Day 62: (Sat) Border crossing
Was a lovely sunny day so the guesthouse gang (this time consisting of Nakita, Katie, Kathleen and I) decided to take the challenge and cycle to Belgium. Now, before you drop your jaw in shock and admiration for our cycling prowess, I must confess, its only about an 8 minute ride to the "so-called" border! You go round the back of the guesthouse, follow the road past a few housing developments (think small-scale, euro version of Mawson Lakes for those at home), past a corn field (yes, an actual cornfield, just like in the movies, with wind turbines on the horizon) and come out at a bridge. At the stop of the (very steep) bridge is the "border" - a sign that says "maastricht" with a cross through it and then another sign that says "Belgie". Much fuss was made and photos taken, followed by a short cycle tour of the nearest town (where lots of UCM students also live, its cheaper apparently).
That night it was time to branch out and find a new place to drink! Nakita and I headed out with Lauren and Ash (both from Adelaide Uni incidentally) to a place noted in the Lonely Planet called Take One. Note to any prospective visitors: cutest drinking bar ever. The walls of the tiny, long, thin bar room are completely COVERED in bottle tops coaster from the 100+ beers they sell and the floor is covered in peanut shells (they serve whole peanuts on the table and encourage you to drop them on the floor Singapore Raffles Hotel style). Mmmmm peanuts! The beers were great too. The gorgeous little bar lady comes over and asks what you feel like. Although ususally a talented wordsmith, language failed me and I asked for a "beerey beer"! But to her credit she brought me a German pilsener that hit the spot. Between us we had two rounds and played musical beers until we'd all tasted all eight. Among the memorable ones were a blueberry beer, one that looked and poured like Coke and one for me in a GIANT mug. We kept the bottle tops and will be returning to see if we can knock off all 100+ by the time the Adel Uni girls go home after Christmas. It's a tough task but I think we're up to it!
Observations: Belgium has a more "brown" vibe to it, think chocolate brown houses compared to blues and greys in Maastricht. The roads are also smoother there. And there's livestock in ppl's gardens (including cows which looked confusedly at my bike!).
Mistakes / Mini victories: This comes under both categories - I had a left over banana which inspired an attempt to cook banana cake in the microwave. Wouldn't exactly call it a success but it did in fact "cook" and was nice with some butter while it was still warm. Just have to learn how to combat the "goes rock hard after 20 minutes of cooling" factor! More butter? That fixes everything right?!
Dutch I've learned: "Kun je het herhalen?" = "Can you repeat it?" (unsurprisingly, the most used phrase in class!)
"wie" means "who" but sounds like the French "oui" - confusing much
"xxx-jes" = little kisses ... so xxx-jes to you all :)
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