Valking in a vinter voonterland

When we arrived in Maastricht, it was rather warm, in the upper forties maybe. Apparently it had been that way for a week. Unfortunately for us, it was right back to normal, below freezing, by morning.

It turns out our heat does work, just not well. It’s actually designed that way believe it or not. The room gets warmer as the outside gets colder.

So for us to have the room as warm as we like, it would have to be negative 30 out. Approximately.

Luckily, they gave us a small space heater that helps quite a bit.

Beth left for work around seven thirty and had an interesting day. You need a key card to enter and leave each section of the hospital, so unless Beth asked for an escort, she couldn’t leave to use the bathroom.

She wanted lunch, so one of the attendings took her down to the cafeteria and bought her lunch using her swipe card. Then, the attending doctor, told Beth that she (Beth, the guest doctor) could pay her (the attending doctor) back later. It was two Euros and fifty cents (About three dollars).

Meantime, Ben and I took the bus downtown (if I didn’t mention it, there is literally nothing near this hotel except the hospital) and found a “park”. It was a slide.

Then we stopped and got Ben his usual brunch. It’s very awkward because he gets very very hungry around 10:30 and naps about 12:30, so I get him food, and unless I force myself to eat then, I can’t exactly leave the hotel room to go look for lunch.

We walked around a bit though, and here I'll mention how amazing these European towns are, the small ones, because almost the whole city is cobblestone. Streets, sidewalks, everything. They also have a very cool system for stop lights. A pillar comes up and blocks the way. You run that red light, or even the yellow, and your car gets impaled. Awesome. (not sarcastic, I hate light runners!) Also, during these winter festivals, people still eat outside at the cafes...not just a couple crazies, like, everyone does. Everyone except us.

We saw some different Christmas markets and found a little fair area. Ben rode on the carousel, in the car, all by himself! That was fun and he didn’t want to stop, but we had to get back for his nap. We took the bus back and he had a good long nap, while I typed and browsed the web in the bathroom (didn’t really think about what I can do while he’s napping did ya!).

Beth got back a little bit later than expected and was very tired and hungry, so we ate at the hotel restaurant.

Awful and expensive.

But at least we slept well after that due to the extra heater.