Naar de haaien in Maastricht!

"Naar de haaien (gaan)" is a Dutch expression whose meaning is along the lines of our "(going) to Hell", but literally it translates as "going to the sharks". And I definitely had to see de haaien!

I hit the wrong week for my trip to Maastricht from July 12th through 14th, it was cold and rainy; summer would come the next week only. Anyway, there I was, traveling by train (on the cheap, so having to change trains 4 times on the relatively short trip of ~3 hours) and staying at the Stayokay hostel on the river Maas for 2 nights. I was lucky to have the free choice of beds in a dorm of 6,so I picked the top bunk by the window from where I could watch the barges passing on the river. Two other girls, about my age, arrived later to share the dorm, speaking Dutch.

Dawn rose to a nearly flawless sky the next day but which would change all too soon, and it was cold. Wearing a longsleeved shirt, a hoodie plus a jacket and fingerless gloves, I told myself that it wasn't so bad for April. Of course it wasn't April, but I'd just have to pretend it was...

So I set out on my bike, rented directly from the hostel, which to my surprise had 7 gears but they wouldn't be too much use since the handlebar was so high and close to the body that it forced my hands into an awkward angle at the wrist, making it very uncomfortable to hold especially when riding all the cobblestone roads of Maastricht, so that it wasn't possible to go really fast anyway.

"Witches' Street"!
(Escape in either direction? LOL)

I went to find the main objective for my trip: the Natuurhistorisch Museum, housing a temporary exhibition about sharks! The latter was only one single room, but it was nicely done,especially with the large video walls above that had a great white shark and a manta ray swimming around, giving the impression of being underwater with them. A selection of teeth and jaws, one set of jaws even open to touch, as well as a sample of skin from a zebra shark with its denticles, giving it that sandpaper-like texture.

Jaws.

The rest of the museum was also very interesting, having lots of fossils many of which had been excavated in the local region, including skeletons of mosasaurs and a lot else. Samples of extant species of butterflies and many other creatures as well, and there's even a small but really lovely botanic garden in the museum's backyard, surrounded by a tiny canal. I sat on a bench by it to have a little lunch break (just a banana actually) but then quickly had to go back inside as the thunderstorms arrived...

Some very extraordinary ammonites.

I waited out the rainstorm inside, looking at some Dutch books about haaien (sharks) that were actually meant for kids. I was a bit disappointed they didn't have any more shark merchandise there, I only found myself a bookmark and a magnet. But of course there's still the free booklet about the exhibition which was included with the visit! It's 40 pages with comprehensive information and photos.

Later I still found that "Hoge Fronten" Park, which used to be part of the ancient city fortifications but nowadays is a nature preserve - poorly managed though as I found it to be severely rodent-infested! I've never seen such massive numbers of rodents in my life before, flitting from the path in front into the shrubbery as I walked; the vermin was everywhere and so was its poo.

With more rain coming, I already returned to the hostel around 5 PM. After spending a while on my bunk reading and talking to two older ladies having newly arrived at the dorm (pointing out a rainbow above the river Maas to the one of them), I realized the weather had markedly improved, and so I set out once more, although it was already about 7 PM by then, to ride my rented bike one last time.
This final ride was pretty much my best time there, certainly making for the best photos too (more of which will be posted on my Facebook).

Last evening in Maastricht,
just about 2 sunny hours.

The next day, of my departure, I walked through the old city center one last time and then across the bridge since the station is located on the far side of the river Maas. On the way there I strolled, looking at some stores, especially one curious one selling lots of extremely useful essentials, such as giant pencil sharpeners but used to sharpen carrots and other vegetables. LOL

I arrived at the station hall just in time before the next downpour. Inside, there was a grand piano free to be played by anyone, and a lady who was no doubt a professional played wonderful music on it.

A last look back at Maastricht from the bridge.

Carved shark with magnet on the back,
a souvenir from the museum.

Happy 4th of July!

Once again I didn't post in a while, and there's both good & bad news.
By far the best news is this:

It's been mine for just over a month now, for a relatively low price at a place selling used bikes - all the other ones were far over 100 €! But I think this one wasn't popular because boys won't like it for the pink and girls won't because it's a men's bike. For me it's just perfect though.

So I already took it on a tour when summer finally came to Germany, it was beautiful, over 90 F that day...

...and now the bad news: That was on June 23rd, and summer lasted only that one day.
So far it hasn't come back. No idea if it will. I wouldn't even mind all the rain, but can't it be raining at 80 F (or higher)? Most days I have to wear gloves when riding to the gym in the morning. :(

I meant to travel to Terschelling this summer, which is an island in the North Sea, but since there is no summer I had to cancel it as it's even still a bit colder there than it is here.

But the other week I'm traveling to Maastricht instead, and on that trip I'll be going by all means because there's something there that I absolutely have to see. It's an exhibition about my favorite animals, those with fins & many sharp teeth...
And I'll certainly have to post again about that.