First adventure

Nicole, Natalie and I took our first adventure out of Maastricht. We went to Valkenburg, a beautiful little town east of Maastricht. Valkenburg is famous for its medieval castle that dates back to 1100 AD. It was a wonderful hike from the train station to the castle. The town is set on a hillside and the castle itself sites on top of the hill. So you walk up a slow grade on the narrow cobblestone streets lined with shops and restaurant’s. It was late morning and many of the restaurants were opening and were preparing for lunch, ah the smell of food and all we were going to have for lunch is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. In the Netherlands eating out is treated like an event, so one can expect to sit for an hour or better for their meal. That just wouldn’t work with Natalie, so peanut butter sandwiches it was.

We made it to the castle by lunch time as you can see. We missed the entrance to the castle the first time and ended up on the wrong side of the hill and had to wind back up part of the hill to get to the castle entrance. There isn’t alot left of the castle mostly a foundation with some partial walls that are still standing. Most of the castle was destroyed in a fire back in 1600’s, and was pretty much left to vandals and time. Gee, we weren’t even a country, just a few outpost colony’s. It’s like that in all the small town around here, lots of historical remnant’s left to view.

The town itself was beautiful with the narrow winding streets full of restaurants and people out for lunch and window shopping. Before the hike up to the castle there was a narrow canal built for a large stream that flowed through the lower part of town, see pictures. The best way I can describe this town and Maastricht is that great care has been taken to add to the town but preserve and maintain what has already been built. It gives the cities and town such character that you just don’t find to much at home. Nicole and I would have loved to wonder more but our arms were growing tired carrying Natalie. Natalie wasn’t into walking that day she wanted to be held outside of a brief running stint at the castle it was pretty much carry me, please.