Road trip Netherlands

Continue to the "Vrijthof", the central square of Maastricht. With events taking place here throughout the year, such as André Rieu's concerts in July, it is special to see it empty. Incidentally, the name says it all, since Roman times it has been used as a cemetery and place of execution; In 1485 William I de la Mack, the "wild boar of the Ardennes", was executed here and in 1535 15 Anabaptists were burned here. The central guard, the Sint Jans Kerk and the Sint Servaesbasilik are right on the square. The St. Servatius Basilica was built in the 10th and 11th centuries directly above the crypt with the tomb of St. Servatius, the first bishop of Maastricht. It also houses a treasury containing the shrine of St. Servatius, popularly known as the "Noodkist" as the saint is invoked in many emergencies. The Sint Janskerk was unfortunately closed for the students' graduation ceremony, so we couldn't enjoy the view over Maastricht from the 79m tower.

The other big square in Maastricht is the Marktplatz. Many residential buildings had to make way for the 17th-century town hall, which was actually supposed to be in the middle of the square. The two staircases are remarkable. They were built so that the secular ruler and the prince-bishop could enter the building at the same time, without one having to give way to the other. The council chamber is also built absolutely symmetrically, so that everything looked exactly the same for both rulers. In the tower of the town hall there is a carillon with 49 bells and we met the carillonist of Maastricht, who is also the first violinist in André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra. He explained the glockenspiel to us and gave a small concert. In one song I was even allowed to accompany him on the glockenspiel.

There is a market on the market square on Wednesdays and Fridays, and a flea market on Saturdays. Also on the market square is a statue of Johannes Minckeleers, who invented illuminating gas, which could not only be used for street and apartment lighting, but also for balloons.

As a parking space, we have chosen the parking space in the marina. It is at the end of the harbor behind a shipyard. Registration takes place in the harbor master's office. From here you can quickly get to the city center.

The bike ride from the pitch, past the Naval Museum and along the dyke to the beach at Huisduinen does not take long and is nice to ride. You will also pass the lighthouse "De Lange Jaap" and, on the way back, to one of the two forts that you can visit. A small seawater aquarium is also housed in Fort Kijduin.

"You absolutely have to go to Kinderdijk" was the tip on the "freeontour.com" platform. And we went. There are 19 windmills that stand along the canals. Two of the mills can be visited. The visit is definitely worth it and is also worth a (small) detour.

Tip: We didn't take the recommended parking lot in Alblasserdam but drove to Niew-Lekkerland. There is a (signposted) mobile home parking lot, from which it is only three instead of six km to the windmills. Bicycles are also available here.

We had gotten this tip from our son, who had been here before; a space exhibition in the Netherlands. I've been interested in space travel since I was a child, we've already been to Cape Kennedy twice. No wonder, because we grew up with the Apollo and later the space shuttle program. Even if the exhibition cannot compete with the Kennedy Space Center, it gives a great insight into the history of space travel in general and the work of ESA and its space program in particular. As always in Holland, you can also participate interactively here. For example, complete a "flight" in a Soyuz rocket or test how high you could jump on the moon...

Since the campsites and parking spaces closer to the city were occupied, we decided on this one just outside the city center. The reviews were good, but most importantly, it's just under five minutes to the metro from here. The M53 line takes you to Amsterdam Central Station in 30 minutes. And the advantage is that the metro stations at the campsite and at the central station are also the end stations. This makes a procedure almost impossible.

Tip: If you stay in Amsterdam for several days and travel to the city often, check whether there are cheaper options than a single ticket each time.

We head downtown and have a look around. We start at the magnificent Central Station from 1889, which also houses the royal platform. Here the royal family can drive up directly by car. We continue through the city, along the canals, bridges and the magnificent canal houses to the next town. Walking along the Amstel you come to the Blue Bridge (Blauw Brug) and the Magere Brug. The oldest bridge in Amsterdam is one of the most popular photo motifs and has been seen in many a movie, for example in James Bond's Diamonds Are Forever from 1971. The "famous" red light district can be visited; we didn't really need it.

Tip: If you visit the red light district, make sure that the ladies in the shop windows are not allowed to be photographed.

Actually, we want to go to the Van Gogh Museum. Actually. But pre-booking was unfortunately no longer possible, we were too late for that. Alternative - Reichsmuseum. That's right, it's called the Rijksmuseum and it's next to the Van Gogh Museum. In the Rijksmuseum you will find 800 years of Dutch art history in 80 halls with over 8,000 works of art - from Delftware to furniture, model ships, dolls' houses with real Chinese porcelain that cost as much as a real, fully furnished canal house, to the extensive collection of paintings. It is impressive how the painters have painted even the smallest details, such as figures in the background of a picture. The highlight is the gallery of honor with paintings from the golden age: e.g. B. Vermeer's maid with milk jug, Rembrandt's self-portrait or the famous night watch. The picture was supposed to go to Amsterdam City Hall on the Dam, but it was too big. And according to the motto "What doesn't fit will be made to fit" a piece was simply cut off. Next to it is a (small) copy from the same year that shows what the night watch probably looked like originally.

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