Hey, do you know what comes behind Maastricht? What does the area look like leave this beautiful city? So far, I only relied on the rumours, spread by students who live on the other side of the Dutch-Belgium border, but now I gained some first hand information! If you leave the centre by train you get a good overview of the surroundings of Maastricht. Coming from Munich, I do not know Limburg at all and in my first weeks I only stayed in the city itself. But after my first exam I had a weekend free of studying and decided to make a trip to Brussels. The fun began when I got on the train and noticed a wild variety of languages: Dutch, French, German. Than there was also some very strange-sounding Dutch, French with a funny accent and, the closer I got to Brussels, no German any more! After two months in Maastricht, I had the impression of being in a foreign country for the first time. Not being surrounded by German speaking people was an unfamiliar feeling. In Liège I needed to change trains and if you ever get there I really advise you to bring your camera and take a picture of the extraordinary futuristic train station with its impressive glass roof.
After about two and a half hours a friend of mine and me arrived in Brussels and walked to the Old Market in the city centre. It is a nice place to get lost, wandering around randomly. As we wanted to see the buildings of the European Union we bought tickets for the metro. This took us about half an hour, because the Belgish vending machine would not take paper notes and the maestro card did not work either. Why is it, that the “capital” of the European Union puts up machines that don’t accept the European Cheque-Card! In terms of establishing a sense of European common identity this behaviour is not to be seen as a role model! Anyway, the area around the Parliament is a little frustrating on a Saturday afternoon because it looks like a ghost city. The offices are empty and there is no good reason to spend your time in this part of the city, which lacks any sense of atmosphere. But thank God, Brussels has more to offer: the Atomium looks really fancy and we had Belgium beer in a cute street café where you could sit outside in sun chairs.
All in all, I strongly recommend leaving Maastricht on a weekend and explore its surroundings! When I came back at night and arrived at the station, I had, for the first time, the feeling of “coming home to Maastricht” which was pretty nice, because in that moment I noticed how much I have already identified myself with my new home town.