Warning: Things are Farther Than They Appear

In The Netherlands, if someone tells you that the place you are going is "quite a walk," expect to be walking for a few hours. That's a lesson we learned while walking to the catacombs in the city of Valkenburg (about 30 minutes by bus from Maastricht). 

On Friday and Saturday, we had our Maastricht University orientation. This consisted of a walking tour of Maastricht, a few meetings about rules and activities, and a walk to the various university buildings. Since Maastricht University is only 35 years old, its buildings are scattered all around town.

On Saturday, we visited the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial. Seeing all of those crosses in a row is overwhelming. The stories our tour guide told us were depressing, but it was still fascinating to hear about the history.

Afterward, we headed to Valkenburg aan de Geul to explore the city and visit the catacombs. It's such a cute little city, though it was heavily bombed during the war.

The catacombs were dark and humid. We had to use candles to walk around. This catacomb was just a replica of the ones in Rome [so no dead people!] but it did have some of the frescos that were in the original catacombs. While in the catacombs, the guide made us blow out our candles and walk around the tunnels for a few minutes. It really showed us how precious sight is, and how difficult it is to be blind. Our tour guide said that in order to be a tour guide, he was given two hours to navigate in the pitch black from the entrance to the exit of the catacombs. Definitely sounds unpleasant, especially since there are bats.

Chris and I in the catacombs 

In Valkenburg

When we got back, we planned our next weekend trip. We are going to Berlin for two days and Cologne for one day. We thought about going to Munich, but we decided it would be too far for our first trip. Everything looks so close on the map but some of it is definitely a long train ride. We are going in a group of 10. We started out as a group of five, and people kept joining. It should be entertaining with such a large group. At least it made hostels cheaper!

Last night, we went out for the first time in Maastricht. We headed to Highlander, a place where a lot of people hang out. More than half of the Maastricht group ended up showing up so we had a lot of fun dancing and hanging out with everyone. 

Today, we met up with some friends and went to find a place to eat lunch. We ended up at a restaurant that is famous for fries. It was fairly cheap (5 euros for a meal and 2 for a drink) so it was nice!

Jonathan, Misbah, and I at lunch 

Tomorrow, we start our first day of classes at Maastricht University. I will try to post tomorrow to talk about what they're like. 

For now, goodnight friends and family. Love you all. 

Olga