Kindness Cures

This weekend we rented a car and with a destination of Wirschweiler, Germany. Olivia has family that lives in the small town of 330 residents in the Western part of Germany. On our way there we had a planned stop at Monschau, Germany.

Monschau is a small resort town in the Eifel region of western Germany and in the valley of the Rur River. This quaint town has remained mostly unchanged for almost 300 years. It is well known for its Christmas market that will start in a few weeks but for now it was quiet. Monschau castle overlooks the town from above, creating some beautiful views.

Monschau Castle overlooking the village.

After a few hours we were back on the road on our way. We drove on some windy roads through the countryside until we drove out of the trees to a beautiful view of the vineyards along the Mosel River and the small town of Piesport.

Our car for the weekend infront of Piesport.

Piesport on the Mosel River. 

We finally arrived to Wirschweiler and to be honest, I was nervous that I was staying with people I didn’t know. To my surprise, I was greeted with the type of kindness and generosity that are rare to find. Friday night was full of catching up, eating some great food, watching soccer, and lots of wine and beer.

Saturday we took a trip to Trier, Germany. Trier is one of the oldest cities in Germany, with a rich history in the Roman Empire, including being one of the four capitals under the Roman Tetrarchy. It is also the oldest seat of a bishop north of the Alps. In Trier we toured several sites that were almost 2000 years old. These included the Kaiserthermen, Trier Ampitheatre, and Porta Nigra.

Mosel River Valley

Kaiserthermen (Imperial Baths)

Kaiserthermen - 4th century 

Ampitheater built between 160 - 200AD

under the arena

Aparently the Romans preferred a John Deere for their 

landscaping needs at the ampitheater.

Porta Nigra - "The Black Gate"
The North Gate to Trier, built in 160 - 200 AD

Everyone together infront of the gate.

We were able to walk around in Porta Nigra.

This is the view from the top overlooking Trier.

We also toured the Trier Cathedral (seen in the picture above on the left side). Trier Cathedral, the oldest church in Germany, has been the place of worship service, the seat of the Bishop of Trier, and the place where the Christian faithful have gathered almost uninterruptedly for 1,700 years. It was particularly interesting that for such a historic Catholic church, the arches, walls, and windows were very simplistic besides the organ and the Holy Robe Chapel. The chapel holds the seamless garment said to be the Holy Robe of Christ. The Chapel is only open during the Holy Robe Days and the Holy Robe is only displayed every 10 years so we could only see through the gold gates and marble decorations.

Trier Cathedral - "Der Dom"

Holy Robe Chapel behind the altar.

Holy Robe Chapel

The organ.

After leaving Trier we went to Idar-Oberstein for an open fire bbq. The night was full of great wine and even better stories.

BBQ!!!

On Sunday we took a drive through parts of the Black Forest to a tower on top of the Idarkopf Mountain. Unfortunately the fog hindered part of the view but we were still able to see into the valleys on both sides.

The cloudy view from above.

After lunch we said our goodbyes and headed home.  It’s hard to describe how truly wonderful the family was to me as a “friend” The whole weekend I was treated like I was another family member and it taught me a lot about how to treat strangers. It meant a lot to be welcomed in this way and there’s no way I could ever thank them enough. I had an amazing weekend and hope to see my new friends again in the future.

The Uniqueness of Maastricht University

The Engineering Building

So my blogs have only been about sites and traveling around Europe but the trip is more than just that. Yes, I’m actually studying a lot. The learning experience is very different compared to the University of Missouri so I wanted to share some of the differences.

The uniqueness starts with the buildings that house the class rooms. Maastricht University does not have a “traditional” campus. We are constantly finding new buildings that house part of the university throughout the city. That being said the School of Business and Economics is in a former Jesuit monastery.

Obviously this creates some unique sites in the hallways and the classrooms. We have even given one of our lecture halls the unique distinction of the Harry Potter room. It’s not the only pleasant site in the building though.

Additionally, the school is located next to the old walls of Maastricht. I stumbled upon this walkway this week. It makes it easy to take a walk and ease the stress of classes.

Picture from the Maastricht University
 website.

The building and location isn’t the only unique feature of the School of Business and Economics. Maastricht University uses a problem-based learning (PBL) approach to education. PBL tries to overcome the weaknesses of traditional education by having tutorials group meetings that consist of 8-15 people. Each meeting is facilitated by a student and tasked with encouraging maximum participation. There is tutor (staff member) that is also in the meeting to answer questions. My facilitation for Intellectual Property Rights in a Network Society was on Tuesday. It was a unique experience but thankfully I was used to leading classes from my GA position back at Mizzou.

This learning environment is especially unique when you consider that the majority of students are from different countries. There are several exchange students as well as enrolled students from differing countries. Out of the twenty-four other students in my two tutorials, I only know of one that is from the Netherlands.

Lastly, as I mentioned parts of the school are interwoven throughout the city. Several buildings are in old religious buildings. The student services center is also one of those. This has become a frequent study area for me. Especially early in the morning when I need a coffee and a stueker waffle.

Amsterdam - You’ll just have to see it for yourself!

One of the many views from the train.

With another week of classes completed, it was time for another trip. This time we took the train 2 ½ hours north to Amsterdam! With a paper due the following week we boarded the train at 7:30am to maximize our two days before we returned on Saturday night. The train ride was enjoyable and took us through the Netherlands with several stops along the way. Once we arrived there was so much to see. Unfortunately a few places don't allow for pictures so I guess that means you will have to book a trip to see them yourself.

Once we arrived in Amsterdam we headed to the Rijks Museum. Rijks is a national museum dedicated to arts and history. With over 8000 objects of art and history on display we knew that there was no chance to see everything so we opted for the 90 minute “top sites” feature on the app that you could download for your mobile phone.

There was a lot of beautiful pieces in the museum not to mention the stunning features of the building that was opened in 1885.

Rijks Museum

Rembrandt's The Night Watch from1642

Still Life with Books, Jan Lievens, c. 1627 - c. 1628

Model of a 17th century Dutch warship

The Battle of Terheide, Jan Abrahamsz. Beerstraten, 1653 - 1666

Part of the Dolls' house of Petronella Oortman
c. 1686 - c. 1710

Me and my two temple guardian friends. c. 1300 - c. 1400

Van Gohg self portrait from 1887.
My favorite painting from the weekend.

In the Month of July
Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriel, c. 1889

Shipwreck off a Rocky Coast, Wijnand Nuijen, c. 1837

Library inside Rijks

After our Rijks tour, and because it was afternoon, we headed to the Heineken Experience. The self-tour was a fun experience to see the history of Heineken inside the original brewery. We were also granted a few complementary beverages and a nice little souvenir glass from the tour.

Later in the day we walked around the canals and the city center. We took in some of the sites including Oude Kerk, the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, and the red light district.

Royal Place of Amsterdam

Oude Kirk

A PG picture of the Red Light District

I amsterdam sign infront of the Rijks

After our walking tour we ended up back at the Van Gogh Museum. On Fridays, the museum is open until 10pm so we went inside where there was a bar and dj. It was a different feel than most museums. There are several paintings from Van Gogh and artists that inspired him. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures of the paintings inside but if you visit Amsterdam you need to go to the museum.

Saturday we woke up excited to see more sites. One of our hall mates informed us that we should arrive at the Anne Frank House before the 9am opening time. Our early morning walk was full of sites and then we finally arrived at 8:45am to an already long line. We waited 30 minutes to get into the museum but there was a line behind us by 9am that was about a 2 hour wait.

The front of the building where the business

was located.

The museum was also very interesting and moving. The hideaway was larger than I expected but would have easily became uncomfortable. It was also very well hidden within the building. I would highly recommend taking the tour, but arrive very early.

Pictures were not allowed inside.

After the Anne Frank House we were hungry and went a few blocks away to The Pancake Bakery. Luckily we were able to sit down quickly but a line formed soon after. I ordered the Canadian that included crispy bacon, onions, mushrooms, ham and cheese. Olivia opted for the Belgian that included apples, raisins, sugar nuts, Cointreau, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Of course we shared and both were delicious.

The inside of The Pancake Bakery

Our Breakfast!!!

The rest of Saturday was spent walking of our pancakes and a train ride back to Maastricht. Here are some of the other sites that we came across.

Jordaan Neighborhood

This is a shopping center.

Soccer match infront of the Royal Palace