The Return To Middelburg

 After such a chaotic summer I got some much-needed rest and settled down in Middelburg again. A city where I know how things work, where to go for a cheap coffe, what the best routes for running are. It's good to be back. For the first couple of days I stayed at my friend Dominik's place, and on Monday the 10th I moved into my new residence at the Bagijnhof houses. 

Pluimstraat 2, 4331CP Middelburg, The Netherlands! Bagijnhof means "nunnery" in the closest translation. Here you see the place in the midst of the move-in. The bed is secondhand from IKEA and I'm proud to say I built it myself without the instructions.

These ones are quite different than my old apartment, there are 10 private rooms with shared showers, bathrooms, and kitchen. Which is really the prefect set-up, be alone when you want to be alone, go cook when you want to chat! I was there on my own for the first couple of days, since the semester over at the UCR (University College Roosevelt, the other university here in M'burg) doesn't start until the end of of the month. So you can imagine the logistics of hauling things into town from the storage unit, acquiring furniture and negotiating it all the way to the third floor, re-decorating everything. That took me at least a week, not to mention the cleaning of the place...

I also saw 90% of a solar eclipse from the dunes on August 12th. The first of my life actually! Spectacular, and I didn't even go blind from looking at the sun.

To date I've only been around for one house-dinner; my schedule is too full! By the 19th all the housemates had arrived, just in time for me to be whisked away. But you'll hear more about Pluimstraat 2 and its residents soon. Also: market day in M'burg!

And then it wasn't long at all until my parents arrived on August 19th! It was our first reunion in a year, well overdue to say the least. Now I was at last on my own turf and able to show them all the best Middelburg has to offer: we spent a few days touring the various cafes and quiet streets here, the finest cheese farms and parks, even a trip to Vlissingen, the third most dangerous city in this country. (i.e. perfectly safe, clean, and accommodating) 

Inspecting a Dutch hardware store and eating some pastries at the market. Anti-tourism at its finest.

A picnic out in the countryside: we made a tour with bikes and it really was a highlight of the trip! And the cafe in the library was unexpectedly lovely. 

Feeling very, very spoiled.

My semester didn't start until August 31st, so having a few days in hand I joined these old folks on a little road trip out to the far west side of Germany. The Mosel valley was our first stop, a region known for its wines and quiet towns along a deep river canyon. I was shocked that this place is just three hours from Middelburg! We stayed in a small town called Ediger-Eller where the principle attractions are wine, wineries, and wine-related products. 

Walking in rather autumnal-feeling forests (it was a dry summer and the trees lost most of their leaves, alas) and exploring castles! The most touristy I've felt all summer. 

View from a castle tower in a small town called Beilstein over the valley. We did a little canoe trip down the river and I was rather underwhelmed by it. It's channelized and broad for most of its length, backed up by dams. Spoiled by Minnesota again. The real views come if you look up!

Investigating the local sweets; the Germans don't mess around with these!

We moved on after a few days to Monschau, another really small town in the Eifel region. This time we stayed in a gigantic old house, which once belonged to a wealthy family which was involved in the local textile industry. And whose portraits still line the halls, now watching the countless Airbnb guests which pass through. We spent the days in this little town sampling mustard, touring the countryside on bikes, and of course eating very well. 

Biking in the countryside and walking around the village. Not so many pictures of this ride, I was on a regular mountain bike and the parents both had e-bikes. But I survived!

Half-timbered houses, a rushing stream, ruins of a castle overlooking the place. There are a dozen towns exactly like this in Germany but I don't get tired of them. Can it get more quaint!

We only spent two days in Monschau, and I think it really deserved more. We drove over to Brussels for the last stage of this little road trip, in preparation for Sam's arrival on the 31st. He's starting at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in September, studying political science. So I'll be back before too long! For now, the mission was to buy stuff for his apartment, get to know his neighborhood, and explore the city. 

Down at the Grand-Place (Grote Markt for the few Dutch in this city) and a reunion with Seb and Inge, friends from Östersund! I was only here for three days but wow did we do a lot. 

Our go-to bakery near Brussel-Noord, where the guy knew us after three days in a row. And drinking a very nice hot chocolate downtown! My dad left on Friday morning (though a lot later than planned thanks to one heck of a delay from our friends at KLM) so it was just Mum and I for the weekend. 

I left the city on Sunday and found myself with a few hours to prepare for the new school year. Which I skillfully used to build a bookshelf and organize a lot of papers! This semester I have classes, where I'll be studying the Mekong river delta of Vietnam, and a huge group project which involves analyzing the city of Terneuzen in Zeeland and proposing how to make it climate-proof for the year 2100. It'll be a busy one, so prepare for many new adventures! Until next time!