hostels galore... and more geo-caching :)

I am about to embark on a fairly long trip, away from known friends and material property... I figured I'd do one big update before I go crazy trying to work out the logistics of the trip (yeah, I'm leaving in the morning...) :P

Let's see, I headed off to Maastricht on the mid-morning of Fri, Jun 2. I couldn't find accommodations for Sat, so I had to reschedule for an early weekend deal. Liege was the closest town with an available hostel. That is in Belgium. The town I was visiting was in Holland. International travel is so easy to accomplish in Europe ;) Although you'd think this would have taught me to book things in advance... not wait 'til the night before, like I did now... I am stuck with a 2 days gap, no place to stay yet...

Anyhoo, back to the pleasant memories. I'll deal with that in a bit :)

Maastricht is a quaint town, I was told by many it was a must-see, full of history, of important sights... but I was rather bored by it. There *was* one cool bit, the tours to the caves in "mount" st. pietersberg (it's a 300m hill...) they have nearby. These, by the way, are the same caves where the famous vault of fine arts created by the Nazis lies. When they thought they were gonna get invaded, they gathered all the best stuff they had stolen (they keep mentioning Rembrandt's "Night Watch" as the highlight) and put them there, hoping to make a new Nazi museum upon winning the war. They never got to do that, of course.

Fri afternoon I did the boat tour to the southern caves, which was supposed to be the best. You'll see in the pics the high ceilings, which was really the only diff. Only down-side was that it was all in Dutch, so I didn't understand a word. Sat I did the walk to the Northern caves, 2km or so from city center, and this one was in English. That's where I learned all the bits ;) Cool thing they had us do in both tours: they turn down the gas lamps, put them around a bend, and have you walk in total darkness, just following the wall, around a pillar. Interesting sensation. In the first tour, people cheated, opening a cell phone for light!

The hostel I had booked for Fri night was in Liege, in Belgium. I actually liked this town much better. It was a mix of skyscrapers and old buildings... which I love. I arrived in the early evening, walked the 45 mins to the hostel, to get to see the town. Walked into the room, no one was about, so took off with a local map and hiked around. They have a huge staircase that goes to a hill, so I did that one. Then took back roads and reached city center, through the student bars area, and back towards the hostel.

The night was short, I ended up going to bed by 1am, the beds were full, everyone asleep. And by 6:30am, the first one woke up. From there 'til 8:30 I tried to stick to my sleep... I finally grumbled out of bed, said a polite "good morning" and got a "Oh My God you speak English??" in reply. Turns out this young girl had just started *her* pilgrimage through Europe, a planned 2 months, also had a couple of friends to visit, but was hoping to make a random trip. Unfortunately we were headed in opposite directions, she had plans for Barcelona and Valencia after Switzerland... but we walked to the train station together and exchanged emails. If our roads coincide along the way, I might have found a travel companion :)

I headed back to Maastricht early Sat. The other highlight of the trip was to see an old-school mill being prepped to work! I had to go out of the way, take buses, and depend on the kindness of strangers (an old couple that knew exactly where I wanted to go, even though the bus lady didnt...) but it turned out to be really worth it! And they only do this twice a month. I got there right as they were about to turn the mill and set the sails... Nice people. After that I went to see the rest of the caves, I must have walked 15km easily that day. By late afternoon I couldn't find anything else to visit, so hopped on the train, and slept most of the way back to Tilburg.

Sunday was a day at home. Slept *very* late (don't ask the time...) and just did some light travel planning. Too light, as I'm now at loss. Although, luck strikes again! I booked the hostels I did find a spot in, and had a gap for fri and sat night. I resigned myself to finding some place last-minute, paying an insane amount of money... but my ad for a travel companion bore fruit! I made a new friend over the internet, a fellow web designer, from the US, who just moved to Brussels, and could use both the company in her own language, and a guide. Me, armed with my trusty guide and my touristy planner, am more than happy to trade navigational aid for a couch to sleep on for two days!! She just replied by email, it seems it will all work out, after all. This is so cool! :D

Only bit I can't work out is London. I can't find a cheap enough way there, and, more importantly, back... so I might skip it, unless I find a good solution along the way. I do have to be back in Amsterdam by the 18th... as I got the cat-sitting apartment! yey for that, too! The poor lady is so scared to entrust her apartment and cat to a stranger... but I hope to prove how cool an responsible I can be :) I'm glad I made enough of a good impression the day I met her. So I have to go find keys during the day of the 18th. But I have to stop by Tilburg first, to pick up all the stuff I'm leaving here...

So, yeah.

:D

Only other bit left to update on is today's geo-caching. We set of to De Moer, a town nearby, *very* pretty, expensive houses and all. And near a huge nature preserve, with one of those "get clues, solve the puzzle to find the cache."

After a good chunk of walking, with several baby stops, we found it! It was my hosts' first, my second find (but, like, my 4th try...)

Things that went in: a google pen, and a heart-shaped keychain that had been taken from a cache in spain... i thought it appropriate to leave it there. a note in the log hinted to the significance of it... Go find the cache if you're curious ;)

So, that's it. I'm off tomorrow morning. No laptop, no camera, minimal clothes. Just a backpack. See how far I go before cracking ;) Although I plan to keep in touch over internet, at least briefly. Might not be able to do IM, but I'll definitely check gmail, and try to blog along the way. If I can't, I'll try to keep an analog blog, to type in when I get back. I can only hope I manage to work out which kind of modem is in the apt in amsterdam, and hopefully I can get my computer hooked up to it! Europe has a lot more options than the USA in modems. So I am not familiar with all the trappings to be worked out!

Wish me luck, catch up with you all when I get back, as early as June 13, but could be as late as by the time I get to Amsterdam, the night of the 18th...