Maastricht, Netherlands

I just love mid-sized European university towns. Maastricht ranks right up there with the best of them:
Freiburg, Germany
Aarhus, Denmark
Uppsala, Sweden
Wroclaw, Poland
Tartu, Estonia

The list goes on and on. What makes them so special is usually they are not tourist hotspots and they're more "real." They have a slower pace than the large cities but as much to do.

Maastricht hits that sweet spot. It's on the Maas River, far upstream from Rotterdam where we saw it before it empties into the Atlantic. There are more outdoor cafes and restaurants then you can shake a stick at. Nightlife is active. And we stumbled on two different brass bands playing in the streets for free on two different days. We are music-starved and that was a nice treat.

The trip is ending soon, so being in a fun city with fantastic weather is a great way to end our trip. We will visit Utrecht next and take a train to Schipol airport from there after just one night and two days of sightseeing.

We did manage to sneak in a day trip to nearby Aachen, Germany so I could check out Charlemagne's throne in a church there.

More photos and videos are here.
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