A Stroll Through The Streets Of Maastricht

With a stroll through the streets of Maastricht one realizes the charm of this small, historic city. With mainly traditional style buildings, cobblestone streets, small boutiques, pedestrian paths and an atmosphere of tradition mixed pleasantly with modernity, Maastricht is a beautiful city. With the warm sunshine that is present currently, it seems that most city inhabitants, when not in work, are enjoying their days outside. One comes across many packed outdoor cafes where people are leisurely sipping at beverages and relaxing. What is extremely noticeable in this city is the heavy use of bicycles. As was often the case in Copenhagen, it seems that in Maastricht the most efficient way to get around is by bike. There are nice size bike lanes on every street and bikes are constantly seen when you walk anywhere. Since I liked the presence of bikes in Denmark, I am glad to find biking as a norm here in the Netherlands.

The city streets are so cozy that it becomes hard to choose which photographs to share from a walk through the streets. With the prevalence of bicycles here it is only natural that to familiarize you with Maastricht a bicycle picture would be included. The street view picture is how a typical street looks in Maastricht, and is actually showing one of the bigger streets as one can see by the presence of a bus.When walking down the streets, it evokes a feeling that the buildings here have witnessed a great deal. In English there is the expression "if walls could talk"; in a place like Maastricht one can not help but wonder what they would have to say.

One of the things I already have grown to love is the outdoor cafes, filling city squares with laughter, and a sense of relaxation.A great example of this is the pedestrian area around city hall which is ringed with cafes. Everyone in such areas around the city are quite relaxed, friendly and cheerful. Though it is probably partially due to the warm summer days currently in Maastricht, it is quite welcoming to see such positivity during my first week here.

Despite my lack of Dutch, Maastricht has been an easy city to begin to explore. I am glad and lucky that my Masters program is in such a beautiful place.