The great thing about Europe, and Luxembourg in particular, is its size and accessibility - it is entirely possible to be in two or three countries in one day. We made this happen during one of our day trips from Luxembourg, by driving north to Maastricth, the Netherlands, via Belgium. 

Following a quick breakfast and accordion concert by Ilusha, we headed out for a second day trip in our brand new rental car. Since we rented a manual car, Vlad was our designated driver. Driving in Europe was very pleasant; lots of beautiful scenery, no traffic, entertaining foreign radio stations, and most importantly, awesome company.  The scenic drive took about 2 hours, and was filled with views of free roaming cows, donkeys, and green country side.

After having some trouble finding parking for the day, our first and most important stop was a lobby (and the bathroom!) of the famous Kruisherenhotel, which is a 15th century monastery made into a very unique hotel. After all the necessary functions were taken care of, we begun our exploration of the city. In actuality, our first stop was in one of the town squares called Vrijthof Square, where we encountered a cardboard building project taking place (unfortunately I can't find any more info on this so it's a mystery project by mystery builders). After inspecting the artwork  we proceeded to see the Sint-Janskerk (St.Jan) Church. This 13th century Gothic church was built with red stone and houses such interesting objects as 14th and 15th century murals and tombstones. Ilya was especially interested in seeing the entire church, so he purchased a ticket for a deeper exploration while the rest of us sat at an outdoor cafe to sip beer, coffee, apfelshorle (mineral water + apple juice) and people watch. After Ilya's return from exploring the church, he gave us a detailed account of each nook and corner, so our FOMO was sufficiently satisfied.

We continued to explore the city on foot - window shopping and tasting local delicacies. We stumbled upon a group of male singers performing at a small city square. They sang upbeat songs that sounded very German - something you may hear at a beer hall back in NYC. As it turned out, this was all in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Dutch liberation from the Germans by allied forces during WWII. In particular, on September 12, 1944, a small part of Limburg (Dutch area where Maastrich is situated) was liberated by the US 30th Infantry Division. Finding out about this event explained all the US flags we had been seeing around town. We spent some time at the square, listening to the tunes. Vlad especially enjoyed it, and we may have even caught him dancing...

We finished our evening with dinner at a Thai place, and a visit to the supermarket before heading back "home" to Luxembourg. 

We drove from Luxembourg through Belgium to the Netherlands; 3 countries in a day.  

Before we headed out, Ilusha serenaded Dasha while we listened in admiration. 

First stop in Maastrich was at the Kruisherenhotel, which is a 15th century monastery made into a hotel. It looked really awesome. 

 Ilya enjoyed the decorations.

  Dasha & Ilya at the entrance.

 Maastricht is a bike friendly town. As tourists are not used to so many bikes, we had to pay a lot of attention not to step onto the bike lanes as that meant getting ran over or dirty looks at the very least.  Even grandmas ride bikes... in style.  You know that movie When Donut Met Chocolate? Oh wait, that's When Harry met Sally. How appropriate, Dasha & Ilya at the Love Hotel - cardboard art exhibit we stumbled upon.  This looks pretty funny - (Photo credit Dasha)

 In front of Sint-Janskerk (St.Jan) (Photo credit Dasha) In front of the church - (Photo credit Dasha) Sipping beer and people watching.

Funny ad. "Take away" coffee is not a common thing in Europe where people usually sit down to enjoy their coffee or drink espresso shots on the spot if in a hurry. Coffee to go is sometimes called "American Style".  Is that a male model in front of Tommy Hilfiger? Apparently this store is LOVED by Europeans, we saw it in pretty much every European city we went to.  Beautiful orchids.  Boys getting some snacks in Markt, a local market square.    Their idea of a delicious snack - herrings. Yuck.   17th century Dutch Baroque Town Hall located in Markt, the town's Market Square.  

Window shopping.  Cool store display. 

 No shortage of beautiful buildings in Maastricht.  Vlad chilling by the canal.  Maastrich has plenty of cobble stone side streets. Bike parking lot - wow!  Ilya's subtle reminder of who the real star is.  Dutch fashion - some do it better than others.  US flags decorated the city in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the regions' liberation by the US forces.  Dashichka & Ilushka.  Heading to dinner. 

Goodbye Maastricht! Till next time!