The G10 Procedure

This week I was again travelling for work, and again it was to a country that is fairly paranoid about safety and security. In hindsight it is easy to laugh about, but as usual, only in hindsight. I call it the G10 procedure, and it went something like this:

For most International flights you can get away with booking in an hour and a half (or maybe even an hour) before the flight, but for this particular country, and especially this particular airline, you need to use every minute of the three hours that they allow for. The process starts with you, the passenger, arriving at the airlines’ specially demarcated check-in area. The check –in area is surrounded with bullet proof glass and there are a number of guards all carrying semi-automatic rifles. Having arrived at the check-in area you are then approached by, what can only be termed, a Profiler. The Profiler’s job is to scrutinize your passport and look for anything that might be considered suspicious. This may be the fact that you are a resident of a country other than the two you are flying between. It could be the brightly coloured stamps of a country that you visited in the past that is not on talking terms with the country you are hoping to visit now. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that you were born in Polokwane, or worse yet, you have more facial hair than what your passport photo shows. In my case there were multiple reasons for the ‘Profiler’ to get excited. This then results in even more bizarre questions being asked, like “Why did you decide to fly today?” and “Do you have to go on this trip?”. What is the correct answer??

Having decided that I qualified as suspicious, and having had this confirmed by the head Profiler, I was then informed that I would have to proceed to Gate G10, and that I would have to be there one and a half hours before scheduled take-off.

Gate G10. She made it sound so simple. Surely it is the gate after gate G9? No. You see gate G10 is not a real gate. It is a room located below all the other gates and it is not sign posted as “This way to G10”. It is only by asking the heavily armed security guards for directions that you will ever find gate G10. Once you are in G10 the G10 procedure starts. It starts with a Department of Home Affairs type of wait. Take a seat and wait for your number to be called. I was number three in the queue. Once your number is called the process starts all over again. The passport is scrutinized, your hand luggage (and checked in luggage if you are unlucky) is turned inside out and the barrage of questions starts all over again. Having finally decided that I could proceed to the next ‘stage’, I was given a personal escort to the security check. At the security check I was taken straight to the front of the queue where the lady operating the x-ray machine was informed that I was “one of the people from G10”. This got the lady and her colleagues all very excited. They spent the next few minutes double checking that the x-ray machine was working properly (what were they using it for up until now?) and that any other machine that was supposed to make a noise and flash with red lights did as it was supposed to. Great fun, as long as you are not the guy at the front of the queue that has caused all this fuss to be made.

Eventually, after having had my bag scanned, and having done the standard belt and shoe strip, and having gone through the metal detector, and having had the obligatory security pat down (even though the metal detector never actually went off), I was clear to go. Now I could proceed with my trip looking forward to the return trip…

Having spent all this time in the airport, I managed to encounter a few other funny moments:

1)    Whilst standing in the check-in queue (the one where you are given your boarding pass in exchange for handing over your suitcase), two girls in front of me decided to unpack their suitcase on to the scale at the check-in desk. Apparently they were 14 pounds over weight and had to “make a plan”. This was all working out fine for them for the first five or so minutes until the check-in clerk realized that her check-in desk was starting to look like a flea market. Needless to say the girls were asked to take their stuff and weigh it somewhere else.

2)    On the way back I had bought some small presents for Bron. I had originally intended to send the presents with my checked in baggage. This plan was foiled. The security check (yip, bag gets x-rayed before you even check-in) decided that these presents need to be packaged separately. So these two little gifts, each the size of a fist, would need to be boxed separately. The box that was eventually brought for these two little packages looked like it could be used to ship two pairs of shoes, a drum, half a cow and still have some space left over. And then I am supposed to take the airline seriously when they measure the size of my baggage.

Anyway, tomorrow we are off to the south of Spain for our end of year break. Here’s hoping we don’t encounter another G10 procedure.

Merry Christmas all and we will be back and blogging in January. 

Some end of year photos

Celebrating Sinterklaas with some friends (the meal is Stamppot and sausages - a traditional Dutch meal)

Playing a gift swap game at Sinterklaas

The Oliebollen (think sweet vetkoek) seller

A hot oliebollen sprinkled with sugar

Our christmas tree

Some of the festive lights in Rotterdam

The National Architecture Institute (Rotterdam)

Sunset in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv coastline

Coastal engineering in action: an offshore breakwater and the resulting salient

Ice-skating with Bron's department

Note from the editor: 

Despite best intentions I have as yet not put together another blog on life in Rotterdam which I am quite bleak about. As you can see from the above photo's we have been pretty busy these last few weeks with some social activities but also trying to get things finished at work before we go on leave. But watch this space!! There will be more blogging next year and there will definitely be more posts on living in Europe. As Justin said we are off to Spain tomorrow, yay! Looking forward very muchly. Things will probably be quiet on the blog front while we are away but watch out for Marph and stoires from Spain in January =)

Wishing you all a Blessed Christmas and a very Happy New Year! 

x

Hint van de Sint

Hoor de windt waait door de bomen!

Hier in huis zelfs waait de wind!

Zou de goede Sint wel komen als hij’t weer zo lelijk vind?

Als hij’t weer zo lelijk vindt.

Ja hij komt in donk’re naachten,

Op zijn paardje oh zo snel.

Als hij wijst hoe wij verwachten oh dan kwam hij zeker wel,

Oh dan kwam hij zeker wel.

Tomorrow is Sinterklaas in the Netherlands! This is one of the traditional Sinterklaas songs and it is spot on with the wind, it has been howling all week!

So, what is Sinterklaas? Sinterklaas is based on Saint Nicholas, the patron Saint of children, sailors and the city of Amsterdam. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving and leaving coins in shoes left out for him. Father Christmas or Santa Claus is also based on Saint Nicholas but Sinterklaas is not at all linked to religion here which is really nice. Other names for Sinterklaas include de Goedheiligman or just de Sint.

Sinterklaas is celebrated on the 5^th of December, on the eve of the birth of Saint Nicholas. Legend has it that the Sint arrives by steam boat from Spain three weeks earlier. Each year he arrives in a different city in the Netherlands, the only criteria being there must be a harbor. This year he arrived in Dordrecht. During the three weeks he visits children in many different cities in the Netherlands and also has ‘help’ Sints as one person can’t be everywhere at the same time, even if he is a Saint.

Sinterklaas ends on 5 December with children receiving gifts from the Sint. Traditional gifts include something hand-made, a well thought out poem about the person and a chocolate alphabet letter. But these days marketing has taken over and toys are also popular gifts. One of the stores motto at the moment is ‘Hint can de Sint’ as ideas for what to buy. Also traditional is leaving your shoe by the fireplace, or more creatively by the extractor fan in the kitchen if you don’t have a fireplace, for the Sint to come down the chimney and leave sweets in it.

In our experience most people celebrate Sinterklaas in some form but it is most popular with families with small children. We really like the fact that Sinterklaas and Christmas are kept very separate; it is a big no-no to confuse Sinterklaas with de Kerstman and even to put up a tree before Sinterklaas is over. It is also nice not to be all Christmased out by cheesy carols in the shops etc. before the beginning of December! But we have been warned that the day after Sinterklaas Christmas hits the shops big time. But I think Christmas is less commercial here than in SA since people mostly do gift giving at Sinterklaas and Christmas time is more for spending time with family.

Traditional treats for Sinterklaas include chocolate alphabet letters, spekulaas biscuits, gevulde spekulaas (a thick layer of amandelspijs, a type of marzipan, sandwiched between two spekulaas biscuits), kruidnoten (think mini ginger biscuits, too more-ish) and truffle kruidnoten (kruidnoten covered in chocolate and dusted in cocoa). Kruidnoten and truffle kruidnoten are definitely our favourites!

We had a lovely dinner and gift swop game last week Sunday with some friends from Justin’s work. We all brought a nice gift and a kitsch gift and swopped them around with a dice with rules for what to do for each number (1 = swop left, 2 = unwrap, 3 = swop right etc). It was really fun and we highly recommend it as an alternate to the ‘yankee swop’game.

Today we had some friends over and enjoyed some snacks and good wine whilst playing board games. It was really fun. It is really nice that we finally know some people over here that we can call friends and do fun stuff with.

Tomorrow, Sinterklaas, both our companies close at 3pm so people can have more time with their families. We are looking forward to an earlier day and a nice quiet dinner together =)

In other news it is two weeks until we leave for Spain! Woohoo!! So much of excited. Next weekend we have booked to go to the Batman Live show which we expect to be mostly acrobatics similar to Cirque du Soleil. And Justin flies to Israel again next Sunday for three nights. We are hoping his new beard gets him through airport security easier this time ‘~)

Finally, yay to Shell & Graham spending some time with our good friends Joan & Mayira in Santiago, Chile this weekend! Hope you guys had a great time together! Wish we could have been there too! Next time =)

Have a good week!!

x

Rotterdam: City of Water

It is 11 months today since we left SA on a beautiful hot sunny day last December. How this year has flown! Although we haven’t been in the Netherlands for a full year quite, it is a good time to share some of our experiences of living in a European country. This will be the first in a series of blogs on life in the Netherlands!

As the title may suggest, today we will be talking about water. Rotterdam is the largest and busiest port in Europe and the fourth busiest in the world. But that is not the water I want to discuss. Today we will broach the subject of the very average Northern Hemisphere weather we are now subjected to and then never talk about it again!

So we arrived in the UK at the beginning of January and in the middle of winter. I remember thinking that it is absolutely freezing but then we discovered what freezing was when we went to Berlin and Prague! But we managed in the cold and still did a lot of exploring & had a great time. By the time we got to Spain and Portugal it was warming up nicely and there was promise of a good Summer on the way. We even had an amazing sunny mildly warm week in Paris, it was amazing for early Spring! But when we arrived in Rotterdam at the end of March it was like being back in Italy! Paris, only 500 km away, was a pleasant 20ºC but the Netherlands was still only about 12ºC. We were disappointed but still full of hope for a good Summer.

Time went on and still the weather didn’t really improve; lots of cloud, rain and wind. Typical Cape Town Winter stuff. It was mid-June when someone told us to hang in there, June is often iffy but wait for July and August. But July and August came and went and still there was no real Summer weather. It did warm up a little bit, it was probably about 18-20ºC each day but not really warmer than that. We really missed the hot guaranteed sunshine days!

The one nice thing though is the long days. In the middle of ‘Summer’ it was still light at 10:45 pm! It slowly starts getting darker earlier until the end of October when it is light until about 6pm. Then daylight savings time end and it is suddenly dark at 5pm, too awful!

So we didn’t have a great Summer. It was very wet, cloudy almost all the time and often very windy. It is a good thing we had 10 years of practice in Cape Town! Just before it started getting cold we had an amazing 10 days of sunshine at the end of September. So that made it two full weeks of sunshine in the whole year! One week over Easter and 10 days in September. Too sad. When we viewed our apartment in February our landlord was very proud to show us the air conditioning unit in the bedroom. I remember thinking that we probably won’t need to use it and turns out I was right ‘~) However, the locals here agree that it was a very average Summer so that is at least encouraging and that it is not always like this! Here’s to hoping for a better one next time!

 And then before you know it, it is getting cold again. At the moment the max daytime temperatures are between 8 and 13ºC which is not too bad. But we have had some 5ºC days. Those are the days when it freezes at night and my bicycle is covered in ice in the morning. Generally it is ok and we are handling at the moment. The last two winters have been early and particularly cold. No one really knows what to expect this year. There have been predictions for another cold one with lots of snow but so far this hasn’t happened. Everyone keeps saying how unusually warm it is for this time of year and when is the cold weather coming? The ski resorts (no not in the Netherlands, way too flat here!) were due to open this weekend but I’m not sure what snow they will be skiing on. so we will have to wait and see what the weather does this winter. Wish us luck!

Weather records this year:

-          Most recorded sunshine hours this Spring, ever

-          Hottest Easter since 1930 something

-          Coldest June or July, can’t remember… it is best to forget these things! But there was no day above 25ºC which is the threshold for being considered Summer.

-          Wettest Summer since 1960 something. Our neighbours asked us to water their garden while they were away over July/August. We didn’t have to even check on the garden never mind water it there was so much rain that month.

-          Coldest Summer day since whenever. People at work were complaining that they had to put their heating on in the middle of ‘Summer’.

So this blog may sound like we complain about the weather a lot and never do anything because it is bleak outside but this is actually not the case. In the beginning we were pretty bleak about the weather but I think we have mostly gotten over it now. Capetonians have a great habit of becoming hermits in the winter time but Shell and Graham and Deirdre and Allen did a great job of getting us out of that habit in the UK and Ireland, respectively. We are trying hard to follow their example this Winter! But even over the wet Summer we still got out and did stuff and went exploring as the blog posts through this year show. We have decided to be over the weather since there is nothing you can do about it and just carry on as normal.

Having said that though it is hard not to miss the sun. We really do miss the sunny days in SA. Since moving over here we have really had to adjust what we consider to be a beautiful day. During the Spring and very average Summer we were still pretty fussy but now if the sun makes an appearance it is almost enough to qualify! But like I said, we try not to fixate on the weather and just get on with it.

So, now that we have discussed the weather we don’t have to go there again! Please be nice and not mention the lovely weather you are having during the wonderful SA Summer! Thanks ‘~) Future topics for Life in The Netherlands blogs will include food, life in Rotterdam and things we do/don’t like about living here. Suggestions and questions welcome!

Right now we are off to a Sinterklaas dinner and gift swop party! More about that next time.

Have a good week!

x

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

I just couldn't wait any longer! Had to have one now!! =)

On the weekend we bought a little Christmas tree and set it up. It makes everything so much more cheery! Especially when it is grey and misty outside...  We really wanted a real one this year but they are not available yet and since we will be away over Christmas it may not be worth getting one this year, bleakness. So we decided to get an artificial one instead. Justin wanted to get the massive very life-like looking one for 150 euro but I said no! What a grump hey. Maybe when the sales are on... But this little one is cute and does the job. If we are here for Christmas next year we can get a real tree. Apparently Christmas and Sinterklaas don't get on and putting up a Christmas tree during Sinterklaas is a big no no, lol. 

We had some other social activities on the weekend too. On Friday night one of Bron's work colleagues had a birthday party which we went to. Was nice to hang out socially and for Justin to meet some of Bron's work people. Justin also got to meet Gus!, the awesome labradoodle who sometimes comes to work with his parents. Too much of cuteness! He is my answer to my need for a constant supply of dog loves

Our neighbours (our landlord's brother Ferdinand & his wife Femke) have their own business making and selling cards and other home-made goodies. On Saturday afternoon we joined them for a 'kaartenparty'; think Tupperware Party but with cards. Was nice to hang out with them and chat a bit. Unfortunately we learned that Ferdinand has cancer in his leg and is waiting for further tests etc. Very sad. 

Justin was approached by his cricket club to coach the under 16 side. This past Sunday he had his first coaching session. I think it went well. The boys are enthusiastic but Justin is going to have a hard time teaching them not to try hit every ball for a six and to bowl, not throw the ball! This coming Sunday Justin has another coaching session and then probably some more in January. 

This coming weekend we have been invited to a Sinterklaas party! Sounds like we are going to play a yankee-swop type game.  And with the merry season soon upon us we have some other social activities lined up =)

So, saw on News24 about Black Tuesday in SA. What is up with this secrecy bill? Seriously. I love the Nando's ad's though, they are always so sharp. 

Thanks Shell & Graham for the awesome epic update of the Inka Trail & the climb up Machu Pichu! Sounds epic!! Sorry to hear you are stuck in Bolivia =/ Hope it sorts out soon! Thinking of you! Keep the pics and updates coming! 

Have a good week! 

x 

Dreaming of an African Christmas...

Our little tree! Complete with gifts =)

Love Packs!

We have been really blessed with so many parcels and goodies from family and friends at home this year and we just want to say thank you! We love getting parcels from home and it has helped to get us through our first year away from home =)

Some of the goodies we have received this year include:

- Milo, rusks, an awesome woollen coat, much missed bodywash and sunlight washing powder from Bron's Mom

- Lots of photo's of Bron's niece and other family  in the post from Bron's Dad

- Our feather duvet, Tresemme shampoo, quite a few pairs of Clarks shoes and a decent supply of Sudafed to get us through the winter from Bron's sister Michelle in the UK. But you guys forgot the biltong! Epic fail. 

- Germolene and sweet basil from Kirsty

- A copy of my phd thesis from Rob & Sue (via Kirsty)

- Milo, germolene and gifts from Justin's brother Brenainn and his wife Kirsten (via Laura)

- Gifts from Justin's parents (via Laura)

Thank you so much to everyone who has brought stuff over for us! It has been great to get so many love packs from home and we really appreciate it! Clearly the 'we are missing' list on the blog has had an impact! I must update it '~)

On Sunday evening we went through to Amsterdam to meet our friend Laura Peinke who was here on business. It was so nice to see you Lau and thanks for bringing gifts from the family for us! We had a really nice time catching up with Laura over traditional Dutch pancakes! Too yummy. 

We have been good and not opened the pressies yet! We are guessing that they are for Christmas but since we won't be here for Christmas we might open them on Sinterklaas. We saw Christmas trees in the shops already and are so going to get one this weekend and set it up already! lol. Thanks Mum and Dad & Bren and Kirst for the gifts! Feeling spoilt and loved =)

In other news Sinterklaas arrived in the Netherlands this past Saturday. Sinterklaas is on the 5th of December but he arrives 3 weeks before and goes around the Netherlands visiting different towns. He arrives by boat in a different town each year, this year it was Dordrecht's turn. We are really enjoying the different Sinterklaas treats such as kruidnoten, pepernoten, and gevulde spekulaas. Think mini-ginger biscuits, mini-aniseed biscuits and a thick layer of marzipan sandwiched between two spekulaas biscuits. Mc Donald's has brought out a kruidnoten McFlurry, need to try one! But more about Sinterklaas on 5 December! 

It has suddenly cooled down here and this morning was the first day of frost on the ground. It is usually very misty in the morning which makes it seriously cold! My bicycle that lives at Delft Station was frozen over this morning; there was ice on the seat, handlebars and tyres. My bum was not pleased! And I'm sure there will be more of that to come. Oh yay. 

Anywho. Have a good week and catch you on the weekend! 

x 

Pancakes in Amsterdam with Laura!

Bron had hawain, Laura had apples & nuts with whipped cream and Justin had cherries & liqueur with whipped cream. Too decadent! 

Autumn Colours

So Autumn has arrived and we decided that we had better make the most of it while we can (we get the feeling that if you blink you might just miss it). The weather this weekend has been great - which in the Netherlands means no rain, no wind and temperatures in the mid teens. 

We decided to head out to Kralingse Bos. The options for getting there from our place include catching a tram, catching a bus, or cycling. We decided to cycle! Kralingse Bos is the largest park in Rotterdam and there are loads of ways to spend time there. You can take your boat out on the dam, walk in the forest, picnic  in a meadow, drink beer under a windmill, eat pancakes at the waters edge, visit a deer sanctuary or enjoy the various cycle paths. 

So, with a title like "Autumn Colours", there really isn't much point in writing too much. Besides, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Kralingse Bos

And signs of Autumn

Bron getting quite good at this bike thing

Some of the local residents of Kralingse Bos

One of the canals on the way home

Mathenesserlaan and our local neighbourhood

And returning at the end of the day to my (Justin's) favourite colour this Autumn!

Today (Sunday) we had Nicola (Justin's cousin), Mike and their son Aidan come to visit. It was great seeing you guys and we hope you enjoy the rest of your time in the Netherlands and Belgium. 

It is Officially...

... Winter Time 

Daylight savings time ended today so we are officially in winter time =( This means Europe is now one hour behind SA and the UK is now two hours behind SA but still one hour behind Europe. It felt very weird turning all our clocks back by one hour this morning! But it was quite nice waking up, looking at the time and thinking that we had one extra hour to spare today. A period of adjustment is definitely needed though. We were hungry much earlier than dinner time and because it is dark so early we feel like going to bed at 8:30 because it has been dark for so long already! Hoping we adjust soon!

To celebrate the start of winter we both have a bit of a cold this weekend. It is like having two code green Sheldon Cooper’s in the house! i.e. not pleasant. lol. Fortunately we are both feeling a bit better today. Hoping being sick will not be a regular occurrence this winter…

This week also saw our third wedding anniversary =) Despite being a Monday we had a really nice day. Funny story though, we bought each other the same card (there are not that many English options here…) and the same make of crystal wine glasses without knowing! lol. Kirsty was still with us and she made us a very special dinner for two. Thanks Kirsty!

It was really nice having Kirsty to stay with us for a week. She was with us until Thursday during which time she did some more sight-seeing and general chillaxing. Thanks for coming to stay with us! It was great having you =)

In other news, I fetched my residence permit card a few weeks ago now. So glad to finally have it!! It is valid for 5 years after which time I can apply for citizenship if we are still here. So now we get to do more fun things like sort out medical aid for Bron. It is illegal not to have medical aid here. Up until now I have had short term travel insurance but now I will go onto the same medical as Justin. Fun times ahead doing all the forms etc in Dutch! At least I don’t have to do the residence permit thing every year…  

Bron also finally succumbed to peer pressure and joined facebook! If we are not already ‘friends’ send me an invite!

Not too much to say this week. Just doing the normal 5 day work thing and trying to adjust to the changing weather. Soon to come: an overview of our first few months living in the Netherlands =)

A special shout out to Shell & Graham on their epic adventure through South America! We love the email updates and pics! Keep them coming!

x

Bron's Dutch Residence Permit

No comments on the police-mugshot quality photo!! 

A is for...

...Anne Frank or Amsterdam or Almost (in the case of France vs NZ).

This week we have our friend Kirsty visiting us. She lives in CT but is spending some time in London doing supply teaching. This week is school holidays in the UK and so she has some time off (it is great to have you here Kirst).

Being a tourist in the Netherlands (or having one to visit) almost always involves a trip to Amsterdam, and so that is what we did yesterday. We got out our winter coats (the temperature was due to stay in single figures all day) jumped on the train and headed for Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is always vibey and it is a great place to just walk around and take in the atmosphere. One of the 'attractions' this time round included the "Occupy" protesters camping out in the city center. For those that aren't familiar with the protests, "Occupy" is an anti-capitalism protest that has spread from Wall Street to London to Amsterdam to Melbourne. It has even resulted in St Paul's Cathedral in London closing for the first time since WWII (the protesters are camping on the cathedral doorstep and there are now health and safety concerns).

We continued with our stroll around Amsterdam and headed in the direction of the Anne Frank museum - it is located in the building that the family actually hid from the Germans in. Bron had been into the museum some time back, but it was a first for Justin and Kirsty. The museum is very well set out and full of interesting information, such as the fact that the diary of Anne Frank has been added to the UNESCO register of significant world heritage documents. 

This perfect Amsterdam car for those narrow streets

Kirsty and Bron in Amsterdam

A reason to visit Amsterdam

Kirsty trying out the local cheeses

Hanging out with Anne

"Come and join the party dude, like, for real!"

"No seriously, it's not just about smoking weed. This is a revolution!"

It is best not to bring your BMW to these kinds of gatherings...

Today (Sunday) was spent in Rotterdam. It started with the rugby world cup final (which was watched at a packed local Irish pub), lunch at a local Turkish restaurant (and the decision that Turkey will definitely feature in one of our future holidays), and just generally strolling around and enjoying the sights.

The KijkKubus (cube houses) in Rotterdam

The old harbour (Rotterdam)

The week ahead is looking to be a busy one (and to be honest we are both feeling a bit 'gat-vol' with work) and I am sure a lot of you are feeling the same way. So I thought I would leave you with this little extract from an email that we received from Bron's uncle. He is talking about his pet sausage dog and finds a great way to put a positive spin on what most would consider a little bit annoying.

When I work in the garden she watches me closely and every now and then comes to see what I am doing. I can almost hear her say “boss, what are you doing? Something for me? That clivia is planted skew, I’ll pull it out for you and you can then plant it correctly”. And she does!

I hope you manage to find your positive spin this week!

Squeezed between Belgium and Germany: Maastricht

This weekend we decided to get out of Rotterdam and spend a night in Maastricht.

Some quick info about Maastricht:

• It is just over 2 hours by train from Rotterdam;
• It is situated at the same latitude as Brussels and Cologne and is approximately midway between these two cities;
• Andre Rieu (the guy who brought back the waltz) comes from Maastricht;
• Settled in approximately 500 BC;
• The first dutch city to be liberated by allied forces during WWII. 

After an uneventful train trip to Maastricht (the uneventful kind are the best kind), it was a short 50m walk to our hotel. Once booked in, it was time to explore. Maastricht is located in a very religious part of the Netherlands and so there are lots of old churches to visit. We visited Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek, St Servaasbasiliek and a church with a red tower. The reason for the red tower is apparently because the tower is built from limestone and the limestone naturally turns black when exposed to the elements. Since the residents didn’t fancy the idea of a black church, they painted it with ox blood (somehow that seemed less sinister?). Today the ox blood is spared, but the church is still painted red (ox blood red to be precise).

Other sights around Maastricht included the St Servaas bridge (the oldest bridge in the Netherlands), the old town walls and gates, the old city centre, the market square, St-Pietersberg fort, and the local limestone quarry (St-Pietersberg Grotten).

The St-Pietersberg Grotten were created during centuries of limestone quarrying. There are over 20,000 passageways and the real attraction is the drawings and inscriptions left behind by miners and people that used the caves to hide in during times of war. The guided tour is a definite must do if you find yourself in Maastricht.

And then it was time for the trip home, which unfortunately was not uneventful. Shortly after leaving Maastricht the train we were travelling in hit a car. The loud bang followed by screeching brakes and a shaking carriage is definitely not an experience we want to repeat. Although we are not sure what happened to the driver (or passengers?) of the car, luckily no one in the train was injured.  

Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek

View from the top of the 'ox-blood red church tower'

Treasury in the St-Servaasbasiliek

Tiled floor in the St-Servaasbasiliek

Old and new alongside the river Maas

St-Servaas bridge on the river Maas

One of the town gates (Helpoort)

Stadhuis at the market square

The Vrijthof (the main town square) with St-Servaasbasiliek in the centre

A statue of D'Artagnon!!

A friend

Inside the St-Pietersberg Grotten

St-Pietersberg Fort

A canon on top of the old city walls