Maastricht, the Netherlands

Tuesday, 28 June

Woken by crows at 5am but slept some more. Bro drove us to Maastricht in the Netherlands – just across the border. First of all he took us to the Dreiländerpunkt in Vaals (Holland’s highest point) – a point where the borders of three countries meet. You can have a foot in two different countries and reach across with your hand in the third – Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. It was a unique experience for the girls – for New Zealanders, going to another country always means crossing the sea. Stepping across a line on the ground and being in a totally different country is a totally weird feeling.

We walked around Maastricht with its attractive cobbled streets. There were untold bicycles and dogs on leads everywhere. Some people had dogs in baskets on bikes and one had two dogs in a kind of pram (see my website photos www.geocities.com/scorpiwolf/europe.html).

We had a Belgian beer called ‘Palm’ (with the ‘l’ pronounced) then headed up the tower of a nearby church. Great views from the top. Back down below we looked in a souvenir shop and daughter, H, bought a tshirt for her friend, Jan, back in NZ (of Dutch descent). It was a marijuana leaf with the words ‘Dutch vegetables’ on it. More walking and we found a Koffee shop which sold dope. We could have gone if it weren’t for H who was under 18 (pity). Sent some postcards from Maastricht.

We returned to Aachen via a village called Valkenburg. We ate some fries with wonderful sauce and chatted to a Dutch chap who had a lovely dog with him. He took his dog everywhere on holiday and it stayed with him in the hotel. This is unheard of in New Zealand where dogs are not allowed in retail areas or in buildings (or even camping grounds). Dogs have to be left behind in kennels and looked after by strangers.

By now it was very hot. But I wasn’t complaining.

Houses very neat and tidy, I noticed, as we waited in the heat to get through some roadworks.