Easter

I spent a lot of Easter day working on schoolwork, but I did make a trip to Mount St. Pieter in the afternoon. It was only a 15 minute walk to the top, as my backyard is literally part of Mount St. Pieter. The “mountain” looks more like a hill or plateau to me, and I wonder if anyone has checked to make sure that it’s technically a mountain.

The outing was one of the most pleasant that I’ve had so far. I made sure to arrive in time for the English tour of the “caves,” which are actually man-made mines. (I suppose “the caves of Mount St. Pieter” do sound much more exciting than “the mines of St. Pieter hill.”) Mount St. Pieter was first mined for its limestone in the 13th century, and the mining continued until about 100 years ago. At that point, bricks became popular as they were much less expensive, and the locals feared for their livelihood. I marvel at their ingenuity…they began giving tours of the mines to make up for the lost income. The mines were also used during World War II as bomb shelters, for underground transport, and to hold famous works of art in a temperature controlled “safe.”

I was glad that my guidebook instructed me to bring a jacket to the mines, because it was about 50 degrees underground with 99% humidity. In fact, you can get hypothermia from being down there for more than 40 hours. Thus, one of the main attractions of the mines is the area where the local farmers and their livestock hid from the French in the 18th century for 3 weeks. We saw the loft that they slept in, as well as the fireplace that they used to stay alive. The ceiling is still black from the smoke, and we could see that the smoke didn’t travel far from the fireplace. Although they didn’t die from carbon monoxide poisoning, the locals were discovered by the French when one of the farmers’ pigs escaped from the mines.

It was also cool to see the areas where the ceiling has caved in, although it didn’t do much to put me at ease while the tour guide joked that he couldn’t remember the way back to the entrance. In these areas, we could see ancient fossils. One area that looked like a massive cave-in, though, was actually caused by French soldiers trying to blast through to Fort St. Pieter from underneath. Unfortunately for them, the explosives couldn’t force through the third layer of iron that they hit, and the soldiers were killed. They were about 150 meters away from the fort anyway.

Another main attraction of the mines is the chalk drawings on the walls. They are mostly unsigned drawings made by the locals miners, and they’re impressive. There is also a chalk drawing from about 100 years ago when the mines first opened for tours, and one to commemorate the fact that the first fossil that Charles Darwin studied was discovered in those mines. The fossil of the Mosasaur is now housed in a museum in Paris, as Maastricht was a part of France when the fossil was discovered.

Before heading home, I had lunch outside at the restaurant located near the entrance of the north mines. The menu wasn’t too exciting, but I had an incredible view of the city. Before my food arrived, two Dutch couples asked to share my table. And I was more than happy to, until one of the women made a joke about my “American” meal to her friends. I didn’t embark on my day hoping to have a croque monsieur with fries for lunch, but the menu was 90% burgers and sandwiches with fries or chips. Oh well…I guess I need to learn the Dutch phrase for “you’re blocking my view.” 🙂