked to be the front lantern holder, a job she took quite seriously. Hendryx was content strapped to the front of me as we made our way around the dark tunnels.  After the tour there we took the boat back and were vindicated when a nice woman complimented how well behaved our children were.  She couldn't believe how well they had done in the caves in the boat. It was nice to have the compliment to make up for the rude American we ran into in Amsterdam.

An underground charcoal map depicting only some of the 100's of miles of tunnels

After the boat tour we walked towards the city center and ran into the end of the Saturday market. I was able to buy some fresh produce, dried fruits and a few chocolates. I chatted up a seller who mentioned that the Wednesday and Friday markets were even bigger with stalls spilling out into the streets surrounding the Square. That evening we went back to "Our Lady" Square  and sampled some more local cuisine.

Market time