Exploring Maastricht

Yesterday I decided to venture out on my on and start exploring the town. I wanted to go to a grocery store, but somehow I made a wrong turn and ended up in the main square. The main part of Maastricht is pedestrian only and has tons of stores, bars and cafes.

Walking through the streets - everything is brick!

There are tons of shops here and I can't wait to go exploring in them! Most of the brands I've never heard of, but there are a few ones that I recognize. I saw a Body Shop, a couple of Claire's, KFC, Espirit, Zara (I only saw the bag, but a number of people had them so I'm guess there is one around somewhere) and Mexx.

Pedestrian only central part of town.

H&M <3!!!>

A McDonald's too! In true European style - with its own patio seating area.

There are tons of cafes lining the streets. One thing I noticed that was really popular are fries. It seems everywhere you turn there are little shops selling fries in a newspaper cone. People were walking around the shops eating fries. Definitely will have to try some one day. Another thing I noticed that was being eaten a lot are waffles (or what look to be waffles) with some kind of syrup drizzled over it. It smelled soo good. Another thing I will have to try.

Cafe lined street

On my walk, I was trying to see if I could find any Asian influenced shops and restaurants here and to my surprise there were! I spotted the following restaurant en route to the main square. I don't think I will want to eat there though. Seems a little sketchy. It sames the same name as me though...

And on the main square, I found this tiny Chinese grocery store. It has a small variety of typical Chinese stuff - soy sauce, various types of instant noodles and herbs for making soups. They even had bok choy! (Although at a ridiculous price) Most things, except for the veggies were pretty reasonably priced, even when converted to CAD. Its about the same price as things in Victoria. At least I know if I'm really craving something Chinese I can probably find it or something really similar here:

After exploring the main square I decided to head for the university campus. I got horribly lost on the way, but thankfully, the city has put up maps at various intersections and I was able to direct myself to the right place.

Tongersestraat 53 - the building where all my classes are

I went to see the student services building too in hopes of getting a school mug, but they only sold sweaters and t-shirts. They don't have a SUB like in Canada. I wonder what they use as a meeting place then... The walk back to my dorm isn't too bad. It took about 10-15 mins. Once I get a bike, it will be a lot faster!

Thats another thing - there are bikes everywhere here. They zoom in and out of traffic with almost no concern for other cars and buses. There are special lanes created for them on the side of the road too. And if they want to cross the street at an intersection, they have a special crosswalk similar to what is provided for pedestrians. You press a button and soon the light will turn green for you to continue on your bike ride.

In place of intersections, there are a lot of roundabouts. It'll be interesting trying to navigate these on a bike. A little intimidating too...