All Aboard! Cruise on the Maas

In Maastricht, a city named for Trajectum ad Mosam (passage through the Maas), the lure of the waters of the river Maas is undeniable. On a sunny day the waters glisten just so, and people seem to flock to cafes on the waters edge.

On such a sunny day in early October, Ole, Birgitte and I headed to the water's edge and booked a cruise on the river, complete with a tour of some of the connecting canals. The Maas, with its 1000km, has been a useful river for shipping and therefore many canals were created to develop even more shipping paths. With different water levels between the river, and the various canals our boat had to pause to go through the various locks, adjusting water levels, on the way.



Bonnefante Museum

At the beginning of October, I got a tremendous Birthday present in the form of Ole and Birgitte coming to visit me in Maastricht. Besides celebrating the addition of another year to my life experience, the three of us spent time together exploring Maastricht. With the intensity of the Masters program I am in, I had not had a plethora of time to spend being a tourist, so this was a great opportunity for me to get to know the city which I am currently calling home. One of the places that we visited was the Bonnefante Museum. With its distinctive building by Aldo Rossi, which can be seen from the water, the Bonnefante Museum had unspoken promise of revealing a different side to Maastricht.

In this art museum there are classic paintings and sculptures by the masters while at the same time there are a myriad of more Contemporary exhibits.

I have always had a love for art, and have been known to spend hours in museums, so I was excited to get to see this museum which is famous around Maastricht. As always, I am lucky that I was given the opportunity to explore a different area of the world with Ole and Birgitte.