Welcome back to my blog dear readers,
today we go exploring a little bit of the souther part of the Netherlands.
The provinces in the Netherlands
It is common and accepted,in many languages, to refer with Holland to the whole country, but it is not correct. Holland,in fact, is just one of the 12 provinces of the Netherlands:
- Noord Brabant,
- Drenthe,
- Flevoland,
- Friesland,
- Gelderland,
- Groningen,
- Limburg,
- Zuid Holland,
- Noord Holland,
- Utrecht,
- Overijssel
- Zeeland
Limburg is the most southern province and its main city is Maastricht, located almost at the border with Belgium and Germany.
How to reach Maastricht?
From Rotterdam is about 2:15 h by train, so it is better to spend there at least one night. Unfortunately there is not a direct train and it is needed to switch intercity in Eindhoven. From Amsterdam it is a bit longer, 2:25 h but with a direct train.
By car the commuting is about 3 h from both cities. Therefor, in my opinion, it is always better to go by train.
What to visit in Maastricht?
I have to admit you can see much more than I did, but I certainly can give you some tips where to start with:
First of all take your time to walk around the city centre and do not miss to go by the river Maas, such a romantic walk. And not only, from there you can already see the bridges around, in particular the Medieval one of Sint Servaasbrug
Walking around you’ll end up to one of the main squares, the Markt, where usually you can buy food and goods at the market. Here it is also located the building of the City Hall.
The tower of the city hall is tall 47 metres and it containd 49 bronze bells.
The other main sqaure is called Vrijthof and here you can visit the Gothic church of Sint Jans and the Basilica of Sint Servaas.
Pictoresque and beautiful is the bookshop Boekhandel Dominicanen , built inside a medieval church. The structure is just of the church and the shelves for the books have been added together with a small café.
Here you can find books both in Dutch and English. It is always full of people, but it worth a visit.
I was impressed by the Bonnenfanten museum. Not really for the architecture, more for the type of exhibitions.
One was about statues of people and animals extremely detailed. As you can see from the pictures, the focus are the nerves, vines and bones. At first I didn’t like it, but then, the perfection of the art amazed me.
The other 2 exhibitions I saw were also very exclusive. One was only about female artists, who always had to fight in a male world. They decided to dedicated the space to make people think about inclusivity, about who has been left alone and about violence.
The second was about a Syrian artist, a photographer who not only narrated the war, but also religion, diversity through story of people and simple gigantic pictures of simple home elements.
Drielandenpunt – the point of the three lands.
Not only Limburg is the most southern Ducth region, it is also at the boarders with Germany and Belgium and it is very different to the rest of the Country because it is higher, yes, there are hills here. The “Dutch mountains” how Dutchied proudly call them.
The drielandenpunt is then not only the boarder between the 3 countries, but also the highest part of the Netherlands: 325m above sea level
We are in Vaals, about 30 minutes from Maastricht by car. It almost looks as a theme park, with a labyrinth, some cafes and other games for kids.
And it is excatly here where you can touch the 3 countries. You can put one footh in the Netherlands, one in Germany an with your hand touching Belgium at the same time! Or you can just ahve a pictures with all the flags behind you
So close to Aachen
The closest German city to Limburg is Aachen.
I loved to walk around in the city centre, it is defintely a beautiful city, full of history.
Unforgettable is the Cathedral. Charles the Great was the king who started to build it in 786. Its costruction took about 1000 years becuase of many historical occurrencies, it was also used as a stable when the vikings arrived.
But I will tell all go this next time, make sure you follow me on Instagram to don’t miss any details.
In the Travel section of the blog you can find more info and stories about more or less known
cities in the Netherlands and not only!
If you want to tell your travelling experience or share about your expat life, text me!
Talk to you soon
Rossella
