My trip to Maastricht and Brussels
Dear visitor,
Sorry, it took a while for a new story, but my last travels were very hectic actually. I am getting the thrills of travelling more and more, because every place I visit is so different in its own way.
Alright, after all the partying in Estonia with a wonderful group of international students I flew to Berlin with Marge, Tobi and Maria. In Berlin we would have to spend quite some hours at the airport, waiting for the connecting flight to Maastricht.
It is always exciting to hang around at airports; so many flights arrive and depart, carrying so many passengers, each with their own story and destination. But after 6 hours I was very happy that we could finally take off for Maastricht. We arrived with a little delay, in the late evening.
At Maastricht airport Bas and Arjan were waiting for me already; they were very happy to see their friends back. We got on a bus and had an interesting trip through the villages around Maastricht. What a difference with Estonia; Estonia has only 1.3 million inhabitants and only a few towns and cities, whereas The Netherlands has a lot of people (around 16.4 million) on even less space as Estonia. Me and especially Maria were stunned by what Arjan and Bas called villages: we thought those were cities already!
After half an hour or so we got to Maastricht, and I was kind of tired. Luckily Arjan lives close to the station so we finally reached our destination. The first night we decided to take it easy. We drank a couple of beers, for which the Dutchmen are famous and then I tried a bit of the other thing Holland is famous for…
Well after this I was really tired and decided to go to bed, the next day promised to be tiring cause I would go around town to do some sightseeing.
Pfffff….perfect, I had a good night sleep and there we went! As I heard Holland has only cities and no nature or whatsoever. Well I am not sure yet, but they do have some wonderful parks! And what a difference with Estonia! Here the trees have already blossoms, and flowers are all over. Also they had a lot of animals in the parks: goats, geese, deer, ducks and many more! I made some friends with some beautiful other flowers too.
The park was close to the university buildings so I decided to have a look inside, well at some point I have to study too so I better have a look in universities so I can choose the nicest one. The faculty I saw was built in an old (1923) Jesuit monastery very close to one of the central squares; ‘Vrijthof’. After the faculty we walked through the old centre, which is indeed old but all houses are renovated are in use as residence or office.
We saw Servatius of Maastricht, well better; a statue of him. I read that he is the old patron saint of the city. He was born in the 4th century, and became a bishop, finally in Maastricht. The legend is that he also died in Maastricht in 384 A.D. Later a bishop decided to built a church on his grave, which was rebuilt over centuries until now. Quite impressive that some of this church is 1500 years old, and that some towers are ‘only’ a few centuries old. The pope exclaimed the church as a ‘basilica’ in 1985.
I liked Maastricht, but what is it with Dutch people and those bikes! You cannot walk anywhere without seeing, hearing or being hit by a bike! Incredible.
Then Friday I took the train to Brussels, which is only one and a half hour away. As I heard that Belgium and Holland in history were part of one country I thought these countries would be the same. Well they have a lot in common, but they are very different as well. For example: if you cross the border (7km south of Maastricht) everybody speaks French and not Dutch (of course this is also the other way around, and both are very proud of their language).
I learned that Belgium can be divided in a French-, a Dutch- and a German-speaking part. Brussels is considered mostly French-speaking, but a lot of people also speak Dutch actually.
I arrived at Brussel-Luxembourg, a train station close to the European Parliamant, of course a must-see if you visit Brussels. Thadäus, a friend of my friends showed us around in the parliament since he is doing an internship there. Wow, such a large building, where all the decisions concerning EU politics are made; very interesting to see!
After this I had a look in the old city centre; the Grand square and all the beautiful streets around the square. Belgium is famous for its beers, and that is visible…we went to a pub called Delirium (what’s in a name) where they serve at least 2004 beers, but they can have over 2500 different beers in stock! They are mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records and rightly so. I must say the beers are great, but of course I could not drink too much; there is a lot to see and I did not want to ‘waste’ my time only in pubs.
One other thing Brussels is famous for is the Atomium designed by André Waterkeyn for the world expositions of 1958 in Brussels. You will see at the picture that it consists of 9 bolls, together representing the Iron-molecule. Each of the bolls has a diameter of 18 meters, and the total construction is more than 100 meters high! Very impressive!
Hereafter I decided to go back to Maastricht to spend some more days there and try some more Dutch specialties. Also I had a look in the limestone quarry in the St-Pietersberg; a 220 km labyrinth of tunnels where you can easily get lost. Luckily I walked with a guide who told all kinds of interesting stories during the walk. For example he said that during the second world war more than 50000 people were evacuated in this hill and they lived there for 3 months, they even had bakeries there! I also saw many paintings and inscriptions, some more than 500 years old. It was nice, but I was happy to get out and see the sun again (after all I am a flower).
Well the end of the trip was there, I took the plane back to Berlin, great to be ‘home’ again. Right now I am in Berlin still and hoping to join Caroline to go to…New York! I hope I will meet her so I can fly with her, otherwise I will go back to Estonia to my friends there!
I will keep you updated!
Chao,
Sofie
Sorry, it took a while for a new story, but my last travels were very hectic actually. I am getting the thrills of travelling more and more, because every place I visit is so different in its own way.
Alright, after all the partying in Estonia with a wonderful group of international students I flew to Berlin with Marge, Tobi and Maria. In Berlin we would have to spend quite some hours at the airport, waiting for the connecting flight to Maastricht.
It is always exciting to hang around at airports; so many flights arrive and depart, carrying so many passengers, each with their own story and destination. But after 6 hours I was very happy that we could finally take off for Maastricht. We arrived with a little delay, in the late evening.
At Maastricht airport Bas and Arjan were waiting for me already; they were very happy to see their friends back. We got on a bus and had an interesting trip through the villages around Maastricht. What a difference with Estonia; Estonia has only 1.3 million inhabitants and only a few towns and cities, whereas The Netherlands has a lot of people (around 16.4 million) on even less space as Estonia. Me and especially Maria were stunned by what Arjan and Bas called villages: we thought those were cities already!
After half an hour or so we got to Maastricht, and I was kind of tired. Luckily Arjan lives close to the station so we finally reached our destination. The first night we decided to take it easy. We drank a couple of beers, for which the Dutchmen are famous and then I tried a bit of the other thing Holland is famous for…
Well after this I was really tired and decided to go to bed, the next day promised to be tiring cause I would go around town to do some sightseeing.
Pfffff….perfect, I had a good night sleep and there we went! As I heard Holland has only cities and no nature or whatsoever. Well I am not sure yet, but they do have some wonderful parks! And what a difference with Estonia! Here the trees have already blossoms, and flowers are all over. Also they had a lot of animals in the parks: goats, geese, deer, ducks and many more! I made some friends with some beautiful other flowers too.
The park was close to the university buildings so I decided to have a look inside, well at some point I have to study too so I better have a look in universities so I can choose the nicest one. The faculty I saw was built in an old (1923) Jesuit monastery very close to one of the central squares; ‘Vrijthof’. After the faculty we walked through the old centre, which is indeed old but all houses are renovated are in use as residence or office.
We saw Servatius of Maastricht, well better; a statue of him. I read that he is the old patron saint of the city. He was born in the 4th century, and became a bishop, finally in Maastricht. The legend is that he also died in Maastricht in 384 A.D. Later a bishop decided to built a church on his grave, which was rebuilt over centuries until now. Quite impressive that some of this church is 1500 years old, and that some towers are ‘only’ a few centuries old. The pope exclaimed the church as a ‘basilica’ in 1985.
I liked Maastricht, but what is it with Dutch people and those bikes! You cannot walk anywhere without seeing, hearing or being hit by a bike! Incredible.
Then Friday I took the train to Brussels, which is only one and a half hour away. As I heard that Belgium and Holland in history were part of one country I thought these countries would be the same. Well they have a lot in common, but they are very different as well. For example: if you cross the border (7km south of Maastricht) everybody speaks French and not Dutch (of course this is also the other way around, and both are very proud of their language).
I learned that Belgium can be divided in a French-, a Dutch- and a German-speaking part. Brussels is considered mostly French-speaking, but a lot of people also speak Dutch actually.
I arrived at Brussel-Luxembourg, a train station close to the European Parliamant, of course a must-see if you visit Brussels. Thadäus, a friend of my friends showed us around in the parliament since he is doing an internship there. Wow, such a large building, where all the decisions concerning EU politics are made; very interesting to see!
After this I had a look in the old city centre; the Grand square and all the beautiful streets around the square. Belgium is famous for its beers, and that is visible…we went to a pub called Delirium (what’s in a name) where they serve at least 2004 beers, but they can have over 2500 different beers in stock! They are mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records and rightly so. I must say the beers are great, but of course I could not drink too much; there is a lot to see and I did not want to ‘waste’ my time only in pubs.
One other thing Brussels is famous for is the Atomium designed by André Waterkeyn for the world expositions of 1958 in Brussels. You will see at the picture that it consists of 9 bolls, together representing the Iron-molecule. Each of the bolls has a diameter of 18 meters, and the total construction is more than 100 meters high! Very impressive!
Hereafter I decided to go back to Maastricht to spend some more days there and try some more Dutch specialties. Also I had a look in the limestone quarry in the St-Pietersberg; a 220 km labyrinth of tunnels where you can easily get lost. Luckily I walked with a guide who told all kinds of interesting stories during the walk. For example he said that during the second world war more than 50000 people were evacuated in this hill and they lived there for 3 months, they even had bakeries there! I also saw many paintings and inscriptions, some more than 500 years old. It was nice, but I was happy to get out and see the sun again (after all I am a flower).
Well the end of the trip was there, I took the plane back to Berlin, great to be ‘home’ again. Right now I am in Berlin still and hoping to join Caroline to go to…New York! I hope I will meet her so I can fly with her, otherwise I will go back to Estonia to my friends there!
I will keep you updated!
Chao,
Sofie
posted by Sofie at 11:30 AM
4 Comments:
Hey Sofie,
Oh cool you are sane and sound! awesome! then you are ready for your next trip...
but where are you now?
As you must have seen it is spring now, then you should ask your mum and your dad to clothe you with your shinny spring outfits!If you don't have any I am sure I can find you something. As you must know France is a country which is known for its dressmakers...
then don't hesitate to come , we can go shopping together!
Thanks for your comments!
have fun wherever you are!
Aurore
Hey Sofie, as I red you had a lot of fun and a really great trip. I'm very happy that your firends took care of u, that u made new firends and that u liked holland and belgium, but i can promise you that you'll be much more impressed when you are on the top of the Empire State Building, seeimg whole New York.
OK honey i wish you only the best and be everytime a good flower!
oops... there are some mistakes in my comment, but i'm sure you understand what i mean!!!!!! *grins*
Hey Sofie,
Were are you hanging out at the moment? I heared you did not make it to New York. But you went to Italy I heared?
I have a very good offer for you! You can make your first intercontinental trip to Japan. If you want to come along you'll have to be in The Netherlands on the 27th of April.
Enjoy your travels!
Bas
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