Unexpected outbreak of sun

A sudden hail storm, with a glimmer of sunlight:

was followed by equally sudden beautiful weather:

It turns out that hail on cobblestones is really loud.

Maybe I won’t miss the frenetic Texas weather changes after all.

-Hendrik

Pay Day!

It is pay day and things are looking up. Firstly, they actually managed to pay me this month, which is good (and was somewhat in question). Secondly, we found an apartment, which is very good! It is in the Ceramique neighborhood of Maastricht and it is relatively large, relatively new, and relatively affordable. We move in in mid February so hopefully our things will be through customs by then. After that we will have the joy of shopping for a washer, dryer, and oven, as well as wardrobes and dressers since closets do not seen to be a thing here. The apartment also has a sunroom/balcony which I am looking forward to turning into a cozy greenhouse/sitting area.

-Nancy

The shenanigans continue

The strange Carnaval stuff continues:

A marching band, statue, and crowd of increasingly drunk people went back and forth across the neighborhood for hours. There was preacher-like singing and speeches in Dutch the whole way.

-Hendrik

PS here he is again passing our apt:

Schnee, Schnee, die Flocken fliegen und bleib liegen!

Hendrik and I woke up this morning in time to watch a snowy sunrise. Today there was enough snow that it stayed on the ground!

By the time we went to our first appointment to view apartments, people had already built snowmen on every street!

We also learned where to drop off our recycling and went to a flea market. On our way home we found additional evidence that Maastricht takes Carnaval very seriously: a Carnaval themed snowman!

Now we must decide between a large modern apartment and a smaller charming old apartment. Even with the aid of a list of pro’s and con’s, it is proving difficult.

Pizza & apartments

We had pizza for a friend’s birthday with a bunch of Americans:

Billed as the best pizza in Maastricht (it was very good, from a place otherwise packed with undergraduates).

I’ve started looking into apartments here. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to pricing, the amenities provided, etc. The realtors and apartment companies appear bizarrely uninterested in making money (everything is so inefficient). This would be stressful if we didn’t have such a large flexible window to look.

Fort Sint Pieter and Crowning the Prince of Carnaval

Maastricht:

 

Cows and tulips on the building across the street from us (left)! While we were lost on top of the city wall, we discovered a group of people filming some sort of battle reenactment with the old city walls as a backdrop (right).

  

Hendrik on top of the old city wall (left). The old wall (right).

 

The pedestrian bridge (left). The gate in the old city wall, known as the Hellport (right).

A shipping barge on the Maas (left). A pond by the old city wall (right).

Views from Fort Sint Pieter:

 

Fort Sint Pieter:

Parade for crowning the Prince of Carnaval:

      

At least 20 different marching bands marched past our apartment on Sunday (some of them twice). If this is how they celebrate the preparations for Carnaval, I can’t wait for the real parties to start.

The days are getting longer

It was still a little light out when I left work just after five today. However, it was still freezing cold at the bus stop..

My building behind the trees.

Another DSM building in Sittard near the train station.

Friday maarkt

There’s always a fun market in one of the city squares on Fridays.

We might go explore the dreilandpunkt where Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands meet this weekend.

Bowling in a Castle

This week at work I am taking part in a training program that teaches employees about all of the different aspects of our products (held only once a year). I am lucky that I started just in time to be able to participate in it. The organizers planned an evening program that included dinner and bowling. To my surprise, the bowling alley was inside a castle!

Kasteel Limbricht

The white whale

After twice failing to find it, my jog this morning finally took me to Fort Sint Pieter:
http://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Sint_Pieter
You wouldn’t think it would be hard to find the only hill in town, but, well, it’s not a big hill. It is really nice to see how quickly you get out of the city into open countryside – only 10 minutes of running starting in the city center.

-Hendrik