Maastricht!! October 23, 2019

Greetings from Maastricht – one of my all-time favorite towns.

First, apologies for inserting the wrong date in yesterday’s post. It’s definitely October and not September – although I would definitely like to get an extra month inserted into my life.

We are still exploring some of the quirky aspects of Kruisherenhotel, and the juxtaposition of the 14^th century religious building with the boldness of the inset interiors and furniture. Needless to say, we are quite delighted with our choice. On prior visits to Maastricht, I stayed at the main square.

After breakfast we set out on a long walk that took us to the medieval city wall, wonderful lush green parks, the university, lively squares, narrow cobblestone streets, and many, many historic buildings. We are told that there are nearly 2,000 buildings that have heritage status – which is second only to Amsterdam. Beyond this, there are another 3,000 or more buildings listed on a local register.  We stopped briefly at the main basilica, then crossed the pedestrian bridge (again) and strolled to the train station and back to the hotel. Oh, we did have a nice light lunch somewhere along the way. Got back to the hotel to get a little work done and to relax before heading out to dinner.

We chose Bon  Vivant – a little French bistro just a few blocks from the hotel. Food was good; it was quiet and is situated in a cave-like setting in the “basement” of the building – complete with barrel vaulted brick. Like being in a tunnel. Then strolled back to hotel and here I am writing this short(!!) post at just about midnight.

I’m going to sign off to pack and respond to emails. Tomorrow we will drive across the border to a small town in Belgium to see a very particular bridge… then head back to Maastricht to return the rental car and hop on the train to Amsterdam. Should be interesting to make all the connections.

Best –

Fern