A day in Maastricht...

Maastricht is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands and the Roman walls around the city were built before the first century. A historic city, Maastricht has many old structures including the Romanesque Church of Our Lady (11th century), a 13th-century bridge across the Maas, and the town hall (17th century). Maastricht has the oldest church in the Netherlands, the Cathedral of St. Servatius, founded in the 6th century.

The city has still a lot of old buildings, cathedrals, parks and the city centre is still filled with old cobblestones instead of paved streets. A typical Dutch sight.

Tons of tourists from all over the world come and visit this quaint little city with 120.000 inhabitants. Not much if you compare it to other cities in different countries. But a medium sized city in our country.

My dad lives about 30 minute drive from Maastricht and we went today to shop, eat and wander around...

Opa with the girls on the Market Square in Maastricht.

Everybody parks their bike on the side and then walks into the city centre.

Old historical buildings everywhere. And the brown door on the right is the entrance to an old church, converted to a....

Book Store!! No kidding! Dating back to the 13th century, the structure was a Dominican church until Maastricht was invaded by Napoleon in 1794 and the group was forced out of the country. Since that point it has been briefly used as a parish, then a warehouse, then an archive, then a giant parking lot for bicycles (not such a terrible idea) and finally made over into a bookstore.

A typical shopping street in Maastricht, with the cobble stones.

Wooden Shoes are everywhere for sale.

A typical Dutch snack food: kroket mostly eaten with french fries, which we did!

Market day on the square and people sitting outside having some coffee or lunch, a lot of activities all around.

Typical houses around the market square, you will see this in the older cities all over Holland.

Old & New mix well in Holland, here a funky car, small but cute!

Another great day in Holland!
More to follow...
Mireille xx