Many Memories from Maastricht

Saturday-I woke up bright and early to catch my bus to Liege at 6:40. It takes about 3 hours to reach the city, but luckily Alberta has taught me how to survive long road trips. I was also accompanied by Jessie and friends when they got on halfway. We were all headed for our LONGGGGGG awaited WEP trip to the Maastricht, Netherlands. We arrived quite a bit before everyone else (we were all departing together from Liege at 11:30) so we popped on over to the local Carrefour (Belgian Safeway) and got some snacks and a lunch for the trip. I chose a sandwich but later found out it was "an American" which is raw beef spread on bread. Mercifully, my friend Cecilia took it off my hands. We checked into the youth hostel and then headed for the streets of Maastricht.

Our coordinators made us a photo scavenger hunt which my team tried to do, but in the end, got distracted by shops and waffles. I even managed to find Hudson's Bay, though it was being liquidated and didn't have the same quality items.

My crew of friends were also able to find a Miffy Store ( a childhood TV show based out of Holland) and of course, I sent my sweet time looking at postcards. After, we got tempted by the waffles that were filling the air and took them to continue our exploration. There's a giant gothic-style church we had walked by multiple times and me being my mother's daughter, needed to see the inside. A few of the girls in my group weren't too keen on going in to see however, I couldn't resist. There were so many candles lit with many people gathered about the statue of Mary, but the actual church was quite unoccupied. It was sombre as most gothic churches are and considerable size, still nothing like my favourite, The Sagrada Familia. Would always recommend people to visit!

I also persuaded them to go to a vintage store I spotted and let me tell you it was a TIME. It was a shop off of Hoarders Buried Alive, anything and everything you could think of was in there. I tried to take a photo of something and proceeded to be yelled at by the owner for doing so. All the girls probably thought I was crazy for taking them to an old church AND a weird vintage store.

While out on the town, I came across an Urban Outfitters type store that had the "all American" style. But the greatest treasure in that store was the A & W rootbeer. Another Canadian student, Fynley from Regina, and I immediately bought them. Some other students from Ecuador and Australia tried it, one saying that it tasted like toothpaste? Crazy!!!I find it funny that things I would have considered so normal such as a pop flavour have meant so much to me now that I am away from home. You can bet I savoured every drop of that can. would have considered so normal such as a pop flavour have meant so much to me now that I am away from home. You can bet I savoured every drop of that can.

Sunday- Fun fact, did you know that that the Dutch believe eating chocolate in the morning brings good luck for the day? My little sister, Helena, is very accustomed to eating hagelslag (sprinkles) on her toast, so I made sure to take the opportunity and it a slice for her! After breakfast, WEP took us on a tour to this underground bunker thing? Don't really know what it was, but we sure spent a lot of time there. Our tour guide talked a lot about the constant demolition and reconstruction that has taken place in the city. Crazy to think about how many empires, wars and monarchies have walked through that city.

Following our tour, we had more free time before departing. There was an eclectic Sunday market going on, so we stopped by to dig around. Didn't find anything too spectacular, as I think it's the type of thing where you need to know what you're looking for before going. We ended up finding some cool food truck-esque things and grabbed a snack. I had been dreaming of Mina's Vietnamese spring rolls for the past week and lucky for me, they were selling some at one of the stands. It definitely helped fix my craving! We walked around some more, had lunch and then had to meet to get back on the bus for Liège. On our way back there was this awesome live music performance going on in the middle of one of the streets! Though in a rush to get back, we did stop for a few seconds to watch and get a video. It was the perfect last impression of the city before heading off!

Overall, I am so in love with the Netherlands and so happy I was able to see my friends once mo

re! The houses and way of life are special, I want to travel to any city in Holland and see all it has to offer. Good thing I still have 2/3 left! Hope all is well at home and everyone is staying toasty!

All the love,

E