Benelux 2015: Snowy Maastricht

There've been a lot of unbelievable - and mostly positive - things going on here since I've come back home yesterday, but you'll have to wait a bit for this lazy blogger to tell you all her news! ;) Today I'll take you on a short virtual trip to Maastricht, a beautiful city in the very South-East on the Netherlands.

That was the day before my departure that the winter came to Belgium - finally everything was covered with snow! Of course, Belgium isn't the same as Israel, so a bit of snow doesn't paralyse the whole country, but it still makes traveling a bit more complicated. Snow is quite rare in Belgium and so many drivers don't even have the winter tyres, which leads to an increase in the number of car accident. Still, my dad decided that we should try to go to Maastricht and just drive carefully. That's how I went to the Netherlands for the 3rd time in just 10 days! :)

The Meuse river in Maastricht.

Maastricht might be the oldest city of the Netherlands, although they have a dispute with Nijmegen, which got the status of town earlier, even if the settlement of Maastricht was older. You know, it's probably a bit like with the "geographic centres of Europe" - there are at least 5 of them and I've seen 2! ;) But no matter if Maastricht is indeed the oldest city, or "only" the 2nd oldest, it's definitely a wonderful place full of fascinating historic sights. And, even from my ignorant point of view, it looks quite different than other Dutch cities. Probably it's due to it's location in Limburg region, which is just next to the borders with Belgium and Germany and has been ruled by several countries at different points in history. Have you ever heard of the Limburgish language? I found out about its existence just one day before our trip to Maastricht! It has the status of a regional language in Limburg province and you can indeed see bilingual street names in Maastricht.

Another church turned into a bookshop.

One of my favourite places in Maastricht was the Dominicanen Bookshop located in a 700-years old former church. It's quite similar to the one in Zwolle - it also consists of the bookshop itself and a café, but I think the one in Maastricht is more stunning and also better planned. I wonder, whether there are more church-bookshops in the Netherlands? I should check it one day. Coming back to the topic, which I've started in my previous blog entry, it's an interesting issue: what should be we do about the empty churches, while there are less and less relgious people in West European countries? I'm not going to write about the reasons of decrease in religiousness, which would be an even more controversial issue, but the fact is that it costs a lot to mantain those enormous medieval churches and that there are few people left, who'd come to the services each Sunday. There are also not enough priests and, as a result, many churches have to be closed. This isn't exactly the case with the Dominican Church in Maastricht, which was closed over 200 years ago, but there are many other churches, which used to serve their original purpose until recently. So is it acceptable to run a business in a former church? From my point of view it is, because we have to be realistic and accept the fact that our society has changed. And I think a bookshop is one of those options, which are easiest to take even for those people, who are against the secularisation. After all, books can also help people to develop spiritually. I'm a bit more sceptical when it comes to turning churches into pubs (my dad has told me about such case in Belgium). It doesn't offend me, but I think it might still hurt the feelings of the religious people. And although I'm very liberal, I think that hurting people should be avoided, whenever it's possible. Moreover, I think that old churches still have a special atmosphere, which is just perfect for contemplation and meditation, but not neccesarily for partying. Therefore I really admire this idea of using former churches as beautiful and unusual bookshops! My dad has even been able to buy some books there. :) And me? Unfortunately I can't speak Dutch yet. ;)

Next to the Basilica of Saint Servatius.

But of course, not all the churches in Maastricht have been turned into bookshops. ;) This Catholic basilica has existed for almost 1500 years, although the current structure, which is partly in Romanesque and partly in Gothic style, was built between 11th and 12th century. Sometimes it saddens me a bit when I read how people would destroy very ancient churches to buy bigger and newer "versions" from time to time, but well, they had no idea about protection of historic heritage back in the Middle Ages. ;)

At the market square.

Maastricht also has a very nice market square and of course they sell my dad's favourite "Dutch sushi" there - I think he had 2 this time! ;) I still didn't dare to taste it, but I've tried crab meat for the first time - at least it was cooked and not raw! ;) After those gastronomic experiments we went for a walk along the old city walls...

The city walls

I loved this part of old Maastricht, as there were very few people and it felt just very cosy. The snow made my impressions even better! The gray sky (which is unfortunately typical for this part of Europe in the winter) is so much easier to stand, when you have some snow under your feet! :) Surely, that's nothing compared to those mountains of snow which I've seen in Odessa on 1st January, but as for the Netherlands and Belgium that was real winter! :) I'm glad I was able to experience it before flying back home. And tomorrow I'll tell you about my favourite country of Benelux. Yes, that small one! ;)

My Israeli adventure, Part 3: The Jerusalem Syndrome

Dear readers of my blog, I promise I'll stop boring you with my trip to Israel soon, but there are still some things I feel like sharing with you, because it was a really unique journey for me. :)

I always have mixed feelings when it comes to visiting very famous places, such as Paris or Jerusalem. You know how it works... You keep on hearing about such places since your childhood, you believe them to be absolutely special, but then you often end up being disappointed, because each city has it's advantages and shortcomings and you don't experience that thrill which was supposed to come. For this reason, I usually prefer to visit smaller places, which aren't famous at all. When you don't expect anything and are just open for new experiences and impressions, you can't be disappointed. That's why the list of my favorite countries includes ones that definitely aren't popular tourist destinations, such as Belarus, Macedonia and Moldova. Yet going to Israel and not visiting Jerusalem would have been a shame. I wanted to go there not because it's such a famous place or because it has any special meaning for me (as most of you know, I'm not religious), but simply because it's an ancient city, which has played a very important role in the history of many religions and nations. Therefore I didn't expect myself to experience the Jerusalem syndrome, but we kept on joking about it all the time nevertheless! ;) And so we've taken a train to Jerusalem! :)

On the train to Jersusalem

The train trip to Jerusalem is a really special one. Okay, I'm the one who always manages to find something special about Training, but this particular railway is quite picturesque. Jerusalem is located on a plateau in the mountains and to the train has to "climb" it. I was trying to write a letter during this ride, but for most of the time I just couldn't stop watching the landscapes! :) The trip takes about an hour an a half from Tel Aviv, which is probably quite long as for Israeli measures, but I wouldn't mind even if it took much longer.

Yes, these are palm trees!

We had to take a bus and a tram (it's probably the only tram line in Israel and they call it a "light train") to get to the historic centre of Jerusalem. Finally saw the old city walls and a lot of palm trees! What I've immediately noticed (apart from the palm trees) ;) is that there were many more religious people than in Tel Aviv. As I've mentioned in my previous blog entry, Israel seems to be a country of big contrasts and Jerusalem is certainly the more conservative part of it. 

A street of the old city

The old city of Jerusalem is divided into 4 quarters: Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian. We didn't go to the Muslim quarter, because that might be slightly risky for my friends, but even without it we might spend hours walking down the old, narrow streets. Some of them looked really cozy and beautiful, some were full of cars and shops, which was a bit disappointing, but indeed I was just trying to take this city the way it is. I'm not sure if I can express my thoughts properly, but it felt a bit weird to be there and not to feel anything beyond the natural interest in a very old and historically significant city. Why? Probably because I've heard several people telling me how much they envied me because I was going to the Holy Land - and they meant Jerusalem in particular, because I don't think the palm trees in Tel Aviv would be of any importance to those people. ;) Does it depend on the level of religiousness? Or maybe it's that people, who haven't traveled much in their lives tend to dream about some very famous destinations and expect themselves to experience some unbelievably strong emotions if they ever manage to go there? Has it ever happened to you that you expected yourself to feel very special, happy or fulfilled after visiting a certain place, but when you came there, it was just nice and interesting? 

The Western Wall. And palm trees!

When we came to the Western Wall, the sky looked really amazing and that made me feel cheerful, even though I still didn't have my Jerusalem syndrome! ;) I had small pieces of paper with prayers from my mum and landlady, so I put them into the wall... and maybe even tried to pray myself in some way. I wish I could believe in the power of holy places as much as some people do. I was happy to do this small favor for them and I believe it can really help if they have a strong faith. To me it still felt special because of the historic meaning of this place and because I could see how much it meant to the people, who were praying next to me. For safety reasons, Western Wall is one of the most protected places in Israel and you have to go through the security control almost like at the airport. But I wouldn't complain about it, because it's necessary. 

The Church of Holy Sepulchre

We've also visited one of the holiest places of Christianity - the Church of Holy Sepulchre. There was a long queue of people waiting to see the place where, according to the Christian belief, Jesus was buried and later resurrected. To be honest, I didn't feel like standing in the line and that would also feel slightly hypocritical, so I only walked around the church and bought a holy oil for my landlady, because she really wanted to have it. I can imagine that a few years ago my attitude would also have been completely different...

My version of the Jerusalem syndrome!

Yet eventually I had to experience the Jerusalem syndrome too! ;) I didn't have a bed linen with me, but I was ready to deliver a sermon about the peace in the world to a palm tree anyway! ;) Afterall, those were palm trees that made me most excited during my journey in Israel! So I hugged this wonderful tree, felt united with it and with the whole world and so that was the most unique spiritual experience you may imagine in Jerusalem! :D I really hope I'm not offending anyone's feelings now! I just love to make fun of myself from time to time and I thought that leaving Jerusalem not having done anything stupid wouldn't be my style!

Outside the walls of Jerusalem.

When we were leaving, the walls of old city looked wonderful in the golden light, which is typical for Jerusalem shortly before the sunset. We surely haven't seen everything in Jerusalem - I guess it would require a few days and not just a few hours. But who knows, maybe I'll be able to return there one day? It definitely is an unique city and is worth visiting no matter what are your religious beliefs. It's fascinating to see how different religions and cultures were able to co-exist on such a small territory for many centuries. This will sound cliche, but I hope one day the harmony will come back to Jerusalem and so there'll be no need for security checks or to be afraid of visiting certain quarters. It's a naive hope, but I still haven't totally lost my faith in humanity. :)