I haven’t been able to access any websites but Webmail since Sunday. It finally occurred to me to try restarting my computer, and that solved the problem. So I’m finally back online.
Unfortunately, I woke up Saturday feeling horribly ill, and I spent most of Saturday through Monday recovering. I was very happy to wake up feeling normal again today.
I did get out for some sight-seeing, however. I visited Onze-Lieve-Vrouwbasiliek (Basilica of Our Lady), part of which dates back to to the 11th century. I noticed that the stained-glass windows are from 1987, though! The “main attraction” is the statue of Our Lady Star of the Sea. Thousands of pilgrims visited the statue every Easter Monday in the early 1600s until the Calvinists took power in 1632. The statue went into hiding then; but legend has it that the statue stepped down from its pedestal in 1699 to establish Maastricht’s prayer route.
I then roamed the Stokstraat Kwartier (Roman district), which is the ancient city center. There, I visited Op de Thermen, a small square in which you can see the outline of a Roman thermal bath. I finished the trip with lunch al fresco. The brie and Carugher ham panini with a small salad and honeydew slices was delicious!
I also had the pleasure of meeting my neighbor downstairs. She is from India but is completing her master degree in molecular biology at Maastricht University. We had a nice conversation, and she gave me a lot of helpful advice.
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