Congrats to the Maastricht Mooiste Runners

I’m pretty jealous of the folks who ran the 5K, 10K, and 15K races on Sunday in the Maastricht Mooiste. My hip isn’t better yet and it’s kept me out of my running shoes for 3 weeks and counting. When a lazy person like me gets a bit of exercise momentum, it really stinks to lose it. So instead of running, I went down to cheer on all the folks running. In particular I was there for the IWC women, about 10 of whom ran.

Maastricht Mooiste’s 5K & 10K started at 10 am, and the 15K began at noon (unfortunately when it was getting hot in the sun). I had run the 5K route a couple of times before being sidelined, and it really seemed like a minitour of Maastricht itself, with lots of right turns to take you though important parts of the old city. I’m told the 15K ran well out of the city and up two hills to bring runners through the countryside. I doubt I’ll be up to a 15K for a long time, but it sounds like it would make a good bike ride.

Back at the Markt square where everything began and ended, I had a good time watching the way people ran. Everyone has their own technique; some of which seem pretty efficient and others that appear quite silly. I noticed that lots of people sprinted the last bit of their run; trying to shave a couple of seconds off right at the end.

Maybe they were just after the vlaai.

Or, like this guy who ran the 10K, they forgot their shoes.

At the end of the day all the people I know finished their runs and seemed not particularly worse for wear. Footraces seem to be much more interesting once you’ve been involved a little in the sport.

Congratulations to all the IWC runners (and the pair of gentlemen I know)!

Explore the Maastricht Underground

This article was originally published at Maastricht Region: to Live.

As the weather gets slowly warmer, I encourage you to share in an old tradition and go explore the caves of Maastricht. You’ll be able to keep cool, learn a bit of history, and view a variety of remarkable graffiti and art dating back generations. If you’re afraid of the dark, don’t forget to bring your own flashlight. It’s dark.

Grotten Zonneburg

Grotten Zonneburg was the first cave I visited in Maastricht, and it remains my personal favorite. Located just outside the city by Buitengoed Slavante, Slavante 1 on St. Pietersburg, Zonneburg is actually a cavernous mine where people have been digging the local marl stone since the Roman Empire. As time and technology wore on, people were able to dig deeper and in more layers, resulting in the twisty and confusing space you can now visit. The Zonneburg cave has also been used for growing mushrooms and as a hiding place from invading armies all the way up to World War II. The generations of graffiti and art alone is worth the visit. You can join a guided tour in English from July 2nd until September 4th at 1.50 pm. Tours are also available in Dutch and German.

Grotten Noord

Like Zonneburg, Grotten Noord is a marl cave dug out over generations. In fact, it is all part of the same network of caverns, although the two areas are blocked from each other today. Located by café Chalet Bergrust, Luikerweg 71, Noord is a slightly smaller cave, but the tour offers plenty of different information. With this tour you can learn more about the dinosaur fossils that have been discovered in Maastricht over the years. And you can see where Napoleon’s men attempted (and failed) to blow up the St. Pietersburg Fort. Tours for Grotten Noord can be had in English from April 30th – July 1st, Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm; June 2nd, 11th-13th at 2 pm; and September 5th – October 30th, Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm. Again Dutch and German tours are offered as well.

Kazematten

The Kazematten is a different kind of cave. Instead of an elaborate mining shaft, it is a network of defensible tunnels running beneath Maastricht that were once considered vital to the protection of the city. During sieges, the tunnels could be used to surprise the enemy or to hide civilians. After World War II, a small fallout shelter was built in the kazematten in order to protect some citizens against a potential nuclear war. The remains of the shelter can still be seen. Regular Kazematten tours are in Dutch only, but you can arrange for an English language group tour.

Want more information about these fun, underground experiences? Check out Maastricht Underground.

Texel: Holiday Vacation or Writing Retreat

Welcome to Texel (pronounced ”tessel”; or something like that) where they produce all the annual wind for the Netherlands. Oh, and lots of sheep products too. Dan and I took advantage of a string of four days free to finally this pastoral island way in the North.

I went thinking it was a vacation, with writing retreat on the side. Dan had the opposite idea. Fortunately we came to a compromise that resulted in a bit of writing before breakfast, about an hour at lunch, and until bedtime after dinner. In between we explored the varied environment and bike paths of Texel.  Here’s some highlights:

Biking

Bikes are the way to get around Texel and on some of the other Wadden Island, they are pretty much your own option. We rented bikes in the port and petalled 20 km to our B&B on the other end of the island. The bike paths are great and weave through the polder, woods, and dunes equally.

De Cocksdorp

De Cocksdorp is the little village we stayed in during out long weekend. It’s a bit touristy, but further from the port than pretty much everything else and not next to swimming beaches. That makes it a bit less obvious in its touristy-ness. According to Wikipedia, 70% of Texel’s income is tourism, so when Dan & I guessed that at least 50% of the houses were probably for visitors we were probably underestimating. De Cocksdorp itself is a bit out of the way for visiting the island throughly, but it was really cute.

Lots of people in De Cocksdorp (and the rest of Texel) spoke primarily Dutch and German. Fortunately enough people spoke enough English, that we didn’t have any problems. It was a little funny to have people automatically assume I was German when I looked confused. A little funny, but not terribly helpful. I’m glad I know a bit of Dutch.

Lighthouse

On the northern point of Texel is a red lighthouse. It’s mostly remarkable for being 2 lighthouse; one inside the other. The interior one was damaged in WWII. After the war, the island rebuilt around it to preserve it. We’ve not sure, but we think it is still used as some sort of radar tower. We didn’t notice a light coming from it, but it didn’t get dark until 10:30pm and by then we were in our room.

Beaches

One of the biggest draws of Texel is their huge beaches. The sand is wide and white and frankly beautiful. Dan forgot his bathing suit and it was a bit cold for actual swimming, but we did go walking along the water a couple of time. The sand is so soft that if feels like walking on custard/oopeck might.

De Sulfter

In addition to the polder which dominates the center of the island, Texel also boasts large protected areas of dunes, salt marshes, woods, marshes, etc. De Sulfter was my favorite. It is a failed land reclemation project where the Dutch were unable to completely drain the water. Today its a major mating area for the islands many birds. De Sulfter, like many other protected areas, is literally protected with electric fencing.

Seals

Ecomare is a seal sanctuary where they raise and heal seals so they can return to the wild. Naturally some cannot return and so have a permanent place at the sanctuary. They were under construction during our visit (yay, discount), so some of their critters were off-sight but it was cool to visit a sanctuary. Ecomare also has a small nature museum (kind of lame), and a small aquarium with awesome glowing jellyfish (which you can’t pet of course), and a small spiny ray (that you could).

Sheep!

There are lots of domesticated animals on Texel, but they are best known for the sheep. The sheep were out just about everywhere and we tasted the local dishes. The lamb stoofpot was pretty good. Sheep cheese? Not so much. It takes a bit dry and plastic.

Sports Pub

I suspect that there is a magical connection between expats and Irish pubs (or at least sports pubs). We happened upon one in Den Burg while hunting for a good meal to make up for an hour of pushing a flat bicycle across the extremely windy polder. Their baked mussels plate was really good and really reasonably price. A Dutch gentleman was busking nearby and it was pretty funny to listen to him butcher American oldies.

On Sunday we had a bit of struggle getting back off the island, since we wanted to get up and eat well before the rest of the island. Naturally nothing was open and we had to get back to Den Berg where we’d left Dan’s bike with the flat. As it turned out when we called the rental shop, we could have exchanged it for a new bike right in town the night before. Annoying, but at least we didn’t have to bike the 15 km back to De Cocksdorp in the wind. We ate breakfast, swapped the bike, and petalled back to the port and back to real life.

Online Discounts in Maastricht

I’m not usually one for these sorts of discount websites, but since I actually made use of one, I figured I’d share.

GroupOn

I’m probably the last person to jump on the Group-on bandwagon, but I originally signed up hoping to get some restaurant discounts. Unfortunately I haven’t made use of their service yet as most of the vouchers seem to be for things just outside Maastricht. I have, however, seen several vouchers for driving lessons (which can be quite expensive here) and for more expensive things like Lasik eye surgery. Groupon’s Dutch website is in Dutch only, but you can use Google Translate to get an approximation.

SocialDeal

I actually purchased and used two vouchers through SocialDeal so we could go out to high tea. I’ve been more impressed with their offerings as they tend to be more Maastricht specific. Since I’ve only been following this site for a week, we’ll have to see if that trend continues. SocialDeal’s Dutch website is available in both Dutch and English.

Tell Maastricht to keep funding Crossroads Magazine.

One for the Ladies: IWC South Limburg

This article was originally published at Maastricht Region: to Live.

One of the most isolating parts of living abroad can be not having a job in a new country where your partner is working. While this issue is hardly exclusive to women, we are often the member of a relationship who “trails”. It’s from this experience that groups like the International Women’s Club of South Limburg was born. Such groups provide a wide variety of activities and connections that can make a new place your home. Today the IWC South Limburg boasts a 188 women membership and supports women from all walks of life; both expat women from aboard and Dutch women who have returned to the region after their own expat experience.

 

The IWC is, at its core, about making friends and sharing in experiences that allow us to interact with each other and our new community. Members meet once a month at the club meetings in Cadier en Keer and can also host and attend other events throughout each month. Members are also organized into smaller groups based on their location, so women who live nearby each other can plan activities together.

Starting perhaps a year ago, the IWC has had a “Juniors” group, which focuses somewhat more on younger women, many of whom also work and just generally have different interests that you might typically expect. As part of the Junior group, members meet every month for First Friday drinks (partners welcome), to run together, and go for ladies’ movie nights.

 

Personally I joined the IWC late (2 years after we moved here!), but I have really enjoyed having access to this community of women. Sometimes it’s nice to step into an environment where I don’t have to worry as much about language or culture; because we all are accustom to working outside our own expectations. The Juniors club, in particular, has drawn me into the IWC with the running group and regular meet-ups in the evenings or on weekends. Meeting people from so many places and in such different parts of their lives is also fascinating and fun.

If you’re a woman and curious about the IWC, please check out their website. Or attend one of the monthly newcomers evenings. Sorry guys, I don’t think there is an equivalent club for you.

Please don’t forget to support expat resources in the region. Sign my petition to find funding for and re-open Crossroads Magazine.

 

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