Hi Dutch-speaking people,
omdat er ook mensen zijn die geen Nederlands lezen maar wel graag deze verslagen willen lezen schrijf ik ze vanaf nu in het Engels. Mocht je je daardoor nou heel erg onbegrepen of overgeslagen voelen, laat het me dan vooral weten!

Hi native English speakers,
as my English is (quite a bit) less fluent than my Dutch, there will be some weird sentences or odd words here and there (although some I invent myself and I am aware they're not proper English). I'm always looking to improve my English, so tips and corrections are very welcome!


After having had to postpone the plan at least three times and it having been altered (that is, shortened) as often, I've finally been able to go walking again. Only one day, but it was a brilliant idea. Good timing, too, with nice weather. Even though it was cold in the morning, I walked for most of the day in a sleeveless top (yes, and trousers, and even a skirt).
I spent the night at a friend's place, then traveled by car and train to Spaubeek. Got some more delays on the way, but I finally walked out of the station at 11.
First, a path that would have been nice if it weren't right next to the highway. But pretty soon I ended up in a foresty 'hollow road' (this is a thing in Dutch, a road between two 'walls' of earth, usually with forest or other vegetation on top) that was quite pretty. After that, I missed a marking and accidentally followed another route (Pelgrimspad), which did lead me right past a club of people flying model aeroplanes. That was fun to watch, and the planes are actually quite big, with a wingspan (can you say wingspan about aeroplanes or is it just for birds? While we're on the subject, what about insects?) of something like 1.5m.

After that I, also accidentally, found the right route again. It led through fields with big heaps of harvested beets; slightly boring, but by now the weather was getting really nice and sunny, which made up for the boringness.
Passed a few tiny villages, and in between I walked through a very nice forest, with actual height differences (Eva getting happy) and a treehouse.
The next forest was even better. It had a large pond and was pretty, and ended with a path next to a tiny meandering brook, which I crossed a few times, because there were blocks of wood that I could use as bridges and stepping stones.

In Valkenburg I found a roundabout that I recognized. Fortunately, I got to leave the town quickly again - I don't much like Valkenburg and I've seen enough of it when I lived in Maastricht.
But shortly after that, the path joined a nice little river and I found an awesome place to have lunch, next to the river, in a lot of sunshine. Without the nettles, it would have been perfect. Still very much enjoyed sitting there, listening to the water, eating lunch. I even lay down for a bit, which seemed to startle some passers-by.

Past that, there was another beautiful forest that I much enjoyed.
Then, some straight roads, and even though the landscape was nice enough, straight roads are always a bit boring. I did pass quite a few marl (I did not know that word in English) quarries, and buildings made from marl.
Okay, I'm very used to the Dutch 'mergel' but 'marl' just sounds weird.

And then, out of the forest, I ended up in Maastricht, which meant following a straight road through the city for 2.5 km. Pretty stupid, to have the most boring stretch as the last part of the day.
I did start recognizing a lot of things from when I lived there. I almost passed the house where my then-boyfriend lived when I met him. I spent quite some time in that area, so that was funny.
But mostly, it was just getting it over with. I reached the train station 17.10.
And now there's only 4 km of Pieterpad left!

(For those who wonder why I didn't walk those 4 km today, the route actually passes the train station, while the actual finish of the Pieterpad is not exactly very reachable by public transport. More importantly, as this route is just the beginning for me, I want to be able to walk on when I reach the end of it, not have to stop and go back. So that last bit will be the start of the next time I go walking.)
Note: those last 4 km are described in the next journey, 'Day 1/3: Maastricht- Visé.

Geschreven door Jewaontheroad