Blogs from Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands, Europe

After the heat of the past few days, today’s drizzle and lower temperature of 18C are very welcomed here. A perfect day to drive to Maastricht, check out some museums and walk around a bit. Maastricht is located in the province if Limburg at the very south of the Netherlands. It’s a beautiful old city, dating back to Roman times. There’s even Roman ruins although we did not visit those today. It’s location on the River Maas (Meuse in French) makes for a great setting including boat tours, commercial shipping and entertainment along its banks. Today there was a kadefeest (party on the river bank) going on with a live band, lots of beer, and everyone being out, young and old, in the rain! The band was from Belgium and they were pretty good. Don’t ask ... read more

Our destination today was the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands cheesy Limburg region. But our route mostly followed the route taken by Allied forces beginning on September 17, 1944 in the heroic and disastrous Operation Market Garden. This actually consisted of two actions: the largest airborne drop ever used to capture multiple bridges along the route of advance (Operation Market) and a ground advance up the only road using the airborne troops as a carpet (Operation Garden). The airborne forces had to take 6 bridges nearly simultaneously. Although it would be best if all bridges were captured intact, a considerable amount of bridging material was made available. The airborne forces were to include the US 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions, the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, and the British 1st Airborne Division (in order from ... read more

Geo: 50.8512, 5.69154OK, so this mornings mission was to find yet another post office. Why? Because in my efficient packing in Amsterdam I somehow managed to pack the TV remote from the last hotel. Why? I don't know, some kind of brain freeze. I've now gone from leaving stuff in hotels to unintentionally flogging stuff. After consulting google I took to the streets. Google listed 2 offices, which I couldn't find. So I went to the tourist office. They gave me directions and said AKO. Righto, that should be easy. Nope nothing. Finally in frustration I asked a random shopkeeper who explained they don't have a post office, but down the road third street to the right was a magazine shop, AKO, who provide postal services. Finally found it! Only took two hours out of my ... read more

Hey all, I am sorry I haven’t written in over a month! I have literally been traveling and haven’t had time to write. The biggest trip I did since the last time I wrote was to Cologne, Germany. As soon as I got off the train, the large gothic dome cathedral (SOOOO tall) greeted me, just outside the the train station. Erica (a girl in my program whom I went to Ireland with) and I were on a mission to find beer and sausage, and these two things we did find, at a local specialty restaurant. After lunch, we spent the afternoon hopping from church to museum, and occasionally stopping for a warm drink (it’s been sooo cold lately). Later in the afternoon we met up with Alex, a girl that I went to high school ... read more

Well, I am off on a new adventure. This time trying to mix practical skills, formal education, AND travel. Let me first start off by saying that this is the first blog I have ever written. I thought it would be a cool way for my family and friends to track where I am and what I am doing. Right now, I am sitting in the business class lounge at the Vancouver airport, ready for a new start at a new school, entering into the second semester of my Masters of Science in Global Health. I don't always travel this way. In fact, my first significant traveling experience brings back memories of traveling on rickety old trains in India for 60 hours, sleeping on a wooden bench, sharing my seat with three other people during the ... read more