Valkenburg..a 3 day getaway while Seavo gets repairs~Day One
Our home for the past four days has been the Novotel Hotel Maastritch. We have struggled to find reasonable accommodation here as Maastritch is a very expensive city and strangely, the price can fluctuate wildly day to day. After the second night we gave up worrying about it, and settled in. Yesterday was full on rain, all day. Thankfully we had done a full day of touring on foot the previous day, so yesterday was a day spent at the hotel. It was a different kind of day for us…we read, watched some Netflix and just enjoyed the comfort of our room. This morning, we are excited that this is the day that we drop off Seavo for his appointment. Seavo gets to stay at TMN Bike Shop for 3 or 4 days and will hopefully become road worthy again. 🤞
The Novotel Hotel has been good for us. We have had comfort, a lot of space with a couch and cooking facilities with a frig, kettle, an espresso coffee maker, etc. The staff who work here are top notch and make it very easy to stay.
We were grateful to have the space in our room and the common areas of the hotel as yesterday it rained hard all day. We didn’t leave the hotel except for groceries. We were able to do lots of research on Valkenburg and find a place to stay.
Seavo has had his own room for the duration of the stay. We haven’t ridden the tandem while in Maastricht as we are concerned that we might make things worse. We have explored Maastricht the old fashioned way…on foot. The nice thing about Maastricht is that most things are within walking distance.
Liked the wall mural of a bike race with a TMN Bike Shop sponsored rider getting some reparations during the race. See the “TMN logo” on the rider’s shorts?
We have arrived…Valkenburg Train Station, the oldest operating station in the Netherlands. It opened in 1853 and brought tourism and an alternate income to farming for the town.
Valkenburg is in the region of Limburg and is known for its hilly terrain. Stages of the Tour de France for both men and women have been held here. We were excited to see that the 4th stage of Women’s Tour de France will be held here Aug 14th this year. Oh, how we would love to be here to share the excitement and cheer them on.
Having bike troubles and time to fill, we basically stumbled on this gem of a place. We were looking for less expensive accomodation to fill the days that Seavo will be in the shop and we noticed that Valkenburg fit the bill. And then we discovered that it is a very special quaint town with history dating back to Roman times, oozing with charm and much to do. It turns out that Valkenburg is one of the favourite getaways for Dutch people. Visitors from Belgium and Germany also love to come here and due to their proximity, can day trip or stay a few days.
Our first glimpse of the picturesque charms of Valkenburg. Everywhere you turn there is a photo opportunity. Note the figures on the left (with hats) and the fellow in the striped tank top on the right. These are not real people, but a collection of art pieces entitled Everyday People. They are scattered throughout the village.
This art installation called Everyday People is here from March 2 to June 18 of this year. We had no idea this was happening….so I guess this does describe our situation of stumbling onto a gem of a place. There are more than 40 life sized concrete sculptures on display in 19 locations throughout the city. It is the creation of 2 German artists, Christel and Laura Lechner. This mother and daughter team have been working on these sculptures in their studio since 2004. Now, the show is on tour throughout Holland and we were lucky to get to see it.
It is hard to describe the impact these figures have….they are so lifelike and you can’t escape their gaze as it feels like they are really connecting with you. People are often just stopped in wonder and some talk to them.
These five guys, are standing outside the Tourist Office.
A duck out for a walk in Valkenburg. Like the Train Station, the Tourist Office is the oldest and also the first Tourist Office created in the Netherlands.
It is hard to imagine Valkenburg without this extraordinary installation of concrete characters. Everyone who passes by, even the dogs, interact with them.
Discovered another part of the Everyday People exhibit as we were walking on a side street. As before, it is hard to recognize from a distance that this couple with their dog are not real people. Later, we were walking by again and it was funny to see a couple walking with their dog and their (live) dog was quite agitated and tried to get the concrete dog to play.
We are staying at a lovely family run hotel called Hotel Janssen. It is a boutique hotel with a lot of perks….a lounge with complimentary specialty coffees and tea, fresh fruit and an honour system for alcoholic beverages and sodas. We liked their humorous sayings like this one painted by the staircase.
Just outside our hotel, we have a great view of the castle ruins on high atop the cliff. One of the concrete people from the Everydyay People exhibit is on the walkway above looking at the castle too.
We have had a great stay here at Hotel Janssen. We have loved being in Maastricht, but it is good to be in a smaller town with so much to see within walking distance.
This group were enjoying a picnic. All of the elements of this scene were created from concrete, including the table cloth and the food. When we walked by a few days later, a group of live people had set up their picnic alongside to join this group.
The community of Valkenburg has installed a number of mosaic benches like this throughout the town. This one’s message translates…”Dreaming of a better world.”
The couple pictured below are certainly dressed for a swim, but we agree that it is a bit cold for a dip in the river today.
This is the Geul River which flows through South Limburg and Valkenburg. It is 58 km long. In July 2021, the river flooded after a period of heavy rain. This caused heavy flooding in the area, a bridge was washed away and residents in the centre of town had to be evacuated. We learned that our hotel was 2 metres under water. One of the owners described to us that the local stone Marl, which is what most of the buildings are made of, is very porous and water simply comes through the wall. Another story we heard about the hotel…when they opened a cupboard on the ground level, water and fish came tumbling out.
It is so crazy….we have seen many of these life size concrete sculptures around Valkenburg, but when we came around the corner, we were sure she was real.
It is not a buffet, their focus is on personal service and quality food. Each setting gets a bottle of orange juice, a pot of strong Dutch coffee, boiled eggs, a basket of fresh bread and buns, a rectangular plate with fresh fruit, veggies, scrambled eggs, meats and cheeses. Plus they offer you a choice from their special selection offerings.
My special selection was thick pancakes loaded with fruit…delicious. The breakfast is so good here that our daily pattern will be breakfast in our hotel and self catering from the grocery store for the rest of the day.
One of the lounges where we can help ourselves to coffee, tea, fruit, beer etc. They provide games to play, books to read and comfortable couches for visiting,
We have had a wonderful day here and we still have two more days before we return to Maastricht. We made a good choice in coming here as there is so much to see and enjoy. Also, we are appreciating the lower price of accomodation here. We have read about travellers who prefer preference to stay in Valkenburg and commute by train to visit Maastritch. The savings in hotel costs are significant, the choice of hotels is excellent and Valkenburg is such a good place to be. We agree.
2 months ago