/’mɑ:strɪkt/
After my adventures in Bonn in February 2016, I headed to Maastricht for a weekend to visit some very dear friends and practice my very approximate Dutch.
This week-end was like a half dream, arriving under a heavy rain, walking through half of the city before going for drinks and getting some food. If I can give you one advice about grocery shopping, never do it when hungry and not after having a drink, nothing will stop you from doing unreasonable choices!
De Kroketten…
The Dutch word ‘Kroketten’ takes its roots from the French word “croquette”and the verb ‘croquer’ meaning literally crunch! From the etymology of this delicacy’s name you should have by now understood that it is crunchy and mostly deep fired. Filled more commonly with meat, potatoes or fish, ‘De Kroketten’ are a common street food in the Netherlands and offer a nice alternative to your regular kebab and burgers.
As you can see on the picture, I like to eat ‘Kroketten’ in a bun with salad and mostly mustard but there isn’t to my knowledge any Kro-étiquette dictating you the does and don’t, so just go for it and enjoy it!!!
Concerning the visual of an actual delicacy, I couldn’t get you a picture of a whole ‘Kroketten’ as I was too hungry, and well, probably a little bit tipsy to think and be patient enough to get a proper snap…
We had an amazing night at an old factory turned into a club, a night which lasted till early morning! No need to say that the next day only started in the late afternoon and that we had a small walk through the city before the sundown! Everywhere we go, we were reminded that carnival was coming and the city was all dressed in red yellow and green, its official colours in Maastricht!
I love Maastricht, it’s a nice city filled with culture, where you can end up at an unexpected party (this happened to us, we passed by and people offered us to join in and grab a beer, too bad there was a guest list!) or just find an amazing library in a church! This church library is always the highlight of my trips to Maastricht, I must have spend hours in there just walking around the shelves, randomly picking books in languages I don’t even understand!
This amazing January week-end in Maastricht ended on the early Sunday morning to catch my train to Utrecht, my next stop in the Netherlands and to continue the European adventure I took on in January and February last year!
Go and discover Maastricht, it is such an incredible city!!! I hope I will be able to tell you more about it soon… In the mean time, here is a Dutch Proverb that I find really motivating…
‘Alles heeft zijn reden.’
‘Every why has a wherefore.’
Dutch Proverb
MaDAlicEsite 