Maastricht Revisited2

What greater luxury is there than to have time? Time to think, time to be, time to be present, time to truly converse, to be present with another/others. I am indulging in this luxury for now. My return to my ‘other’ city on the River Maas has been flowing at a leisurely pace. Unhurried, unhurried. How much of my former life was spent rushing from ‘pillar to post’! Like so many, I valued myself over how busy I was, how many appointments and duties I had. Thus, I am cherishing the liquidly unreality of simply being back in this medieval town where so much of my present life has unfolded.

The quality of my time is here is rich. My friends and family here converse about ‘charged’ topics. Politics and poverty, immigration and discrimination, finance and food are typically discussed with rich nuances. People here consider art and culture - full stop. The word consider is the loaded verb of the last sentence. The shape of that or the color of this. Its placement and so on are customary topics. The value of things are not talked about with a focus on what a thing costs, but what it contributes, either to life or well-being. Okay, not all the time, but I love the worldliness and interest in the world that my friends here illicit. The word civilized comes to mind.

And so I happily meet, greet, eat and talk with dear friends, family and acquaintances, easily falling into one of the multiple side walk cafes or restaurants. And so it goes.

Ursula with friend Tom on his terrace in Huegem.

Ursula along the Maas River by the Province House.

Pia’s home in Berg en Terblijt, just outside Maastricht.

Pia and friends cooking it up for her 50th birthday celebration.

Indira and Rob with me at Selexyz Bookstore for our mini-EPA Masters reunion.

Indira, Rob and I in front of our old faculty at Grote Gracht 82.

My sister-in-law, Irma, at an exhibit at the Timmerfabric in Maastricht. Big cups!

Irma and Jan, a moment of marital bliss.

De familie: Irma, Jan and nephew Tjeiu, on a terrace in Maastricht.

Maastricht Revisited

Ten months ago I left Maastricht to settle into a new home in Pompano Beach, Florida in the extreme south of the US. Now I've returned to this medieval town that takes its name from the Maas River which it straddles to reconnect with friends, family and surroundings. My first days have rolled like the river - simply flowing organically.

Bob W. kindly made the almost three-hour drive to meet me at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

Why have a clock when St. Maarten's Steeple shines into your window? Night time view from Ursula's window.

Just down the block from Ursula's is the luscious La Luna gelato bar.

Magical Maastricht at twilight, looking westward from Wyck, across the River Muese (Maas).

My dear friend Pia Brand, an angel masquerading as a human.

I settled in nicely at my dear friend Ursula's flat located so conveniently on Maastricht's Wyckerbrugstraat that rolls down the center of city from the train station to the old St. Servaas Brugge that crosses the Maas River and leads to the city's heart. My beginning days have been spent reorienting, leisurely shopping and greeting well-known shop-keepers, and spending time with dear friends and family.

Bob arranged a Saturday auto excursion in the scenic Limburg rolling landscape from Maastricht, NL to Limbourg, BE, on through Eupen, BE, with a stop in historic Monschau, DE a city Martijn so wanted to take me to, continuing on to the mouth of the Rur River in the Effiel Mountains, descending through Aachen, DE and on to Vals, where we dined at a gourmet Florentine Restaurant to cap a perfect day. Vals is home of the spot called Three Points, where the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany all meet.

The following day I spent in a cozy family way with Geri and Marcel, first paying a visit to Martijn's lush and dynamic graveside, so alive in this yard of final repose. Then we visited Martijn's Aunt Sybil in the little scenic village of Guelle. My cousins were around and it was a really wonderful afternoon. We stopped for dinner in Eisden, BE, at another Italian restaurant, with excellent food. Geri is just beginning to show signs of Alzheimer's which made me a bit sad.

An archaic pissoir (yes, what you think) in the French-speaking town of Limbourg, Belgium. There are three provinces of Limburg: Dutch, Belgian and German

The gate of the ancient old walled city of Limbourg, BE

The requisite Castle!

We journeyed from the Netherlands, through Belgium right on to Germany, here stopping in the ancient town of Monschau with it's timbered houses.

A Monschau street scene.

The mouth of the Rur River in the Ardenne, or Eiffel mountains.

Martijn's lush and blooming graveside.

The ever beautiful mother, Geri.

Marcel's favorite passtime, an ice cream at an open air cafe in Guelle.

From the left, Aunt Sybil, Geri, a family friend, Ivan with his mamma, Karla, Robert Jan and Marcel's torso, in the farmhouse of Aunt Sybil.