Berlin, Germany –> Amsterdam, Netherlands –> Maastricht, Netherlands –> Cologne, Germany –> Maastricht, Netherlands –> Brussels, Belgium –> and back to Maastricht … in 42 hours?! Uh huh. 42 hours that flew by and didn’t include much sleep but did include lots of time spent traveling… but that about sums up studying abroad, doesn’t it? 😂
Wednesday afternoon in Berlin, Germany
Colin and I head to the Berlin Schönefeld Airport to catch our flight to Amsterdam. Pretty uneventful, but this is the start of my crazy 42 hours.
Wednesday evening in Amsterdam, Netherlands
After landing in Amsterdam, Colin and I spend some time exploring the city. We had to head back to Maastricht that night and so we decided to skip the museums in Amsterdam and just walk around the city. We got fries from the #1 best rated french fry place in Holland, went on a canal cruise at sunset, wondered around the city, and spent time drinking Heineken at a pub to end the night! We weren’t there for long, but it was enough time to give Colin a glimpse into one of my favorite cities in the world.
Wednesday night heading to Maastricht, Netherlands
Unfortunately, we couldn’t spend more time in Amsterdam since I had to be back in Maastricht early in the morning. We boarded a train from Amsterdam to Maastricht and got back to Maastricht around midnight.
Thursday morning in Cologne, Germany
My global transportation management class took a field trip to Cologne, Germany to visit one of DB’s loading sites. It was a super early morning (I left my place before 7 am), but worth it! It was really cool to go up in the cranes and watch them move the shipping containers on/off the trains.
Thursday afternoon in Maastricht, Netherlands
After returning to Maastricht from my field trip in Cologne, I met up with Colin and showed him around my school and the city. This was our last night together but I was so glad we had budgeted time to spend in Maastricht so I could show him where I was living for my 4.5 months abroad! We stopped at Canatoneta Maastricht, an Italian restaurant for pizza.
Thursday evening in Maastricht, Netherlands
It was an early night to bed since we had to wake up early to catch a bus departing from Maastricht at 3:30 AM to Brussels! Colin had a flight from Brussels back to Dublin where he’d fly back to the U.S. the next morning.
Friday morning in Brussels, Belgium
We had to take a bus to Brussels from Maastricht since there were no trains that would get to the airport early enough for Colin to catch his flight. Our bus left Maastricht at 3:30 AM and we arrived in downtown Brussels around 5 AM. We had time to spare before Colin had to head to the airport, so we went downtown and saw the Grand Palace which is actually the central square in Brussels (the name is a little misleading). The buildings were beautifully lined with gold and we got to hang out there and watch the sun come up. Not a bad way to spend our last few hours together!
Soon enough it was time to send Colin off, so after saying goodbye I made my way back to Maastricht. I didn’t have class that day so I thought about staying to explore more of Brussels, but I was just too tired from my last few days of travel and so I got on the next train back to Maastricht. I was back around 10 AM and that’s when I realized how crazy my last few days had been. I did the math and was amazed that I had been so many places in only the past 42 hours!🤣
Words From Abroad 