12 March 2012

Maastricht I

Back home after a week away. I've recovered from the cold I came down with at the tail end of my trip only to skip feeling better and land right in the middle of the most ridiculous hay fever ever. Yes, I know, poor me.

The trip was initiated by the great present-day initiator of outings, Groupon. I met up with a classmate from those once upon a time university days and two of her more recent acquaintances to complete the foursome for the two twin rooms voucher at the Hotel Randwyck.

We spent our first half-day wandering around and absorbing Maastricht in general. This is incidentally also how we spent our second half-day. Sorry to spoil the next post so soon.

Firstly it should be noted that the whole "Dutch people cycle" stereotype exists for a reason—they really do cycle. I think I consciously started including an active cyclist in most photographs, and this wasn't hard to do. They also ride mopeds without helmets, which is... interesting? They do these things while looking generally rather stylish in fantastic coats and boots. The memento I bought was a natural choice: nijntje op de fiets, or in English, miffy's bicycle. I bought the book in one of the best places I've ever been in—a bookstore in a church. If you're a regular reader of this blog (hi, Gran!) you might understand how that's a collision I'm very appreciative of. You can see more about Selexys Dominicanen on inhabitat.

And you can see more of our wanderings below. If you're looking for an odd yet humorous way to raise funds, go hang out in your town square and charge people €1 to try and toss an egg into a cup attached to your hat. If they get one in, they receive a bonus egg to pelt you with. We gave up after €2, but we definitely wouldn't have donated anything if there was no silly game involved. I honestly don't even know what they were raising funds for.


Cool books seen in the bookstore-in-a-church included the adorable Mama kwijt by Chris Haughton (Dutch edition on Amazon.de and YouTube | English editions on Amazon.com), the intriguing PERCEEL NR. 235. Encyclopedie van een volkstuin by Anne Geene (see a pdf preview bly clicking "Bekijk"), and the potentially interesting Behind the Zines: Self-publishing Culture.

More after another 1000 sneezes, tomorrow.

No comments:

Post a Comment