Adventures with Camp Adventure!: 2014

Day Trip #2!

Maastricht is a biggish city like 30 minutes from Brunssum, with a ton of shopping. Apparently it is a college town. There was so many places to shop and we barely saw any of it. I would compare it to shopping in downtown Seattle but way less sketchy. I kept thinking how much fun my mom, sisters and I would have! We did have fun though, we didn't do much research before we left so we again didn't have a plan of what to do. We also realized that nothing opens early anywhere, we got there at like 9 and walked the empty streets until noon, when everything opened up. They did have some restaurants and we sat and had espresso waiting for everything to be open!

One of the main attractions was this cathedral and we went in and saw that, which was very pretty. We saw some ceremony happen in the gardens, which was neat but I didn't actually know what they were doing :)

Once the shops opened up we were able to shop around a little - I got a nail cube that I was sold on, and some hand lotion. My hands are really dry from the constant washing at work so this was a must have. - Seriously though, I must wash my hands 30 times during the 9 hr period I work. I also went into a store that was the exact same thing as H&M and it was right next to a real H&M and got a t shirt there!

We also went shopping at a flee market right by one of the town squares, and I got my brother a gift, I'm super excited about! I'm not sure if I will be able to wait all summer to tell him about it! There was no Starbucks in this city :( I was attempting to not buy anything and save for bigger cities and trips I will be taking this summer!

So gorgeous here!

I'm not sure why, but I'm obsessed with alley ways here, They're so clean!

Jump Shot!

Orange! Hup Holland!

Feeling very European

Don't know lol

We actually don't know what that building is either, but we sat and had lunch on those steps.

My first doner! It's shredded lamb meat, in a wrap, with other yummies! It was good, but I hear they're the best in Germany.

Train Station

Today was absolutely crazy, and amazing! I can't believe our luck...

Our first day trip was recommended by a coworker. It is a nearby city just over the border in Germany. We only had one hiccup in our travel plans and got to the bus stop an hour early at 6:03 am, when one Saturday the earliest it comes is 7:03, but other than that our 30 minute train ride was a breeze.

We went with no real plan. just to go and get lost in the city! When we got off the train we just started walking saw signs for the "Zentrum" and headed that way. It was early for the city I'm assuming because the streets were dead, but we walked until we saw a park and stopped to take pictures with a "castle" in the background. We knew it was probably a church so we started to walk towards it, the architecture was phenomenal.We really wanted to see the inside and went to look for the entrance, and saw people waiting for a service to be over and right before it was people started to walk in and we followed. I couldn't get over the beautiful details, design, and colors of the mosaic in the Cathedral. We noticed people were starting to line up for something so we sorta just shuffled in as well, not really knowing what we were in for. After being in the line for like 15 minutes a little boy mentions that we will be seeing Mary's Robe. In the Cathedral they keep all the items we saw today in a beautiful gold plated container. Along with Mary's robe we saw, the swaddling cloth Jesus wore when he was in the manger, John the Baptist head cloth that he had covering his head when he was beheaded, Jesus' loincloth that he wore when he was crucified on the cross. There was also three vessels there with Mary and Jesus' robe ropes in the left and middle vessel, and on the right it held the whip that slashed Jesus. It was shocking that we just happen to stumble on this - they only take out the artifacts once every seven years, and people from all around the world come to see them. It was amazing, I was speechless. Later that day two of the girls in our group who are Catholic went back to try and get Rosary beads blessed but the line was crazy long, I still can't believe the timing and luck we had to witness what we did.

We were kind of in a daze of shock after we left, and started venturing through the city again it was just such an amazing experience. We shopped a little, admired the Aachen Cathedral from all angels. I started my Starbucks mug collection, that had the Cathedral on it, which I was very excited about. We went and sat in a park and enjoyed the sun, and later had lunch where I got a little taste of the German culture with a Schnitzel and potatoes, it was very delicious - The waitress here was my first real encounter with someone who didn't speak English. I also later tried and shared a HUGE ice cream that was also crazy good, just relaxing in the sun with a now filled city.

It was a very fun trip, the city was beautiful and filled with history! I feel so lucky to have experienced today, can't wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for us!