The highest area in the Low Country - Maastricht

09 - 14 July

I took an early train out of Bruxelles to Belgium's east, and then again across the border into the Dutch south and the city of Maastricht. Situated in a little piece of land between Belgium and Germany, the city is quite popular with students and is in the highest part of the Netherlands - the city is at a whopping 60 m above sea level!

About the only border sign I saw was this on the side of the road indicating that speed limits are different in The Netherlands...

Maastricht is known for being a very beautiful town, and as I walked from the train station to my hostel I could see why - in the sun the town centre, spread out on either side of the Maas River, looked very idyllic. I think I could definitely imagine myself living there in retirement... One day!

Trainspotter's note: The Maas River (or Meuse River) used to drain through Rotterdam's port Maasvlakte (I was there several weeks earlier), but now takes another course due to a combination of effects after flooding and also river engineering works. The river flowing through Maasvlakte is now the Nieuwe Maas and isn't hydraulically connected.

View of the Maas

Isn't that just idyllic?

I spent the afternoon just relaxing - I'd crammed quite a lot into several days in Bruxelles and it was nice just to lie down in the sun. I'd started a scrapbook of tickets, leaflets and other little things so I lay in the city park doing that for a while, along with many others (including lots of students) out enjoying the fine weather.

Maastricht is also known for two treaties. The first Maastricht Treaty was signed to determine the border between The Netherlands and Belgium when Belgium became a separate country in 1843. The second Maastricht Treaty was signed much more recently - it was what created the European Union in 1992 and was also the precursor for the Euro currency 10 years later.

I spent my first full day in the city exploring around on foot. I found some old battlements and also climbed up the hills behind the city, through the countryside a bit, where I discovered a cute countryside church.

Set & run photo-taking fail - when I slipped over - at Maastricht's old city fortifications

Gorgeous little countryside church

View back towards Maastricht township

The afternoon was spent planning the next part of my European soujourn - it was time to head east but I had very little planned from after I left The Netherlands. Once I had a train booked to Berlin, it was back out to the park to enjoy the sunshine and later a beer on the hostel's riverside balcony.

Not a bad spot for an evening beer really...

Dusk by the Maas River

The next day I had a mini day-trip planned down to the Drielandenpunt, which is the three-way border between The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. After a Skype call back home for Mum's birthday, I took a bus to Vaals and walked up the hill to the highest point in The Netherlands, at 327.5 m. The point is very close to the three-way border, marked by a few tourist shops and cafes and a small marker point.

The flags of (L-R) Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium near the 3-way border, photo taken in the Netherlands looking towards the German town of Aachen

The three lines are the borders... I may have a foot in Germany (right foot) and Belgium (left foot), but my head (& heart!) are in The Netherlands!

After that I went for a short walk down into Belgium, back up to the borders and then headed down on the German side towards the town of Aachen. Once again, just over an imaginary line, everything was in a different language - it's still a bit weird to comprehend really.

Once getting down to Aachen (or Aken in Dutch), it was a short walk back along the main road into Vaals and The Netherlands, and a bus back to Maastricht. When out for dinner that night I finally found the strange red church I'd seen from the distance the day before:

Sint Janskerk, apparently painted red by the Canons of St Servaas in the Middle Ages to indicate their ownership

The next day I packed everything up again and headed back to Made for two more nights with Oma, Opa & Tante Cock. It was a reasonably quiet couple of days, but also my last two days before heading east towards Germany and onto Central Europe, where I would be travelling by myself, in hostels most of the way. So I appreciated my last home-cooked meal for a while, in the sun on the balcony.

Dinner with Oma, Tante Cock and Opa on the balcony in Made

I also found out one of the friends I'd met in Cusco, Jantien, lived very nearby, in Etten-Leur, and had just recently got back from South America, so we took the opportunity to catch up for lunch and a beer. I hadn't actually been into Breda yet but the centre was bustling with people enjoying the Saturday afternoon sun.

And then, the next morning, it was back to the train station for the long ride to Berlin - time for a set of completely different experiences again...