Maastricht

Maastricht is a picturesque Dutch town on the border of France, the Netherlands and Belgium. It is one of the oldest towns in the Netherlands and has all the trappings of a classic historic European town, from old fortifications, ornately decorated buildings, narrow cobblestone streets, courtyards and churches, to the inevitable tourist trade.

Above: Rory and Amy crossing the river
Below: sun sets and lights up on the Meuse River

What makes Maastricht particularly pretty is the river setting, and since we were there on one of the first sunny days of the year we saw the river in full spring swing. Does anyone have a job in Europe? The banks were smattered with picnickers, drinkers, deck chairs, soccer players, and kids and couples hanging out all day and until after dark.

Above: riverside picnic
Below: courtyard garden behind Lost for Faith Retained for Beauty exhibition building

The other cool thing about Maastricht is that it is a cultural hub for the arts, and a bit of a quiet art and architecture destination for the Netherlands. So we went art crazy at three exhibitions, which were all of a really high quality.

We saw Out of Storage at a ceramics factory on the edge of the old town, which was the show I was most excited by. The spaces were vast and industrial, and there were so few people that at times you felt you were there alone. The artworks have come from Franc Nord-Pas de Calis for this temporary show and there were some major names, like Andy Warhol and Paul McCarthy, that have come 'out of storage'.