Oct 9 – This morning we put our boots on, and walked off to find the southern terminus of the Pieterpad. Even though we didn’t do all the hiking we originally planned, we thought we should climb the last hill.
The path ran along the River MeuseThis is a working river, with lots of barge trafficEach bird had a favorite perch
We got to the foot of Mount Sint Pieter, and started up.
There is a lovely lake hereJim is always happy to be ascending, even if the hill is not very steep A view of the town below
Before too long, we reached the summit, and looked around. No signs of the beginning or the end of anything. There were some trail markers, but the Pieterpad was not among them. What to do?
No Pieterpad markers here
We trudged back down the hill, asking Google where we went wrong. No answers. At the foot of the hill was a café. We asked the proprietress, and she pointed across a very industrial-looking area. There was a path, so we followed it.
If you look really hard, you can see a set of steps in the center, at the far side of this picture. Can you see them?We wondered what sort of mining went on here.Now we’re closer – see the steps now?That is not a natural cave – something is mined hereAfter all the metal steps was a last set of stone steps to the top. Wait for me, Jim!Ta da! Not a picturesque view, but we made it!Sure enough, there was a monument where you could immortalize an image of yourself either starting or ending the Pieterpad. Someday we may return and hike the rest!There was an old fort ruin up here too, but we had seen enough for one day.See the old fort in the distance?We had a lovely café lunch – as the sign mentions, dogs are welcome everywhere here.
And so ended our Pieterpad and Netherlands adventure. Tomorrow, on to Belgium!
Oct 8 – As our hike from Valkenburg continued, we left the farmlands, walked through the suburbs…
…over a pedestrian bridge and about an hour into the center of the city of Maastricht. We maneuvered down a very crowded shopping street with upscale stores and lots of restaurants.
There were things to see, but my pack was getting heavier by the minute, so Jim took us right to our B and B, Chez Helene.
Our street – have all the trees been trimmed to the same size and shape?
The funny thing about this country is that the small hotels we tend to frequent all call themselves B and Bs, but most do not serve breakfast. So what is the other B? We may never know. This one was even curiouser, as the advertised en suite did not actually have a separate bathroom. The toilet was right in the bedroom, with no door of any sort. Travelers can get used to anything, I guess!
So, after a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast from the nearby supermarket (coffee, hard boiled eggs, plain yogurt and fruit, and more coffee), we set off to see Maastricht.
We knew from our time in Valkenburg that the Basilica of St. Servatius was here.
Might this be a church? Nope…It’s Maastricht’s most famous bookstore! With a whole floor of English books……and a dynamite classic vinyl collection. Is $50 a good price for an LP? I have no idea.Might this be a church? No! It’s the bus stop!How about this one?Yes! It’s the Basilica of St. Servatius!…containing some of the remains of the Saint, who died here back in the year 384.Lots of Madonnas and babies hereVery European looking Doesn’t this baby look like he’s up to no good?This one was way up near the ceiling This one is part of a bigger painting……that shows that St. Servatius was related to Jesus and his cousins John (the Baptist) and James (the Less)A nice church – glad we found it!
Then we had a lovely café lunch and walked around town.
A horse with no legsThe Dutch are very serious about keeping their shrubbery trimmed.I like the rainbow crosswalk
Oct 7 – Today we bid adieu to Valkenburg, shouldered our packs and got on the Pieterpad for the hike to Maastricht. Although I’ve shown you plenty of wall art, here is some more as we walked out of town.
Gnome Sweet Gnome An odd place for a baby, above a doorwayA pretty church? Nope – it’s a restaurant!A pretty houseAn ivy covered gazeboFinally – goats!
The day was perfect for hiking – cool and breezy. Maastricht is about eight miles away.
After leaving town, we walked along the River Guel Keeping an eye out for Pieterpad markersThis trail is also part of the Camino de Santiago – it was great to see the familiar sign of the shell!Shady forest We walked through an upscale town with thatched roof houses – go figure!The coffee shop had an impressive collection of old hiking boots – who would discard their boots before the end of the trail?Then back out to farmland We met lots of hikers and bikers, but theses were the only horses we saw today
And just like that, we were in Maastricht, the biggest city we’ve seen since Amsterdam. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow!
Oct 4 – I think this is the longest we’ve ever stayed in one town! As pretty as it is, we’re running out of things to see. We originally dismissed the idea of paying 15€ apiece to tour the ruins of the castle on the hill, as we could see most of it from the street. By today, however, that option was looking pretty interesting, so here we go!
The castle ruins viewed from the streetNow we’ll see them up close and personal!
I mentioned in a previous post that the original wooden castle only lasted for eight years in the 1100s. Stone versions were subsequently built up and knocked right down until the 1400s, when the ruins were allowed to remain ruins. Not much history to tell.
Part of a tile floor unearthed for us to see Nice views of the town below – the metal weathervane depicts St. Servatius with his foot on the neck of a dragonClose up of the St. Servatius weathervaneFrom this angle, you can imagine the bucolic view the original inhabitants sawCastle selfie!
For the price of admission, we also got to tour the sandstone tunnels dug under the castle in about the 14th century.
A stonecutter removing bricks from the tunnel
The tunnels provided bricks for the rebuilding of the castle, and also provided a way for the castle inhabitants to escape unseen. Although the tour was only in Dutch, we enjoyed seeing the artwork carved into the soft stone.
Our tour guide illuminated the artwork with a flashlight What the castle looked like in better daysA siegeThis is the story of two brothers in love with the same princess. When she chose to marry one, the other one, of course, killed her.Some fossilized shells in the sandstone A jawbone of a prehistoric reptile was found in the sandstone. This is what the creature may have looked like! The actual jawbone was taken by the French, and is in a museum in Paris.In September 1944, the Americans liberated Maastricht and Valkenburg from the Nazis, and used these tunnels.The G.I.s left their signatures in the soft stone, and a local artist drew their silhouettes below.Queen Julianna and her family
In the 18th century, a subterranean chapel was carved out of the sandstone.
St. Servatius, the patron saint of Maastricht, lived in the fourth century.The carving above the altar
So, what do you think? As always, we learned something today, well worth the price of admission!
Oct 2 – Another perfect sunny day, and we must be feeling better, as our plan for the day is hiking. We were originally supposed to walk into Valkenburg from the Pieterpad, so our plan for today is to find that trail!
The red and white Pieterpad marker in townThe trail is nice and flatLots of horses… and flowersA mother is biking the trail with her adult son There’s Valkenburg down belowPretty farmland Care for a large cup of tea?We walked through a pretty park on our way back to town
Sept 29 – So we are here in our cozy apartment. We walk out in the sunshine every day, and Jim has found a walking park and trail that is very pleasant. It has been pointed out to me that this is what other people do on vacation – it’s called r-e-l-a-x-i-n-g. What a concept!
A ponySome sheepLots of ducks
The restaurants in town are busy, but so far we have been content with our little kitchen and Jim’s homemade soup.
A crowded shopping street with lots of cafésJim’s yummy potato and mushroom soup, and some odd Dutch pork and cheese sausages called “tree trunks”
There is an Indian motorcycle shop here:
The ruins of Valkenburg Castle sit atop the only hill in town. Originally built of wood in 1115 and destroyed in 1122, the sign tells us it was the only castle built on a hill in the whole country! Not many hills here…
The remains of the castle on the hill
Oct 1 – Are you ready for some real excitement? Today is the Valkenburg Goat Parade, which, if we understand things correctly, ushers in the first keg of bok beer of the new season.
Fake beards / real axesMedieval fineryMilitary precision Flugelhorns?
I was concerned about finding a good spot to watch the festivities, but no worries – the five marching bands went up one street and down the next, and we had plenty of opportunities to see them. But where were the goats? And where was the beer?
Here is a plaque in the main square, apologizing for the hundreds of “goat riders” subjected to torture and execution in the 1700s. These were marauders who were believed to have consorted with the devil, enabling them to ride across the sky on flying goats. We did not see any goats today, flying or otherwise. Nor any beer. Oh well!
Would you like to see some more wall art? Valkenburg has plenty!
Sept 25 – This was to be our week of hiking on the Pieterpad – the Netherlands trail that starts in Pieterburen in the north, and extends to Mt. St. Pieter in the south. The weather is perfect – sunny, cool and breezy, with blue skies and zero rain in the forecast all week. Best laid plans…
View out the window of our B&B in Groesbeek
As Jim began to feel worse and tested positive, we asked Boris to drive past our hiking origin point, and take us right to our accommodation for the evening in Groesbeek. One look told us that if we couldn’t hike out from here, we were pretty well stuck – no traffic for hitchhiking, and definitely no public transit. Jim even looked for a taxi service, but there was none. We are only booked here for one night, and I knew I, for one, would not be ready to hike in the morning.
We talked about our options, and decided, with heavy hearts, to cancel our reservations along the trail for the next week. We asked Boris to come back tomorrow and drive us south to Valkenburg, where a quick online search found us a studio apartment with a kitchen, near a grocery store, so we can hunker down until we feel 100%. That’s our plan B.
This morning’s sunrise was pretty spectacular
Sept 26 – We both slept well in the absolute quiet of the countryside. Boris showed up right on time, and two hours later, we are in Valkenburg. One week of walking = two hours of driving. Thank you Boris – we literally could not have done this without you!
So now we are at the Marx Motel. Karl? Groucho? Who can say?
We have an efficiency apartment with a balcony and a kitchenette stocked with everything we should need. Here we can rest and recover.
The view from our balcony
Valkenburg is a pretty, tourist town. There are many things to see here, but we only walked the three minutes from our apartment to the excellent grocery store. We bought some chicken soup – sure to help us feel better!
They have plate collections here, just like ours!Pretty flowers by the canalThey have wall art hereInteresting window displays …and animals of all sorts
So here we’ll be for the next few days. We’ll check in when we have something to report!
Sept 21 – Yes, I know we said we were not doing the tourist thing, but we are feeling better today, and Jim found a museum we haven’t visited. So we took the hotel shuttle back to the airport (which is also the train and bus station) and hopped on a train to Amsterdam Centraal.
Amsterdam Centraal Train Station …which includes a multi-tiered bicycle garage
Yes, there are canals everywhere in Amsterdam, lined with houseboats and water taxis. The Venice of the north.
Our goal is to see Our Lord in the Attic Museum, a Catholic Church built in the upper floors of a house. During the 1600s, all Roman Catholic, Jewish and other houses of worship were confiscated by the ruling Dutch Reformed Protestants. A wealthy Catholic merchant built a church upstairs in his attic so that he, his friends and family could continue to practice their faith. From the outside, it looks like just another house on the street.
The Dutch did not prevent other religions from practicing, they just outlawed the practice in public. The church was used until the mid 1800s, when the Basilica of St. Nicholas was built just down the road. It became a museum in 1883.
The lower floors of the house have been restored to reflect how the merchant’s family lived.
The kitchenThe blue Delft tiles had pictures of little angels Much of the original porcelain was retrieved from the cesspit under the housePaintings in the parlor cabinet
Then up the stairs to the church:
The narrow little church upstairs – the columns on either side of the altar look like marble, but are actually painted woodThe organ keyboard and stopsThe organ pipesA close up of God above the altarThe Mary chapelI like the look on the old father’s face as he listens to his daughters natter over their sewing. There’s St. Nicholas above, putting money through the window to help with their dowries.
After exploring Our Lord in the Attic, it was just a hop and a skip to see the Basilica of St. Nicholas down the street.
A bigger altarA bigger Mary chapel
Then we were back on the street. What else could we see?
A rubber ducky storeLots of pastries A lamp for Lexi!
You may notice that the houses are very narrow – at one point, real estate tax was based on the width of the building, so houses were built narrow and tall :
Narrow housesThings Karen thinks are funny – wild pissing is not allowedBest porta potty sign ever!On the train back to Hoofddorp – tired, happy travelers
Sept 18 – Who is ready for an adventure ? We are! Want to come along?
Today we packed up all our cares and woes into new backpacks that are so small that they actually qualify as carry-on luggage, and got on a big iron bird to Atlanta and then a 757 to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. For the first time, we did not have to show a boarding pass to get on the plane – the camera verified our faces, and we walked right on! All went according to schedule, and we arrived mid morning after a typical no-sleep-packed-like-sardines flight.
Schiphol Airport is a destination in itself, with supermarkets, art exhibits, showers and sleeping areas. Cheese, anyone?
We are here for several days at an airport hotel, just to recover from our jet lag. As we have visited Amsterdam several times before, we have no tourist plans here. Van Gogh? Rembrandt? Been there. Rijksmuseum? Anne Frank House? Done that. Sorry!
Sept 20 – After a fitful night’s sleep, we walked into the town of Hoofddorp to find a supermarket and have lunch. Throughout the Netherlands, you will see separate lanes for pedestrians (right), bicycles (left), and auto traffic (far left), as well as bus lanes, tram and train tracks (above).
This pedestrian walk meandered prettily among flower beds meant to attract butterflies and bees. Very nice!
Rudbeckia and Jim
There was even a little park with a pond and an anti-slavery monument.
Taking Our Time 