A Friday Afternoon in Maastricht

Every town in the Netherlands has what they call 'market day', where traditional market is held in front of the city's town hall. In Maastricht, market days fall on Wednesday and Friday. 

Fitri loves the market, while I --mostly buy my groceries in Albert Heijn or Aldi--- have never gone there. So when she told she loves spending time buying fresh ingredients at the market, I asked if I could come with her. Fitri said yes, and we later set up the date on Friday. Fitri doesn't have classes on Friday and I could really use a short break from my thesis.

The market is full with fresh ingredients including fresh beautiful flowers. The sellers there are nice and friendly, I enjoyed our little chat with them. 

Afterward, I met Cumaziye and Denitsa at a cafe in front of Selexyz bookstore. We were laughing all the time. It was a Friday well-spent.

Maastricht Carnaval

Add caption

Easter is coming and Maastricht --once was a Catholic city in Holland-- was throwing the city's famous carnival last Sunday.

I picked up Agnes near Centraal Station at 2. She was coming from Utrecht because partly because I invited her to stay at my place, partly because she heard that Maastricht Carnaval is of course...one of the biggest and famous in Holland. 

From what I heard, Maastricht is not the only city throwing a Carnaval before Easter. There are several other Catholic cities in Holland throwing similar pre-Easter Carnaval. But Maastricht is the great one, people from all over the Netherlands mostly opt to go see Maastricht's other than the one in Neijmegen or Arnhem.

We was walking toward St. Servaas when I heard someone calling. It was Mone, he was with Rio and Billy. Later in the afternoon, we were joined by Kenneth, Brian and Steve. 

After standing for hours, we all agreed to have a drink in a bar & eateries around St. Servaas. Being Indonesian, most of us went for Chocomel (noted by the waitress with a roll in her eyes...), while Brian and Kenneth went for beer.

We had a good time there, it was already dawn when we stepped out from the bar.

Na-Da-Na-Da Maastricht Winterland

After Vienna's Christmas Market, Maastricht's Kerstmarkt "Maastricht Winterland" seems so petite and simple. But at least it has a cool Ferris Wheel.

My new flat mates turned to have the same thinking as I do, so on one Thursday evening, we agreed to go visiting Maastricht's Kerstmarkt together.There were eight of us girls and boys, all of us were International students with minimum experience for Holiday season in Holland. So we took every chance to get the taste of it: taking a ride on that Ferris Wheel, ate ginger bread, bought candies and tried several traditional winter beverages available.

We enjoyed the Winterland so much we almost missed the last bus to Vijvardale.

Vijvardale 10

I consider myself lucky to get a room in Vijvardale 10. The place was an old building bought by the university and turned into a student dorm. 

So the place is a bit used but it has an elevator, and I am lucky enough to live in one of the nicest floor, 2nd floor room 102. 

Located a little far from the Centruum and might be the only one in the building who cannot ride a bike, I now depend a lot on Bus number 10 and 51.

Good thing there is a nice Albert Heijn around 10 minutes walk from where I live.

Another good thing is I now have fellow Indonesians living in the same building as I do...Mone, Billy, Diena and ka Wulan. Sweet!

Student Flat Experience

When I first arrived in Maastricht, my cousin's close friend Batty picked me up at Schipol and took me to Brouwersweg 100, the address of Maastricht University guesthouse where everything is nice and decorated in Ikea-esque manner.

However, I have to share bathrooms and 2 toilets down the hall with like 10 other people and the cleanliness of the toilet after 5 PM became a serious issue for me. Not to mention I got an unfriendly roommate from Singapore who likes cooking but hates cleaning and whose side of bed was so messy it hurts my eyes.

Well I do can be very high-maintenance when it comes to cleanliness. That's when I decided to find another room in different part of the city that I like, Centraal Station area. In a short notice --and in the middle of a busy week-- I got a room in Heugemerweg. Fourth floor with no elevator, and another shared toilet and kitchen. It's like an apartment but with no living room and no television. I lived with fellow students from Korea, Spain, Serbia and two girls from Milan. One of them is a lesbian with a shy Dutch girlfriend. Both of them have high cheekbones and cool pixie haircut. Stylish!

But one my roommates (I'm not sure which one) also has a serious hygiene issue. When one day I came to a smelly toilet and turned out someone was not doing his/her flush properly...well, that's when I decided to get a room a bit far from the Centruum with my own toilet and my own bathroom,Vijvardale 10.

On my last day,  while waiting for the guesthouse car to arrived, I went to Bonnefanten Museum, the one and only art museum in Maastricht with a very nice gift shop and cafe.

Nights

Darling, they can have their universe
We'll be in the dirt designing stars...

These photos were taken on my way home from the Centrum after meeting Olivia for a nice simple dinner at McDonalds :). I always love the small alleys in Maastricht's Centrum. Maastricht is truly a pretty kind, and looking even more special during nightfall.