Traveling to Maastricht 1/18/09-1/19/09

After spending all of last week packing and shopping for my trip, Nick surprised me by coming home for the weekend which was awesome. I tried several times to take stuff out of my two 50+ lb. bags, but it's really hard to part ways with my clothes (haha). My mom, Nick, and I left Fort Wayne for Indianapolis around noon on Sunday for the airport. We stopped to eat at P.F. Chang's and meet up with friends. My day was going so well until....

We arrived at the Indy Airport at 3:30ish for my 6:15 pm flight to Philly. While I was waiting for Nick and my Mom to park their cars, I glanced over at the departure screen to double check that my flight was still on-time. I had checked my flight status online right before we left at noon and everything was on-time as scheduled. When I checked at the airport, my stomach fell b/c my flight was delayed by 1 hr which would give me 15 min to change terminals for my international flight in Philly. Impossible!

So we hung out at the ticket counter for awhile and waited for what other options I had. The only thing I could do was fly on my delayed flight to Philly, then fly to London Heathrow overnight, land in London at 10 AM (the time I was supposed to land in Brussels) on Monday morning, then wait for my 4:00 pm flight to Brussels. Because of the delay, I would miss my airport shuttle arranged by my program to pick me and my 2 huge bags up and transport us to Maastricht (about 2 hours from Brussels).

So as upset and reluctant as I was to completely change my travel plans and make the trek from Brussels to Maastricht on my own, it was my ONLY option. Also, my luggage weighed in at 51 and 52.5 lbs. so we were "those" people at the airport digging towels, travel guides, and clothes out of my checked luggage and stuffing them into my carry-on.

My flights were comfortable and there was an empty seat next to me on every flight! I had three seats to sprawl out on for my long overnight flight too! Everyone at Heathrow and people on my flights were so nice and extremely helpful. I was able to sleep on the overnight flight a little (it was a very shaky trip) and catch a few winks in the Heathrow airport too.

The flying part was fine, but it was the train journey that I was the most worried about. I claimed my luggage (thank God they didn't lose that!), walked right through customs, and went to buy a train ticket. The lady at the ticket counter was so helpful and encouraging. Normally, one would take 3 trains from the Brussels Airport to Maastricht's City Center, but seeing that I had 2 gigantic rolling suitcases that Julie could fit in, she booked me on a bit longer journey where I only had to change trains once.

The trains in Europe are NOT like the metro in DC. Instead of just rolling my suitcases on (which I saw so many people do over the summer) you have to take two or three steps up a very narrow doorway. Basically, I needed to perfect throwing one 50 lb. bag at a time and be in the train settled in less than 30 seconds. I think the Belgian people felt bad for me (or they were in a hurry) because once I threw one bag up someone usually followed me with my second bag. After traveling from Brussels Airport to Brussels Central station, I changed platforms (thank God for elevators= could not imagine carrying them up and down stairs) and boarded the train to Maastricht. I slept on the train because my destination was the last stop. The rocking reminded me a lot of the New York commuter trains.

When I finally made it to Maastricht, I had to show my passport and purpose of stay for the third time and I made my way out into the windy rain to get a taxi. My cab driver was so nice and he chatted it up about where I was from (he was convinced that since I am from Indiana I can ski!) and what I am doing in Maastricht. I didn't even need to tell him where I was going b/c he took one look at me and said "You are going to the Guesthouse?"

When I arrived at the Guesthouse (the dorm where all of the international students stay and is connected to the hospital), I had a heck of a time finding and getting into my room. But once I made it, I was so relieved. If I can do the trip I just did, I can go anywhere!

My roommate Ali is great (she even had an extra towel for me so I could shower b/c mine was taken out of the bag so it could weigh 50 lb.), and our room looks like it was pulled out of an Ikea catalog. I will post pictures on my facebook. It took me awhile to get my wireless internet set up, but the tech guy came on Tuesday and did it all for me!

All in all, I survived my travels and learned a thing or two about European train travel as well. I totally understand why people travel light and will never take those massive suitcases again!

I love it here! It is the most charming, old town I have ever been to. The people are so friendly, and not to mention almost all of them speak engils (english). If you don't know, Maastricht is in southern Netherlands in the state of Limberg (it is not anywhere near Amsterdam). You can walk to Belgium in about 15 minutes and walk to Germany in about 30 minutes. The city is old-style which means the streets are not in any particular design and just lead to many city squares. Dutch is a very interesting language and you cannot look at a word and try to sound it out (ex: the shopping district Vrijthof is pronounced Frytau).