Out of Holland

Doesn't have quite the same ring as out of Africa but it seems to have taken us so long to make the break and voyage into another country that now we're actually in Belgium I feel we're somewhere slightly exotic. (I bet that's the first time Belgium and exotic have appeared together in the same sentence.)
We spent a few days in Maastricht, the most southerly city in the Netherlands. Lovely city with many, many beautiful, old buildings. Some of the narrow, cobbled streets even have the added attraction of being on a slight slope! There was a free, summer dance party/rave on in the market square (the through route to everywhere) over the weekend with, so I am told, some famous DJs but as we had unfortunately omitted to pack our phat pants and glow sticks we felt we should stick to the outside edges. The high volume music could be enjoyed all over the city though and as with most Dutch cities the centre is entirely pedestrianised so if you felt like dancing in the streets then you could go ahead.

And so into Belgium. The first inkling we might be somewhere different was when we arrived at yet another enormous and busy lock. There were 3 commercial barges ahead of us slowly squeezing themselves in. Pleasure boats always wait until after the commercials. We were half listening on the VHF and noticed that they were speaking sometimes in Dutch and sometimes in French. Unsure if there was going to be room for us, I called up on the VHF and asked if they spoke English, the answer to which, in Holland, is always, 'of course!' The answer this time was a resounding 'Non!' Quick change of brain gear and in garbled French I managed to ask if we could come in. The answer was not a straight 'oui' or 'non' so I had to struggle on with a bit more embarrassing gibberish before we established that 'oui' we could, in fact, enter. The commercial bargees were all out on deck smiling as we did so, so I suspect I sounded even more hilarious than I had feared. Next time I'll be more prepared.
So, here we are in Vise only a couple of kilometres but big changes. Langauge, topography, net curtains and blinds (instead of perfect,symmetrical displays on windowsills beloved of the Dutch), no bikes, plenty of potholes, the letter e with an acute or grave accent (which I don't yet know how to do on the computer) different shops......Great! Vive la difference!

Sharing a big lock with a big commercial barge. This lock is the deepest in Holland with a drop of almost 12m

Maastricht

I thought this was a church.....

...and it was until Napoleon threw out the monks. Since then it's been a stable and a hospital during the war. Now it's a magnificent bookshop. I remarked to the assistant that it was a magnificent place to work and she told me that the Guardian newspaper had descibed it as 'the most beautiful bookshop in the world'. It may well be. The murals on the ceiling date back to the 13th century.