I had set the alarm clock at 6am, but must have been tired and turned around. When I wake up again it’s 7.30am. That’s late for my doing and it doesn’t put me in the best mood. I was planning on cleaning the house today, but it’s 27 degrees inside already and I figure that’s too hot for physical labor. I take a quick shower and find I can save some time by making breakfast to take with me. I’m glad I bought a Thermos food container on my last journey, it comes in very handy to take breakfast with me. I’m not sure where I’m going today, but I think I’ll go to Maastricht. The most southern city of the Netherlands and about the furthest I can go with the train.
I know I have so much to be thankful for. Loving family, a beautiful apartment, work that I love and friends both here and abroad. Still I can’t help sometimes feeling a bit unhappy, having a desire for more. It’s like that Disney song ‘I want adventure in the great wide somewhere’. I think it’s not strange. I’m just back after an amazing journey and now I’m back home in normal life, having some challenge with ajusting to the normal routine. Routine is good, because it helps me being productive and working on my business and physical health. Still, it’s quite predictable. I do what I can to bring variety in my life. During the week it’s going to coffee places, I visited two new ones just this week. And in the weekend it’s going away, anywhere.
So today I’m in the train to the province of Limburg. I think it’s one of the prettiest areas in the Netherlands, with some hills in an otherwise flat country. I might even cross the border to Belgium or Germany. In the train I enjoy my breakfast and the coffee I quickly made before I left and some pre-wrapped croissants that stay good for a long time. Half way the journey, at station Eindhoven, I have to change trains and I use that moment to go to a bookstore and buy a puzzle book. My dad always makes puzzles and we’ve done some together lately and I found that I also find them fun to do. A bit challenging sometimes, a great stimulant for my brain. The further we go south, the prettier the landscape gets with more forests and greener landscapes. I enjoy writing again like I do when I’m on a longer journey. It makes me realize how good it is that I go on these weekend trips. Listen to your heart’s desires and provide for it as well as you can. I might not be able to fly to a different country every weekend, but I can find smaller adventures when I search for them.
When I arrive in Maastricht, I see that the train to Germany leaves in about 15 minutes. I don’t have to think long about what to do and get on that one. With my Dutch public transport card I can travel to the first German city, Aachen. It immediately feels a bit like vacation when I get off the train there. The buildings look very different and the people speak an another language. It gives me that little sense of adventure. It’s a sunny day and I walk to the city center. Most stores in Germany are closed on Sundays, but I don’t mind that. It’s nice and quiet in the city. Fortunately some bakeries are open, so I go to one at a square, get myself a cappuccino and a pastry and sit down at the terrace. At the square is a street musician playing a violin. A man at a table next to me mentions it’s Vivaldi, but that’s he’s not sure which play. I tell him it’s good anyway. He agrees. “Alles gut”, he replies. That’s a good way of describing today. It’s a lovely day summer day just over the border.
It’s interesting how your mind lays connections with other places you’ve visited before. As I’m walking through Kurgarten, a park af the edge of the city center, I’m reminded of the rose garden park in Portland. A completely different place, but also a park that was laying on higher ground than the city center and therefore giving the same vibe a bit. Probably I’ll always keep laying mental connections to my traveling in America and I’m thankful for all the experiences I’ve had there and will hopefully have more in the future. For now I keep enjoying this mini adventure in Germany. There is a Sequoia tree in this park, which I remembered from years ago when I visited Aachen and the reason I walked to the park today. I think that for European standards it’s quite big. There is quite some elevation in the city of Aachen and with 28 degrees Celsius, 84 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s a nice challenge to climb the hills.
From the park I walk to Tranchot Obelisk, which is an historic place and I think one of the highest points in the city. It gives a nice view and from there it’s an easy walk downhill to Aachen West train station to go back to the Netherlands. In the train back I enjoy a pretzel I got at the bakery and look back at a nice mini adventure day to break the mundane.
