Amazing Maastricht

We may have a short summer break (6 weeks) but our school tries to make up for it by taking an extra week off here and there. After this year I will let you know which school year I prefer (US or EU) but for now I am extremely glad for our Herfstvakantie (Autumn Break). We used it to rest, rejuvenate, and run around Maastricht. You won't get the same exercise from looking at these photos, but hopefully you can still get some of the delight.

Maastricht isn't just picturesque, it's full to the brim with history because it has had 'uninterrupted inhabitation' since Roman times. This wall for instance, was put in place by the Romans, but the Medieval inhabitants kept it up and added their own touches (like the tower). 

The oldest town gate in The Netherlands. This gate, called The Helpoort has been standing since the 1200's. How's that for Medieval? 

The outside is incredible, but what was more incredible to me was that the inside is still sound enough to house a museum and withstand the tourists that climb the stairs (according to the sign: at their own risk). 

If you stroll just around the corner from the Helpoort you will see this charming little avenue . . .

. . . and this delightful view. The red and white shutters are my favorite part of this picture, but the most impressive part of the picture is that those homes have been inhabited longer than the United States has been a country. On the right you can see a fragment of the Medieval wall. 

I have no idea how old this building actually is, but it seems to be playing up the Medieval theme of the town. 

And I'm not sure how many years this Roman has seen, but he's a great reminder of the town's origins. 

The observant among you have noticed the wrought iron 'x's on this building and the previous picture. In fact, the observant among you would have noticed them on many, many buildings through out Maastricht. I happen to be an observant one and so I tried to find the reason for them. The answer I found was: they hold the building together. 

????

There is a beam that runs along the house that then sticks out enough for an 'x' to loop it so that your house stays together. I'd think that it was pretty questionable engineering if the buildings hadn't been standing since the 1700's or so. 

This mill has been turning for a loooooong time. We watched its slow steady turn for a few minutes, then we went in search of the fruits of its labor. 

Spelled: vlaai. Pronounced: fly. Tasted: spectacular. 

This is a local bakery specialty and basically it is a shallow pie (this one happens to be apple/apricot) that all of the locals eat with their coffee. We only tried one bakery, but I think it is fairly safe to say that the mill ground wheat makes phenomenal vlaai crust. 

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In the heart of Maastricht there is the only 'sepulcher church' in The Netherlands. This means that is it the only church in The Netherlands to have been built on the grave of a saint of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. In 384 A.D. St. Servatius died and his grave made the spot 'holy' and centuries after his death the building of this big beautiful cathedral began. 

One of the entrances to the St. Servatius church. We're not in Protestant country here-- although the church is pre-protestantism. 

Unusual for churches in The Netherlands, but common for cathedrals, this church has a courtyard with an enclosed hallway that boxes it in. That's why there is light flooding in from the right hand side. 

A glimpse of the fresco ceiling. Another rarity in The Netherlands. 

Another entrance to the St. Serveas Cathedral, after touring Protestant churches in The Netherlands this is fairly awe-inspiring elaborate decoration. 

When you are a saint you have the chance that you will be immortalized in gold even though you may not actually look anything like the bust because people 600+ years after your death probably can't remember what you look like. 

Gold plated box for holding relics. 

Treasury display room in the Cathedral of St. Servatius, impressive for a place as small as Maastricht. Connected to it was a display of impressive old textiles and other interesting things like the graves beneath the church. 

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More to come . .  .

More Rotterdam

It is hard to find photography moments while going about the business of daily life, but on this evening we went to an old street of Rotterdam to find a restaurant and I remembered to take out the camera. 

Looking for a fine Turkish restaurant? Look no further, right across the street you can enter and feel like you are visiting Turkey for the length of a meal. 

The Euromast. 

It's Rotterdam's version of Seattle's Space Needle . . .  which means it's a little, well, a little less of everything, but if you like sleeping or dining way above ground it probably would appeal to you. It also makes for a great city landmark when you're not sure exactly where you are . . . but we wouldn't know anything about that sort of thing . . .

Did I also mention that it offers 'hanging-by-a-cable-off- the-highest-building-in-the-country' for those who are sick of the boring old solid ground. 

When we were underneath them we could tell that the one in the middle was the guide because he was the only one of the three who did not look like he regretted the decision to be dangling there. 

Look at Leiden

Leiden is only a 30 minute train ride from our home so we set aside a Saturday to return to Luke's beloved university town. It was a rainy Saturday but a fun Saturday. 

 

Classic Leiden: canal, bike and brick buildings. 

Two years and about 6 months later Luke had a chance he never thought he'd really have . . . to walk back to the building he stayed in, in Leiden. God works in astounding ways. 

We didn't go in, but there are still students living there and we had to take one more photo for evidence. 

I love this building. I can't get over the fact that people put so much beauty into a university chemistry building (now it has been converted into student housing and private apartments). 

House boats. They don't really travel, they just help diversify the real estate options in this very populated country. 

We can't visit Leiden without visiting a museum (or two) and this happens to be a shot of Leiden's new exhibit on archaeology finds in Netherlands soil. It is a fantastic, fascinating and creative exhibit. If you're in town you should be sure to take a look at it. 

De Burcht. 

That's it's name and the purpose was to be used as a save haven for the entire town of Leiden to take refuge in it in case of an attack or some other danger. It is long, long, long past being useful as a strong tower on the hill, on reason being that in my estimation Leiden would have to have a population under 1,000 inorder to fit them all in De Burcht. 

We decided to tour the Medieval fortress (de Burcht) as a way for us to find refuge . . . from the rain. Even though it doesn't actually have a roof. . .

While Leiden no longer needs de Burcht for safety reasons, it offers the best views of lovely Leiden. Keep scrolling, the best are yet to come. 

The church is quite dominant in these pictures, and after living in Europe for a couple of months I'm starting to grasp a tiny bit of how dominant church has been in their history  . . . the pews may be empty but the stones still stand as testimony that man longs to belong to something larger than himself. 

Just strolling along down memory lane. 

Food Fun

Let's face it, desserts are the best part of the meal and it's even better if they become a meal in themselves, so in case some of you are short on time while reading this post, you'll know you didn't miss out on the best parts. 

Strawberries and Nutella. The perfect partners, the strawberries were Holland grown and slightly tart, so the Nutella was the perfect contrast for their flavor. 

Just admire the beauty. 

This is evidence of our creativity. We bought some vanilla vla (custard) and it was rather bland so we designed a new dessert by swirling Nutella and strawberries in with it to make yumminess happen. 

I kept seeing people buy this in the grocery store and I kept thinking that it looked like such delicious and amazing pudding . . .

. . .  but I wasn't expecting this. Apparently the word "pudding" means something slightly, er, more stiff here. It was kind of like a mousse, airy jello, pudding. The flavors were great . . . the texture was just a bit too confusing, I'm glad I tried it, but I don't think it will be a repeat buy. 

Frambozen = raspberry. Vla = custard. I figured that combination was a safe one. Boy was I wrong. I should have known that something that shade of pink could only taste like one thing: Pepto - Bismol. 

And I mean EXACTLY like pepto-dismal---oops I mean pepto-bismal. 

Drooling yet? There are even more flavors but they are not regularly in the grocery store, so when I find a place that sells them I'll add to my collection. See any varieties that appeal to you? No promises, but let me know and I'll maybe, just maybe find a way to get one to you sooner or later. 

My recommendation? The caramel. It is exquisite.

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On to the main course. 

Mozzarella and pesto is a delicious frozen pizza combination. 

It's called wit loaf and this is what it looks like before you cook it. 

This is what it looks like after you have cooked it, dressed it with melted butter and paprika and added boiled eggs. Good old fashioned Dutch dish. This will be a regular on our menu. 

What is this? That's what we wondered when we saw it in the market and so we decided to try it. 

It turns out that it is called "piel de sapo", which my handy Spanish knowledge tells me means 'toad/frog's skin'. Isn't that appetizing?

This is what it looks like on the inside and when it is inside your mouth it just basically tastes like Honeydew Melon. 

If you want ethnic food in The Netherlands you've got to explore Indonesian. We did and we found some wonderful flavors. We are also keeping Conimex in business. 

A closer view of the noodles, veggies, atjar (pickled peppers), sambal (spicy pepper paste), and ketjap manis (a sweet sort of soy sauce), plus some rice chip like things for the side (kroepoek). If it doesn't sound good that's just because you don't have the wonderful smell under your nose to change your mind. 

MEXICAN FOOD! Actually, far from it, but it made some decent Tex-mex. We probably would never have bought these items in the U.S. but here they are a precious commodity gifted to us by our American co-worker. Her grocery store carries them and ours does not. 

We did our best to compile Mexican ingredients, including cilantro, and in the end we did pretty well, the only thing that was sorely lacking was the Mexican/cheddar cheese. We had to settle for Gouda cheese instead. 

Can you guess what this cooking experiment is?

Pannekoeken! We topped them with all sorts of things: we tried out every appetizing combination of peanut butter, nutella, banana, apple, jam, and butter that we could think of and we ended up so full of pannekoeken we could hardly move.

The restaurants add fruits and such to the batter while it is baking so we wanted to try as well. We still have a lot to learn about pannekoek making, but it was certainly edible. 

Soup in a bag might sound like a strange idea, but here there is a company that does it way better than the soup in a can alternative that we're used to. This particular tomato soup was not only bursting with flavor, it was also bursting with veggies and had a few tiny sausage surprises to spice it up. And what is tomato soup without some Gouda grilled cheese sandwiches?

Stampot. 

This is come in from the cold and fill your self with a bowl of comfort -- food. 

Where's the ketchup you might ask? Forget ketchup, the best way to eat fresh cut fries is with plenty of special mayo-like sauce and some curry goodness to top it off.