Another day of work was followed by 2 of my hosts, Tiis and Pieter, taking me to Maastricht for a walking tour and dinner.  Maastricht is a very old city, dating back to Roman times and the sites are still seen. The bridge was orginially Roman but got destroy in the war and replaced with this one, which looks similar. You can still see the old foundations upriver.

Remants of the old city wall still exist too and the old gateway.





Lots of narrow and winding streets,



Leading to what is supposed to be the prettiest square in the Netherlands



The ironwork on the Catholic Church is amazing - including cast iron doors 6" thick - and it's entryway's floor is a maze from Maastricht to Jerusalem done in white and black tiles. Around back is a statue of the patron saint and over the church, you can see the Protestant one next to it.



We then walked over to another church with the most amazingly carved altars,




past one that had been converted into a three star resturante and hotel,



and past a old waterwheel that had been reconditioned and is again being used to grind grain for a high end bakery.



We then headed to Reube, where we had dinner reservations, under stone arches and overpasses and over many small canals and ponds. Ruebe wasn't impressive outside but blended into the old buildings being used and preserved by the University of Maastricht, but the inside was nice and the food great.



Dinner was th chef's surpise menu and the starter I mistook for an empty plate: a slice of cured meat sliced paper thing and crisscrossed with a sauce. The main course was red bass and seadevil erved with greens and mashed potatoes. The red bass may have been the best fish ever. Dessert was a selection of Dutch cheeses. Happily I wlaked the 2.5 km to the train station and then the 1.5 km from Sittard's to my hotel so I could work some of it off.