My Weekend Back In Maastricht

This past weekend, after returning from London, we still had a weekend jam packed with things to do. We got back Thursday, and I went with some people out to one of the pubs called The Highlander which is a pub that a lot of the international students went to. It was fun, and I definitely see that as a hang out spot in the future. Friday and Saturday were full of orientation things of sort. We got a practical walking tour of the city which was nice, but I was so turned around that I still think I'm going to be lost trying to make my way around the city. It's not a huge city, so it's easy to walk places, but everyone also rides their bikes everywhere in the city! It's so different from the States where everyone drives everywhere, so very interesting indeed!

Saturday was still considered an orientation day, but we ended up doing little excursions. We visited a World War II memorial and cemetery that they had outside the city which was very interesting. As it happens, the Battle of the Bulge only happened about twenty to thirty minutes outside Maastricht, not to mention other battles and many other soldiers were killed throughout the Netherlands as the Allies pushed to advance into Germany towards the end of the war.

Afterward, we went to the city of Valkenburg which was a cute city in itself. They gave us a walking tour of the city which was hard to put up with because our tour guide was very soft spoken, so many of us couldn't hear him. Then, we went to see the catacombs they have there that were replicated of the ones in Rome, so that was pretty cool. At one point they let us blow out our candles and try to walk through in the dark. It was miserable, and people were screaming. It was really, really dark to say the least. It was very neat to see. Then, we took the bus back and got dinner. Later, a bunch of us went to the Highlander. Some other students (they were Canadian, I think?) came as well. It was really fun. They play a bunch of American music which was nice, and it was fun for all of us to go out since classes start tomorrow! I know, can you believe I'm just now starting class? Today, I'm going to finally get some of my readings for class finished and then maybe walk around the town and try to gather my bearings.

Plans for the coming weekend? Cologne and Berlin. Get excited. :)