Experiencing Maastricht

My first months in the Netherlands were chaotic. As a master student I had lectures not only with other master student, but PhD students, Postdocs and during summer school experienced employees that were taking some courses just to expand their knowledge. You can imagine that as an inexperienced student and one of the youngest people there, I felt very lost and dumb comparing myself to others. Being among the top in my classes always before, this was a bit of a shock. I was lacking a lot of ground knowledge just to get to the level where others are, and then trying to keep up as we go forth. For example, biostatistics was a big part of my study program, and I had absolutely no statistical knowledge – zero, squat, zilch, nada. Therefore, I did a lot of studying in the first months, with my only trip being to Amsterdam! Even that was because my cousin from Italy came to visit, otherwise Amsterdam might have waited as well.

After surviving the summer school, biostatistics and some more, Maastricht was a good reward. It was one of my first daytrips. I went there with three friends from the University using one of the NS special daytrip offers, because the normal ticket Rotterdam – Maastricht is not goedkoop (cheap).

Maastricht is located in the south of the Netherlands, very close to the point where Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands meet. It’s different from the other Dutch cities. The biggest cause of that difference is: it’s not totally flat. There is a hill in these low lands, and it’s called Sint Pietersberg. It seems that the Dutch call it a mountain, but what I have seen and climbed in Maastricht is just a hill and not a mountain. Since I mentioned climbing on Sint Pietersberg, I might as well start there. It was the most interesting part of Maastricht. On the hill is a fortress and caves which are actually tunnels.

We arrived there in the afternoon, both the tunnels at the fortress can only be seen with a tour guide. There are tours in English and Dutch. Apparently we arrived too late, since there was only one tour left in English and it was only for the caves. There was one more Dutch tour of the fortress and the tunnels left, which included both the fortress and the caves. We decided to take the Dutch tour so we can see both, even though we wouldn’t be able to understand anything. Somehow, there was a mix up (probably our mistake) and we ended up taking the English cave tour. Looking back it was probably for the better, since there was a moment when it was extremely important to understand what’s going on. Let’s jump to that moment.

The tunnels are not completely explored and mapped so it’s very important to go with a guide. There we several occasions where people got lost and died in the caves, because besides being very cold, it is also very humid. So the clothes, hair and skin become wet with the constant exposure to low temperatures. Don’t get discouraged, I just wanted to highlight how important it is to have a tour guide. We had an excellent one.

Photo: The not totally correct drawing of the tunnel on the tunnel walls inside the tunnel.

Beforehand I mentioned a specific moment when it was important to understand Dutch, and hence what’s going on. In the middle of the tour, the tour guide says there are 20m of no passages on the left side. So the ones who want to can place their hand on the wall and walk 20m forward in absolute darkness. He will turn off his lamp, so there will literally be zero lux inside. It was a strange sensation to do so. There was a couple with a dog there, as soon as the lamp of off the dog froze, so they had to carry him in their arms. That darkness walk was the most memorable event of the day.

Photo: Inside the tunnels.

After the cave tour was done, we wanted to see the fortress, but because of our mix up we weren’t able to. The last fortress tour, in Dutch and English, were both over. The staff was kind enough to refund us.

Photo: Fortress from the outside.

Afterwards, we started wandering off in the city center direction. On the way there, we stumbled onto the old city walls (I love those! ), beautiful bridges and some sort of an open zoo.

Photo: Old city gate.

Photo: Old city walls.

Photo: Nice bridge.

There is a huge square in the city center with wonderful churches and quirky statues. I know that in most of Europe everybody is used to, and probably bored with, old churches. Gothic and Romanesque churches are indeed beautiful, but some people get bored if that all the attraction there is. With that in mind, one Maastricht church Sint-Janskerk was peculiar. Namely, it was red. The church tower was painted red. It stood out even behind the quirky statue figurines.

Photo: In the main square.

Photo: Red tower in the background.

Our trip ended with a nice coffee and Turkish food in one of the places in that square. You might be wondering why Turkish food, is there a wonderful Turkish restaurant there? Well, I am slightly difficult with food, I am also cheap (fit right in with the Dutch there) and a student. Therefore, when I travel, I mostly eat Turkish fast food. It is cheap and the chances are big that I will like it. Not only is Turkish cuisine good in general, but it’s also similar to Bosnian. Actually a more correct way to phrase it is that Bosnian cuisine is similar to Turkish, because of the Ottoman occupation and influence on Bosnia. I think that’s why most people expect doner kebab places here, but there aren’t really any. Those that exist are fairly new. Kebab came to being long after the Ottomans, and many say it was invented by the Turks in Germany. To be honest, I don’t even like it, but lamacun (Turkish pizza), I love that and that’s my usual order in Turkish fast foods.

That would conclude my only visit to Maastricht.

Photo gallery