“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard
Since my adventure to Stockholm, I have also been to Maastricht, Holland. Lissi came to visit me from Marburg, and we spent Saturday in Maastricht. What a lovely city! We took the bus for an hour from Aachen, and it is only 5 Euro each way. We bought a map and city guide at the TI, and then proceeded to do a self-guided tour of the city. It is the oldest city in Holland, and has a lot of charm. This is due to its location on the river, the Dutch architecture and language, and all the historical buildings left from the Romans. We wandered into a second hand book store, where an independent book store owner had all kinds of books from all over the world- 1st editions, signed copies, etc. He was your typical book shop owner! Glasses, well dressed like a professor, and curly, longish hair :) Speaking of book stores, we also went into a church that had been converted into a book store in 2005. WAY cool. Lots of books in Dutch and English, a cute cafe, and beautiful architecture. I also ate some yummy dish typical of Maastricht, but sadly cannot remember the name of it. Lissi and I had fun laughing at how funny the Dutch language sounds. Once you know English, you can understand/read it a little! Everyone there could speak Dutch, English, and German perfectly. I kept switching back between German and English, and never knew what to speak.
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard
Since my adventure to Stockholm, I have also been to Maastricht, Holland. Lissi came to visit me from Marburg, and we spent Saturday in Maastricht. What a lovely city! We took the bus for an hour from Aachen, and it is only 5 Euro each way. We bought a map and city guide at the TI, and then proceeded to do a self-guided tour of the city. It is the oldest city in Holland, and has a lot of charm. This is due to its location on the river, the Dutch architecture and language, and all the historical buildings left from the Romans. We wandered into a second hand book store, where an independent book store owner had all kinds of books from all over the world- 1st editions, signed copies, etc. He was your typical book shop owner! Glasses, well dressed like a professor, and curly, longish hair :) Speaking of book stores, we also went into a church that had been converted into a book store in 2005. WAY cool. Lots of books in Dutch and English, a cute cafe, and beautiful architecture. I also ate some yummy dish typical of Maastricht, but sadly cannot remember the name of it. Lissi and I had fun laughing at how funny the Dutch language sounds. Once you know English, you can understand/read it a little! Everyone there could speak Dutch, English, and German perfectly. I kept switching back between German and English, and never knew what to speak.
A little bit of the Roman city walls/fortress left over:
Church renovated into the book store:
More quaint, beautiful Maastricht, and the restaurant where we ate:
Also, finally bought some boots. I have been looking all over Aachen for leather boots, an essential here in this cold and wet climate. I found some in Holland last weekend, and I am very happy to have warm and happy, stylish feet! My bank account is unfortunately much lighter, but a good pair of shoes is always worth it! :)
And one more from Maastricht. The street sign, translated as Saint Hilarious Street. If I were a saint, I´d like to be called Hilarious!
Back to Aachen:
That evening we went to the Sinkens for dinner. Once a year they have friends and family over for mussels. We had lots of yummy food, even homemade pizza. We also brought back Vla from Holland, pronounced something like Fla. This is a pudding-like dessert sold in cartons just like milk. It is thinner than normal pudding, but everyone here in Germany loves it and always buys it when in Holland. It is nothing so special, but nonetheless, I tried it. After an evening of lots of food, wine, and good company, I was tired!
Sunday we went to the Ludwig Forum in Aachen, a modern art museum. We saw some really neat art there, and then went to the Rathaus (city hall) for a self guided audio tour. I must say, Aachen has a pretty cool Rathaus, with a LOT of history.
Views from the Rathaus onto the Market Place in Aachen where the Christmas market is in full swing. The Dom is opposite the Rathaus:
I have been to the Christmas market three times now, and it seems to be getting fuller the closer it gets to Christmas. It is kind of neat to have a month long festival/market going on. Lissi and I filled up on the oh-so-bad-for-you-but-yummy fare Friday night, including Crepes and Glühwein.
My parents are coming next week- less than 10 days! Something else to be excited about- Will has booked a plane ticket to visit me in February for 2 weeks! Lately I have received wonderful mail from some wonderful AU girls and even a package. Thanks to all of you for your constant love and support! If anyone has a request for a small Christmas package from Germany, let me know what you might want! (For those of you who have been here before!)
The newest development is that I will be teaching English to a German 9 year old. I have never taught English before, but I think it will be really fun. She has already starting learning English in school, and her parents would like to send her to a bilingual Gymnasium (5th grade on) where more lessons are taught in English than German. I would have loved to go to a bilingual school! I hope to meet the family soon.
Well, I realize I still need to update pictures about Stockholm. Another time! Enjoy the beginning of the Advent season and December this week!
Liebe Grüße,
Rebecca
