Day Two: Rainy Maastricht

Greetings from a wet and 55-degree Maastricht. Today started out with a small breakfast with Jane, then we traveled to the town of Valkenburg. Very quaint and charming. We saw the ruins of a castle, had some coffee (I had cocoa), then went to meet the rest of the team at a restaurant that used to be a monastery a few hundred years ago, then turned into a casino (my notes are elsewhere about that place). Then we toured the limestone caves underneath the hotel. Mining in the caves started in the 1200s and stopped around 1900. About 180 miles of cave exist --- huge passageways that you can easily get lost in. The tour was great, except for being in Dutch and not understanding anything. Thankfully, our Rotarian friends helped us with the translation :-)  At one point, the guide extinguished the oil lamps and let us stand there in darkness. Did you know that if you walk around in pitch black for about an hour, you'll lose your sense of up and down and just fall over? Who knew!

After the caves, we rode the boat down the river and took a guided walking tour of Maastrict for about 2 hours. We saw several churches and learned lost of interesting facts. The final stop took us to the Hotel Kruisheren which is an old church converted into a hotel and restaurant. Cost one euro for the guy to buy the falling-down church and 16 million to turn it into a hotel. It's just spectacular. Rooms are 340 euros per night --- steep! Oh, another fun fact: real estate in Maastrict costs about 3000 euros per square meter. So a 3 bedroom/2 bath attached house costs about $400,000 to $500,000 euros, about ($538,000-$672,000 US). The most expensive real estate goes for $5,500 euros per square meter. So do that math and go appreciate the cost of your home :-)

Life in Maastrict: May 1, 2010

Hallo from Maastrict! We've had two great days so far. Yesterday afternoon was spent walking around the downtown of Maastrict and stopping to enjoy a Brand beer (owned by Heineken, actually). The boys went back to the hotel for a quick nap and Heather and I went off to shop at a flea market. On the way, however, we stopped in to use the restroom at a bar and discovered the free wifi, so we spent a few minutes glued to the iPhone and iPod Touch to make some email updates :-)  Dinner was at the Hotel Eden at Flo, a French restaurant. Amazing meal. Herman and Lea (Herman leads the GSE committee) selected great wine for each course, and I enjoyed an asparagus salad of sorts for a starter and had haddock with a delicious mustard sauce for the main. Dessert was a wonderful chocolate sorbet with dark chocolate mousse. YUM! Even the butter (made in France) was delicious. I think I'll have to go buy bigger clothes when I return home ;-)

After a good night's rest, we ate a wonderful breakfast complete with champagne, breads, Nutella, eggs, bacon, cheeses, fruits, prosciutto, and coffee, of course. We then met our Maastrict hosts Roel and Carla. We went with them to the Dominicaner Church, a centuries-old church that is now a bookstore. Just beautiful! We didn't have much time to shop, but he said we'll be returning. We had lunch at the Hotel Beaumont and got a sampling of many things that I don't know the names of. We all even ate the duck paté :-) 

After lunch we went back to the hotel to meet our host families. Heather and I are with Jane and the boys are with Teun and Anneke. Dick is with Friso and Ilona and their 2-year-old son, Philip. Jane, Heather, and I all drove out to a large US cemetery for the men killed in WWII. Very beautiful place. We also saw our first windmill. Dick played some bocce ball with Friso and Ilona, and the boys explored the area and walked past Andre Rieu's house (he lives like a block away). We all had dinner tonight at Teun and Anneke's home --- all 11 of us. It was a great time with great food. We had mushrooms with anchovies, a risotto salad with prosciutto (I think), and a delicious apricot sorbet with macadamia nuts for starters. Main was lamb, potatoes, and a vegetable ratatouille. Then a good variety of cheeses and bread. Dessert brought strawberries with ice cream and a wafer cookie, and delicious chocolate stars. Apparently they read that I really like chocolate. Most excellent. So much more wine followed us through the whole meal --- Roel brought several bottles from his own cellar and made good choices :-)  Oh, before I forget, Herman was once the director of a chain of stores similar to our Target stores before he retired, and Roel was director of a chain of stores similar to a high-end women's clothing store and a store similar to Von Maur, He also owns a company that sells coffee filters to many countries including the US. I'd say. Teun is a retired architect, Jane is principal at a 750-student secondary school, and Friso is in charge of a company that produces steel for use in building things such as earth movers and large equipment. His wife is a lawyer at DSM, a company that employees about 25K people. These people are very well connected!  And great to talk to (PS: If anyone from the Netherlands is reading this and sees a mistake, feel free to let me know ;-)

So tomorrow we start at 9 with Heather and I going to see some ruins with Jane. The boys are going on a run with Friso to Belgium (it's about 8K away, not too far). Germany is about 20 minutes away, if that. We're in a hilly part of the country, but it's very pretty. Lunch is at a former monastery, and the afternoon will be a boat tour if it doesn't rain.

Fun facts: Most of the houses have large front windows and they like to leave the curtains open. My room is on the third floor, up a tight winding staircase. It takes two of us to get the bags up here, but I have a great view of a fort in the distance and of the backyard gardens below. Most homes are connected like this, some are older (Jane's is from the 1930s) and built up, not out. Not always handicapped accessible! Toilets are immaculately clean everywhere we go. You could mix drinks in them. Brushes, those stick-on things in the bowl, and bowl cleaner are available almost in each bathroom. Oh, and water isn't always given. Us big water drinkers are finding you have to ask for water, unless you're content with wine and coffee.

All for now! Will be posting during the next few days since I have the Internet in my room. Night!

Photos: I had an uncanny feeling I was being watched as I slept . . . .

2. Bike rack in Maastrict

3. Wear your flag!

4. Streets of Maastrict.

5. David and Kevin celebrating Queen's Day

6. Jen celebrates with chocolate at dinner

7. Dominicaner Church bookstore

8. Dick, Heather, Herman, and Lia during Queen's Day

9. More bookstore

10. Restaurant in the bookstore --- up at the altar.

11. Outside of bookstore

12. Streets of Maastrict

13. Lunch at the Beaumont

12. American cemetary

13. Windmill!

14. Chocolate stars for dinner :-)

We've arrived!

Hello Holland! We got into Schipol airport at 6:45. Great flight --- even better having three seats to stretch out on. We met GSE coordinator Herman Hampsink and his wife at the airport and had a bite to eat. Then we caught the train and began the three-hour journey to Maastricht in the southeast part of the Netherlands. Our hotel is great and overlooks a cool street. We each have our own room for tonight, and the beds are soooo comfy.

It's Queen's Day here, so people are wearing orange and have decorated their bikes with orange balloons and streamers. I'll let you know if we find some big parties here in town ;-)







We followed the marching band into town (band nerds, this one's for you ;-)







Lunch at Flo in the Hotel Eden.









Bike rack in Maastricht!









Streets of Maastricht.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

And We're Off!

Today's the day! We're heading to the airport this morning --- we'll be in Amsterdam by 1 a.m. EST tonight, and tomorrow is Queen's Day in the Netherlands. Time to go finish off a few last-minute things, but I'm looking forward to writing you from Europe! Thanks to Rotary for our awesome adventure!

Indy versus the Volcano

We're almost there! Who would have thought that an ash cloud was in danger of messing up our travel plans, though? Hopefully the E-15 volcano and its friends will stay quiet for a few more days and the winds will blow to the north :-)

We got our jackets and blazers today, we've got our brochures and business cards, we've got our presentation ready, we've got our passports, money, itinerary, and duct tape. Now we just have to pack --- no big deal ;-)

We're all very excited about our trip. We had a gathering last Friday at GSE Coordinator Valory Myers' house with the Rotary team who is here from the Netherlands and the Rotary team from South Korea, plus some visitors from Sierra Leone. The Netherlands team is very cool and said that our itinerary looks great. We received the final itinerary this week and they've added a tour of the Mars chocolate factory. I hope I don't accidentally fall into a vat of liquid cocoa and refuse to come out . . . .

So much to do in the next 4 days, both at work and at home. The house sitter is lined up, grass will be mowed, bills are paid in advance, work will be totally caught up (hopefully), and volcanoes will stay quiet. I'll post again before we leave!

Pictured: The Netherlands Team who will head home in a week or two. See you soon!

World's biggest party, coming up ---

I'm borrowing this posting from another blog. This is happening the day we arrive --- can't wait!  

In Amsterdam

May 1, 2009 · Posted in Netherlands, sightseeing 

Amsterdam turns orange the last day of April.
In honor of their Queen’s birthday, or actually the Queen Mother’s birthday, Holland takes a spring break this day. Officially called Koninginnedag, it’s Holland national holiday for unity, and is celebrated also in the Dutch colonies of Antilles and Aruba. All in orange, in honor of the Dutch Royal Family, the House of Orange.

The festivities begin the night before, Queen’s night, as most outdoor squares begin hosting musicians on stages, and countless Dutch and international visitors begin filling the streets. Many streets are blocked to traffic, and the normally reliable trams are hamstrung by the crowds in the city center, so walking is your best bet. There’s no one central meeting place, but rather the party extends throughout the city, and through all of April 30th.

One of the modern aspects of this holiday, which began on the birthday of Princess Wilhelmina in 1885, that may be overlooked is the flea markets that pop up around the country. Everyone is allowed to sell freely on the streets, and for many, this is reason to try hawking items amassed during spring cleaning. Amazingly, the city is clean, if not quite sober, the morning of May 1st.
If looking to soak up alcohol, or just for some of the freshest meat sandwiches I’ve had, one place a friend took me worth mentioning is an adorable diner-like sandwich shop in the city center. The small meat sandwiches invite you to try them like tapas. Go there: Van Dobben, Korte Reguliersdwarsstraat 5-9.
Benjamin Thomas

We've got plans!

Whoo-hoo! We received our itinerary this week. And wow, the schedule is packed. We'll be hosted by several Rotary Clubs including the cities of Maastricht, Geleen, Venlo, Oss, Geldermalsen, and Zaltbommel (Google fun for you all). Our activities include both vocational and cultural events.
Here's a few of the activities on the agenda:

—Visiting the Sappi paper factory
—Excursion to a mining facility in Blegny, Belgium (it's an old coal mine that closed in 1980)
—Visiting the 2,000-year-old Roman city Aachen in Germany
—A river trip
—Bike tour to a brewery (that'll be fun getting home!)
—Visit the Gliding Club in Venlo
—Visit the gardens of Arcen Castle
—Visit Rotterdam
—Going to Nyenrode Business University
—Sailing trip and visiting Volendam
—Spa time at Thermen Lucaya (a personal favorite :-)
—Leisure bike tour (with pancakes, it says. Yum!)
—Exploring Amsterdam
—Cooking workshop in Zaltbommel
—Loevenstein Castle
—Visiting the city of Utrecht

We'll also be going to 8 Rotary Clubs to give our GSE presentation. We'll be staying with about 6 different host families (we're all going to different houses). And yes, there are a few open hours of free time. I think we'll be needing it to catch up on sleep ;-)

We're all getting excited --- just under three weeks before we leave! We have another meeting on April 16 to rehearse our presentation and to pass out the brochures, business cards, blazers, and jackets, assuming everything arrives by then. Oh, and I exchanged some dollars for Euros this week. Paying $1.44 for $1 in Euros is not cool. That's going to make for an expensive cup of Starbucks!