11-25-14: Travelling with Miki by EURail and Studying abroad in Maastricht

Dear Family and Friends,

I actually can't believe I haven't posted since we were in Africa.... I honestly thought I had posted something more recently than that. Anyways I'll give you the brief overview of everything (it's quite a lot) that I've been doing since July.

For those of you who don't know, after we left South Africa, I parted ways with my family in Amsterdam International Airport so I could start my adventure in Europe - Studying abroad in Maastricht, Netherlands. It's my second to last semester of my college career and in March I will graduate with a Bachelor of Sciences in Marine Biology. I'll be walking in June (for those of you who plan to come the date is June 13, 2014 - but more on that later).

So when I first arrived in NL, one of my best friends, Miki, came out to meet me for a 2 week trek around western europe by EURail.
We visited:
1. Amsterdam, Netherlands
2. Frankfurt, Germany
3. Interlaken, Switzerland
4. Basel, Switzerland
5. Paris, France
6. London, England
7. We then parted ways in Amsterdam

Miki sitting on an Amsterdam canal

Miki and Me after jumping in the freezing cold lake in Interlaken, Switzerland.

Miki and I's new Aussie friend who we went on an expedition to the Trummelboch Falls near Interlaken, Switzerland with. 

Gelato in Paris!

At the Louvre, Paris, France.

Hanging out with Big Ben, London, UK

After I said goodbye to Miki in Amsterdam, I prepared to start my Study Abroad semester at University College Maastricht in Maastricht, Netherlands. Maastricht is a 'small' town of about 120,000 people situated on the river Maas/Meus. It dates back to the Romans who used to use Maastricht as a convenient place to cross the rive Maas/Meus. The name literally means 'the place where we cross over the Maas'. The old retaining walls of the city are somewhat still intact, including a section that has remained standing since 1229, making it one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. It's geographic location makes it a perfect jumping off point for the rest of Europe, and today even has signs around town saying "Maastricht: Meet Europe". I am about 2 hours by train away from Brussels, Belgium, an hour away from Cologne, Germany, and 2.4 hours away from Amsterdam. What has made this experience particularly amazing is the low cost of travel in the non-summer months. In October and November I travelled 7/9 weekends. Each roundtrip flight ticket (without checked luggage) only cost me about 50 euros and the hostels are typically 10-30 euros per night. This made travel unbelievably easy (albiet not always comfortable). I say if you think you can't afford a trip to Europe, and you really want to go, think again. It's not money holding you back. The whole thing could easily cost you $1000/person if you bargain hunt the right plane ticket and pack light. Most people I know spend more than that for a cruise, a trip to Hawaii, Las Vegas, what have you. There is no reason not to go to Europe, other than you might not have the conventional pleasures we're used to on our vacations. I'll probably make another post over Christmas about how I 'did' Europe and what tricks I learned on how to save money.
Anyways this is Maastricht:

Maastricht's location in the Netherlands.
(We're about 5 minutes from Belgium and 20 minutes from Germany).

The large Catholic church. (There are 2 churches that are side by side each other in Maastricht, the Catholic and the Protestant churches. Maastricht was more heavily influenced by Catholicism due to its proximity and history of conquering by France, Spain, and Germany. But the Dutch have been famous for being predominantly protestant - the result was when the Dutch reconquered Maastricht, instead of forcing all of it's inhabitants to become Catholic, they demanded that half of the churches become Protestant. The Catholics painted the tower 'Hell' red and gave it to the Protestants, the Catholics then named the road between these two churches 'purgatory'). 

That old wall I was talking about, Helport. (1229)

More of the old wall.

The river Jeker. UCM is situated along this creek.

One of the main squares - Marketsplein. In the background, the city goverment building.
My two University of California friends here with me, Sam, and my roommate Laraine. 

The river Maas, and Maastricht being perfect.

A view of Maastricht from a winery that is on the border of Belgium
(We really aren't that far from Belgium).

During my first 3 weeks in Maastricht, I was in a Dutch Culture and Language course with 15 other University of California students from all of the different campuses. We became very close very quickly, and we quickly became a group that traveled everywhere together, partied together, and studied together.

One of our first trips together. Aachen, Germany.

The 16 of us in Amsterdam at the Iamserdam sign with the Rijksmuseum behind us. I think this is the only picture of all of us together! 

This will be all for this post! I'll post the next one about all the travelling I've been doing since I've been studying abroad!