Life: Idiotropic

Maastricht - a city that I love. "Take one" because I know I'll be back over and over again until they're sick of me.

On Friday, I took Tiara and Elise down to Maastricht for a little day trip to explore it. The city itself isn't well-known like Paris, or London, but it is beautiful and boasts along and eclectic history. The other great thing is that it's only 45 minutes from my house.

Part of the initial draw for me is the Meuse river which runs right through it, and to me, any place with a prominent water feature is automatically more stunning than any place without. Koln is more beautiful because of the Rhein. Amsterdam is amazing mostly because of it's maze of canals. I just like water and you can't miss this.

Driving into the city, if you want to see anything other then outskirts, you find yourself either on the edge or crossing over the blue river Meuse that divides Maastricht. There are several old bridges and a couple pedestrian only bridges as well that cross it, but is wide like the Columbia and very impressive.

We headed first for the Vrijthof where we were able to park in an underground parking garage and come out literally in the square itself through a tiny glass elevator. It wasn't very crowded at that time being still mid-morning, so the square seemed even more impressive in its expanse with two large churches on one side and the other flanked with cafes with sidewalk seating and patrons enjoying their morning coffee.

These two churches look rather imposing together. The one on the right is St. Servaasbasiliek whose crypt dates to 1000 A.D. with work continuing until 1475. The crypt (which I did not have time to see this trip) contains the tomb and remains of St. Servatius who was buried on 384 A.D. Supposedly, each year, thousands of pilgrims visit his grave where they eat a nice turkey dinner. No, not really... just a silly moment. You certainly get the gist. There are pilgims, but alas, no turkey. The ovens here wouldn't allow it. Too small. The church on the left is St. Janskerk, a 14th-15thC church origionally built as a baptistry for the former. It's claim to fame is the 230 foot red tower that stands out against the greyish hue of the rest of the church.
Tiara and I were starving, but wanted to get off the Vrijthof and see something else before we stopped. We wandered down a narrow street towards the Stokstraat Quarter passing a few tempting restaurants and intriguing shops along the way. Tiara really wanted to go into a hat shop with a beautiful window display of hats in all colors and styles, but they were closed. We did duck into a very quaint antique shop and looked around. They had antiques of all kinds, some priced well, and others seemed high. They had a large basement filled with "treasures," many of which were catholic in nature - old crosses, crucifixes, statues of saints, etc... The really pretty part of the shop was the garden in the back. They had furniture, tables, and cushions all displayed in the rear garden as if it was someone's garden living room. Elegant and whimsical. I heard a man who worked there say that he didn't speak Dutch. Maastricht is in the Netherlands. I turned to him and said that he surely is in the wrong country. He said that he is from Argentina and came to the Netherlands for "amor." That is the way in the Netherlands. It is a very multicultural place and he is not the first who's come here for love. A very common, but sweet story.
We eventually wound our way to the Stokstraat Quarter, a nice area with restaurants and great shopping. Our stomachs demanded that we eat before anything else, so we found a table in the square outside and sat down. Two cappuccinos. Ahhh... that is breakfast.

The church on the corner by where we sat is the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek, parts dating from 900 until the early 12thC. At this point, I'd only seen the imposing front and had no idea how big it was. Tiara was hungry, so touring a church at that point was out of the question. I did go inside the smaller part on the left. It is the entrance, but looks very different from the rest. From outside you can see an ornate carving of Mary lit dimly in the background with candles all around in the foreground with people lighting them and praying. A very peaceful setting.
Poor Tiara is so patient with my photo taking. We did order. She ordered the pasta carbonara and I ordered the Mestreechs Zuurulees (Maastricht beef stew). Elise had kipnuggets (chicken nuggets). I was restless while we waited for our food... may be because people watching was so fun, may be because our chairs were very sticky. I wanted to sit, talk, relax, and absorb the atmosphere, but it was very hard to overcome the aversion of a sticky chair and the overwhelming question popping into my head, "I wonder how often they clean these?" The pidgeons flew in and out around tables without trepidation of any kind as if they were well-paid members of a Broadway cast just doing their part. Someone should train them to clean tables and sticky chairs.
Tiara pointed to a bicycle coming from behind me and I turned to see a sea blue bicycle pedalled by a well dressed man. Attatched to the bicycle, in front, was a wicker style bench with a back and sides. It looked like a piece of wicker furniture from Pier One Imports, but it was decorated with red paper balls. Sitting in it was a mother and daughter. The mother wore a blue formal gown - simple, but elegant. She held a large bouquet of white flowers. The girl, who looked about 9, was wearing all white and had a white flower crown in her hair. She looked very nervous. The bike stopped in front of the church, the church bells began chiming, and a crowd slowly gathered around taking pictures of the girl on her big day - first communion. This region of the Netherlands is very staunchly Catholic, so events like this are a true celebration. I like that here - that even among the oldest buildings, life goes on and this girl is having this special life event in such an old and beautiful place. That gives life to all these cold stone buildings and makes them even more beautiful. Everyone sitting at the tables around us watched. Some even stood up to see the young girl nervously pacing with her little basket of rose petals. I got up with my camera and took a couple of photos before my card was full and our food came. Tiara was embarrassed. "Oh, mom!"
Tiara's Pasta Carbonara was the best she or I have ever had. It was delicious with a really interesting sauce and big chunks of bacon. The portion was huge. We could have fed 4 people with that, so it was sad that we had to waste so much. Doggie bags are just not done here. I had the soup which is a Maastricht-only thing. Our waitress was from Amsterdam and had never tried it before. It was very good... just beef and onions in a dark vinegary broth. It tasted like a Sauerbraten soup almost... a bit tart, but very good.

After lunch we continued to wander through the city ultimately headed towards the Helpoort and the Meuse, but we didn't take the direct way at all. I saw a piece of wall art from the distance that I wanted a photo of and then we'd turn and go down any street that looked interesting. Unknown to us, we were only 4 blocks from the Helpoort, but we walked for at least an hour before we got there. Not far from where we ate was a wonderful old building that housed a mill and a bakery that made beautiful Vlaai (Dutch pie). We were to full to try it then, but we'll go back there again. It all looked delicious. The streets were very clean and the buildings all quaint. In both Germany and the Netherlands, the window boxes are overflowing with flowers. It is so beautiful. These flowers and windows were just one level above a drug store.
Wandering still, we came upon another street flanked by churches. One was the Eerste Minderbroederskerk, yet another old Maastricht church. Across the street was another. Both pretty to walk by. Just past the churches was a quaint little cafe with grape vines growing all over the front of it dangling clusters of bright green grapes above the doorway and above the outdoor tables where people sat with their coffee and snacks.

A little pedestrian street turned in there and just opposite was part of the old city wall complete with "windows." It was such a perfect setting with the quaint vine covered cafe and houses lining one side of the passage, and the old wall on the other with little openings in the stone where you could peep in and see ornate gardens hiding behind it. There were steep, narrow stone stairs in one section, but they were blocked off with iron bars.

We were on the Lang Grachtje, a small street known for it's beauty and where one of the more interesting parts of the wall (year 1229) resides. That wall is built in two layers with a total width of 8 feet and it was topped with a battlement. So those "windows" were actually loopholes below the wall arches. It was there that we entered the Jeker Quarter, another part of town known for it's artsy feel. We wandered towards the park. These towns were not built on grids, so there are times when we almost felt trapped, but then a tiny little passage would appear. In one place, a narrow stone stairway went up between two old houses. It had an arch overgrown with flowering vines, so we went up those stairs looking for the park where the Helport was. We ended up walking towards the Helpoort on top of another long section of the old city wall.

Maastricht is the oldest city in the Netherlands. The region was primarily farmland as early as 5300 BC, but as early as the 1st century BC, the Romans had come to Maastricht which was founded sometime before AD 250. The land itself has been under many rules and has a diverse history, but the Roman past is something that they are proud of, I think. There is a large museum dedicated to that history with many artifacts from that period.

The city wall is from the Middle Ages and is largely intact and very expansive. We walked on top of it for quite a while before we found a place to get down. Every little while there would be an old turret. Down below on the Meuse side of the wall is a small canal and a nice green park full of thickly trunked trees and a lot of shade. In one area there is a Deirenpark or small zoo along the canals. Paths go right through it and along the sides are small fenced off areas filled with deer and wild birds.
We found another steep stairwell to go down (may be that's why mortality rates were so high back then!) where we walked along a stretch of wall that was orininally arched and then later filled in. Tiara played in one broken piece noting how soft it was. The blocks that they used to fill in the arches are made of Marlstone, a sedimentary rock, and while thay last a long time, they are also very sandy and easy to carve. Many people had carved there initials into it and other random messages.
Walking through the garden area was nice. There is no end to the amount of shade making it a very welcome sight after a long walk on a hot day. People were walking, biking, and rollar blading through the park, walking dogs, pushing strollers, and laying in the grass reading books. Every little bridge over the canal had one or two people on it standing, leaning over the railing, and watching the ducks below. An old man fed the ducks on one bridge, so with a little bread Tiara had saved from lunch, she and Elise fed the ducks on the other side of that little bridge. That is when my camera battery died and I had the horrible realization that the replacement had never been recharged. Another good reason to go back.
That is also when I saw a sign pointing the way to the Helpoort, so we climbed a steep incline putting us back on top of the wall and we walked a little while longer, past some beautiful houses on our left and a large fountain in the gardens on our right. Eventually that portion of wall ended and we stood looking across a large grassy oblong along another long section of wall with 5 evenly spaced canons sitting in front of it. Then, to our left was the Helpoort, the old city gate. It led to a narrow passageway of shops and restaurants, that put us behind that beautiful church in the Stokstraat where we'd eated lunch.

From there we walked just a little ways to the river that the girls had wanted to see so much. What was really nice is that there is this beautiful pedestrian walkway right there. Elise enjoyed walking up those stairs, and down again. On either side of the wide stairway are deep grooves just the width of a bicycle tire. And, sure enough, moments after I'd wondered what they were for, a man ran up the stairs pulling his bicycle, tires in the grooves, up the ramp with ease. We didn't have enough time to cross the bridge into the Ceramic and Wick Quarters... those will be another day, but the bridge itself is quite beautiful and very well used. It just felt great to be there looking out over the river and walkers and bikers rode/walked by.

Time insisted that we head back since Arianna and Luci would need to be picked up. So, we headed back by the wall, near the Helpoort, through the square in the Stokstraat, and through a nice shopping area. A mother with her 11-year old daughter would be remiss in not stopping in a shop or two, so we did stop, not to offend the spirit of shopping. Tiara was drawn to the shoes... I loved them too, but 150Euro is not even tempting, so we didn't stay long. Mexx drew me in - my favorite brand here and they are having their big July sale, so I just HAD to go... and am glad I did. There was a very cute jacket there 50% off that is quite at home in my closet. Esprit had a sale too, so Tiara was able to get a few things for school and we both felt very good about our "good deals."

Speed walking through the thickening crowds was not easy and it started to rain as well. We hurried a different way back, this time. Ended up at the Markt which isn't far from the Vrijthof, but isn't where we parked either. A kind man gave us directions back to the Vrijthof and we were on our way home minutes later. The day was great. Tiara's only regret was that she didn't have her new camera yet. Taking photos is much more fun than watching someone else take photos. And, I will be more prepared next time with an empty card and two good batteries. There is so much to see there.