This past weekend, we made use of our car and took our first road trip to Maastricht, the capitol city of the Southernmost province in the Netherlands (Limburg). Grad school friend, Heather, studied abroad there back in the day and we were further lured by rumors of hills and vineyards in the surrounding area. Maastricht is a former Roman settlement sandwiched between Belgium and Germany. It is the birthplace of the EU and the Euro itself.
After a 2 turned 3 hour car ride Friday after Pete was off work, we arrived to our AirBnB apartment in trendy Wyck, across the river Maas from the center of town. We were all rewarded for the long drive by dinner at a pizzeria and gelato for dessert.
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| Let vacation weekend begin! |
We woke to a foggy Saturday morning. The river Maas was hardly visible as we crossed the high bridge into the center.
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| Charming Wyck |
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| Morning fog |
The center was really dead at 9:30 am so we enjoyed wandering the medieval streets without the crowds. We found some pastries, a balloon and sidewalk chalk and then we were ready to start the day!
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| My favorite Dutch glass windows |
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| Markt square with a taste of Europe festival taking place |
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| Church turned book store. |
Onto the Vrijthof square to take in the red church tower and art installation depicting a 3D key.
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| Pete got this shot from the top of the tower while I gave Jude lunch below. |
On our way back to the apartment for a rest, we wandered through this street. The curve, the charming buildings, the light shinning on the yellow leaves. Total perfection.
Hell's Gate (Helport) Tower. The oldest city gate in the country. Used originally to house prisoners. Constructed in 1229. Holy moly that is old!
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| Clear skies for our walk back. |
After a brief rest, we headed out of the city to see the surrounding area. First stop was Apostelhoeve, a vineyard built into an actual Dutch hill. Shocking, I know! They made some tasty white wines and had a resident dog that Jude tried to chase.
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| Apostelhoeve vineyard |
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| "Another vineyard mom and dad??" |
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| A Dutch hill! |
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| Inner courtyard of the winery |
Then we drove to Chateau Neercanne, the only terraced castle in the Netherlands. It was a beaut and all set up for a few private events. We felt totally out of place wandering the grounds, but no one kicked us out!
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| The little town in the background is in Belgium. |
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| "I can see Belgium from here, dad!" |
The area is also known for caves and tunnels built into the hills that have acted as defenses for lots of wars. Very surreal to see stone carvings from servicemen from WWII.
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| 1952 |
Final stop of the outing was to a playground along a small river in Belgium. Totally rowdy children, but a good find.
On Sunday, we explored the city some more in the morning before starting the trip back to Amsterdam. Gorgeous, sunny day.
We read that the thing to do in Maastricht is to sit in one of the squares and enjoy coffee with the local speciality, Vlaai, which turned out to just be pie. So we did just that, while Jude squirmed like mad.
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| Tot ziens, Maastricht! |
