Photo Essay of My Travels: Part Three

So here it is, the final installment of my travel pictures (I know that you've all been waiting on the edges of your seats).

I got into Maastricht at around midnight on Thursday, and although Eleni and I had full intentions to go meet up with her friends from the dorm at their local bar, we ended up talking for hours instead. It was wonderful to catch up, to share our "culture shock" experiences from study abroad. I hadn't seen Eleni since I visited her in New York last June, so it was almost surreal, sitting in her room, in the Netherlands, chatting. I can't get over how weird it is to see friends from home in Europe. What a crazy experience!


After sleeping in on Friday, Eleni took me on a tour of Maastricht. Everyone said that it would probably only take us an hour (inferring that there wasn't much to see) but I think that we proved them wrong by taking 2 or 3 hours to walk around. Maastricht really does have an old world feel. It was quite a change from Berlin, which has been pretty much rebuilt since 1945. The roads are all cobblestone and the buildings are sooooooooo old, and really beautiful. I like going places where I really feel like I'm somewhere different (almost the all the time while I've been abroad).

The houses and businesses along the river Maas

businesses (mostly cafes and restaurants) in the main square

The really creepy statue memorial in downtown Maastricht, a tribute to extinct animals of I can't remember what country. It looks like a seal pit from an old zoo, but there are different animals at the bottom, trying to escape. Very chilling, just in the middle of a park.

Eleni with the depressed bear statue in the same park as that other creepy statue thing. I pointed out to Eleni, who had never noticed it before, that although the bear looks like a normal bear (sad, but normal), it has human hands. It's a person in a bear suit. So strange! I'm not sure what is up with Maastricht.

The view from the old fort in Maastricht, so beautiful!

Friday night, Eleni and I went with Jack and Kabir (Mac students) and two Danish guys from their dorm to a tiny little bar that boasted over 100 types of beer. It was just like the guide book said: the owners (a husband and wife) call you their "victims" rather than customers, and you don't get to order, they just pick out what they think will be good for you (they ask you what you want in a beer, and won't let you say "dark" because that is a color and not a taste of a beer). You can imagine that I, with all my worldliness and knowledge of beer, really knew what I was talking about when I said what I wanted. It didn't matter. We all got really amazing beers, all so different. I had no idea that there was so much variation in taste of beer, but now I have a much better appreciation. Dad and Keith, you would have loved the place. I think that Eleni took notes on our favorites, so when I get back we can try to find some at an import liquor store.

Saturday we woke up early, because the Macalester kids had decided that we were all going to Cologne. It's in Germany, but only a few hours away from Maastricht by bus and train. Plus, there's a deal in Germany that on weekends, you can buy an unlimited day-pass for the train for 5 people that only costs 35 euros (which is just too good to pass up!). So we took an hour bus to Aachen, and then another hour by train to there to reach Cologne.

Immediately, upon walking out of the train station, you come upon this monster of a church. I think it's really the only thing that people come to Cologne for, unless they're chocolate nuts (there is a chocolate museum in Cologne as well).

You can see that Eleni is very excited to be seeing the church, as are the millions of people that seemed to be visiting it as a Saturday activity.

To get up to the top of the church, you have to climb over 500 steps, all in a really spirally staircase which made me really dizzy by the time I got to the top (Dad, this would have been a horrible activity for you). So now I can never again complain about the 130-some steps (or whatever it is) that it takes to get up the Main Street Stairs in Stillwater.

The view was really worth the climb though. The top of the church was amazing, I took about a bazillion photos of the architecture.

The magical view from one of the window way up top in the tower of the church.

View with a gargoyle in the way (I thought that this looked like an artsy picture to take, but it really just turned out to look like nothing).

More of the architecture

Back down on the ground in Cologne, we walked around and enjoyed the adorable buildings that lined the river. They look like they're out of some Hansel and Gretel fairy tale!

Back at the church, about to head out on the train. Unfortunately, my camera was having a hard time with the darkness, and so Eleni and the church turned out all blurry.

Sunday Eleni and I lounged around and talked and then had lunch in adorable cafe before I had to catch my train back to Paris. I will have to admit to being really sad that my vacation was over (especially since I have no more breaks until I finish my program), but I do feel really lucky that I got to travel as much as I did. Plus, I couldn't be too sad, because Eleni had already bought her tickets to come visit me in Paris (I will have to post the pictures of her visit in the near future).

The train was a wonderful way to end my travels. I got to look out the window for three hours as I rode across the southern tip of the Netherlands, Belgium and then through the north of France. I have to say that a lot of it reminded me of rural Minnesota, with lots of fields everywhere and no buildings in sight, just a few farm houses scattered here and there. I guess all the Europeans that moved to the U.S. really did leave their mark on the American society.

Well, I will be posting about my internship very very soon I promise! I hope that everyone is enjoying spring break or at least a few days off around Easter. I'm not sure that I get any days off, but I do have a visit from Miles to look forward to.

Love to you all,

Liza