Netherlands' countryside visit and back to Prague

For the weekend I am going to visit Fanny - a friend I met during her exchange in Prague. Her parents have a farm, so I am excited to see everyhing and mainly a bit differnet country side.

Peat moor near Deurne, source: my picture

On Friday it was raining in Maastricht and I worried a bit about the weather for the weekend. On Friday afternoon it got better, for a dinner I met my Czech friends again and after having a dinner together I went to meet Mathilde for salsa evening. Well, I forgot everything but basic steps, but I was just looking forward to the atmosphere. Luckily I also met another friend I met during my stay in Maastricht, who is from Lithuania. Awesome evening with friends.

On the next day when I woke up, it was raining again, but at the time I get on the train the sun was shining and I left Maastricht again – this time to Deurne. After about an hour and a half and one change of the train in Eindhoven I arrived to Deurne. Fanny came to pick me up and drive to her parent's place – a farm.

Back to Maastricht for Thesis Defense

After a few months I am coming back to Maastricht to defend my master thesis and finish my Infonomics master studies.

Rotterdam, source: my picture

My defence is scheduled to take place on Thursday January 31, 2013. Wizzair no longer flies from Prague do Eindhoven, thus I had to book the flight with Transavia to Rotterdam and take train from Rotterdam to Maastricht. The whole journey is longer and more expensive, but at least there is some cheap flight from Prague to the Netherlands. I could fly with Wizzair from Brno, but I had an exam on Monday so I preferred the Tuesday's flight from Transavia.

It's around zero in Prague and it's raining. The board at the airport reports that in Rooterdam it's warmer. Flight is on time and the plane is not full at all. Soon after the take off I and falling asleep and when I wake up, I can see the sun and dense white clouds under us. How beautiful compared to the grey and depressing weather on the ground.

Trip to Amsterdam and Queensday

Monday, April 30 is designated to national holiday called Queensday. The whole country goes nuts, everybody dress in orange, drink and enjoy themselves. I used the long weekend to visit my friend in Amsterdam and spend the Queensday there.

I Amsterdam, source: my picture

I was in Amsterdam in July 2008, but to be honest, I do not remember much. I made a lot of pictures, because I had my camera for a short time and was really excited. I don't remember any more, where we stayed, just that the weather was not so good and I liked the bridges and canals in the city. That was 4 years ago, now I have been in the Netherlands since September 2011 (I went back to the Czech Republic three times) and I haven't been in Amsterdam. I postponed my visit until Katka (my fellow student from Charles University) went there for Erasmus exchange so I have a place to stay, a guide but mostly someone to walk thought the city and spend the time with. I planned my visit for long weekend including the Queensday. In 2012 it's celebrated on Monday, April 30. So let's go to Amsterdam!

The Hague, Scheveningen, Rotterdam

A friend of mine came to visit me to the Netherlands for four days and as she was never in this country I planned a lot of trips for this weekend. As this would be my last chance to travel before I leave Maastricht for some time, I also wanted to visit some cities I have never been to.

Me at the sea, source: my picture

Kate flew with Wizzair from Prague, so I was supposed to wait at her at the train station in Eindhoven at 8 a.m. Well, I set up only one alarm clock and switch it off subconsciously, so I woke up at half past 7 and realized that I had fallen asleep. I managed to catch a train from Maastricht at 8, so I got to Eindhoven just one hour later than planned. Kate was waiting for me already. We bought some breakfast at a nearby supermarket and then got on the train and spent slept for a while. Were we arrived at 11 a.m. to The Hague and our trip was about to begin.

The Hague

When we got off the train, it was slightly raining but stopped after a few minutes and slowly the sun was coming out of the clouds. According to the weather forecast it was supposed to be partly clouded that day. Better than any day in the last 2 weeks in Maastricht. I had only a vague idea what is worth seeing in the city, so we just walked there and there. The city was busy only in the shopping areas, but otherwise it was quiet which was a bit unexpected. The atmosphere there was nice and newly built up houses were not disturbing the old ones, like the city kept its look. Even newly built up skyscrapers near the train station are nicely composed into the overall view. We wanted to see the sea which meant walking about 3kms to Scheveningen. I should have printed this map for tourists, it would be very helpful, but my map in GPS was enough.

Scheveningen – Panorama, source: my picture

Maastricht – Eindhoven – Prague – Náchod and back

I have a week free from university, so I decided to go home and visit my family and friends. Let's fly to the Czech Republic from Eindhoven, but this time not to Brno but to Prague. As the route is almost routine, I had more time to look around and observe the world around me.

Welcome in Eindhoven, source: my picture

At School of Business and Economics is the exam week followed by the resit week and I didn't have to repeat any exam from previous period, therefore I had a free week. In my case not exactly, because I still needed to solve a take home exam with due date on Friday July 15, but there was no need to be in Maastricht for that. Since I want to stay in Maastricht in July, going home for a week seemed like a good idea. I prefer flying with Wizzair, as Eindhoven in close, it's fast and it's cheaper than going by bus. Even if you book the bus ticket more than a month before, one way bus ticket cost me the same as return with a plane. Crazy. The only problem is the departure time for flights to Brno (8.30 a.m.), but that is not the case of flights to Prague. Plane takes off at 12 and there is enough time to get to Eindhoven from Maastricht with a train. Great.

Going home for Easter and my first couchsurfing experience

I got a bit of free time after my exams and it is good to go home from time to time. Unfortunately I had only one weekend for this short visit, but even in a short time a lot could be done - especially when it's Ester.

Couchsurfing logo, Source: www.couchsurfing.org

This time I do not want to write separate articles about trip there and back, as I already described flying to Brno and travelling with the Eurolines, so I will only focus on what was new. I should start with how I planned the trip. Flying is the cheapest and faster way how to get to Maastricht and back, but I was going back with the bus. Why? Well, the same reason why I stayed only one weekend in the Czech Republic. Change of plans – I needed to be at the university on Tuesday, April 10 at 9 o'clock as I had some duties scheduled. Before I knew this, I had a plane ticket booked from Brno to Eindhoven on Friday March 13. This would mean one whole week for meeting friends and arranging some administrative stuff. As university changed my time schedule, I needed to adapt and therefore the bus back. I wanted to seize Monday at least, as it was Ester, so I rejected taking plane in the morning and in the afternoon, as getting to the airport also take some time. Bus goes at 17 and at 23 o’clock. The second one would allow me to enjoy the Monday, but it arrives to Eindhoven at 12 o'clock which would be too late. Actually, looking at the whole picture, there are a lot of possibilities, how to get from the Netherlands to the Czech Republic. Nice Now you know what I had to go through while planning my stay home.

Holland trip – Nijmegen, 's-Hertogenbosch, Utrecht

Travelling and walking sightseeing of cities is more fun when you are in a group. We were five - four Czech students and one French student and decided to see the city of Nijmegen. But we seized the day and visited also 's-Hertogenbosch and Utrecht. Let's discover Netherlands!

Our Discover Holland trip group in Nijmegen, source: my picture

I have been to the Netherlands for 5 months but during that time I didn't travel much. I wanted to explorer the surroundings of Maastricht by bike and I also visited some cities a few years ago. I like to travel, but I prefer to do sightseeing with friends, as it's more fun than just walking alone. Netherlands is not a big country and it takes about 5 hours to get by train from the south to the north. But trains are not cheap for foreign visitors, so you carefully have to search for special offers. One of them is the "Dagkaart" (Dayticket) that you can buy in some shops from time to time. As regular price of such ticket is 48€, in special offer you can buy it for 13€. As I had such a ticket and it was about to expire I was glad that we agreed on a trip. Let's discover the Netherlands!

Short summary of my winter holidays

Christmas break is over and it's time to get back to Maastricht to continue with studying at SBE. Today I will talk about the time I spent in the Czech republic and than about my superb weekend in Maastricht before period 3 started.

My favourite Maastricht University hoodie, source: my picture

I was home for three weeks and now it's time to return to Maastricht University. I really appreciate the fact, that all exams are written before the Christmas break. I could enjoy my holiday and relax. On the other hand, waiting for the results has an opposite effect – getting more and more nervous whether I passed and how. As I didn't fail any exam in the first period, I had now 3 weeks of free time. As I only visited my country – Czech Republic – for a few days at the end of October, I was looking forward to seeing my friends and family again. Christmas is an ideal time for stuff like that and after spending the New Year's Eve with my university buddies, time was going faster than I realized. I enjoyed great Czech beer, which is one of the things that I really miss in Maastricht. I spent during last two weeks quite a lot of time in pubs despite the fact that I am definitely not a big drinker.