Maasmechelen & Aachen

It's not too shabby to have been in three countries in one day and all before 1 p.m. - don't you agree?

We returned to Maasmechelen to finish up the shopping we didn't have enough time to get to last night. Kate was in search of the perfect pair of boots and I spent the entire time shopping and trying on clothes in Le Petit Bateau. I ended up buying a pair of trousers, a sweater, and a little t-shirt. All 50% off - hooray! No luck finding any boots for Kate, but not to worry, she's a motivated shopper and it didn't get her down any.

From Belgium, we drove through the Netherlands and to Aachen, Germany. It was quite the miracle that I was able to get us into the city and to the parking garage (with street closures and everything!) without getting lost. As it was well into lunch time, we walked to the Nobis bakery to find something to eat. Kate had a cheese and tomato sandwich and I was in pure heaven eating my rasberry dessert and a cheese bread roll. Too good for words.

We next went in search of Lust for Life, Aachen's big department store, to see what might be on sale. I found luck in the kid's department with a shirt that said "AACHEN" - there were some other interesting things, but I passed because of my big shopping trip at Maasmechelen earlier in the day.

My friend Kristie wanted me to go to a jewelry store to find earrings, so I did just that and kept to my spending limit. Kristie - mission complete!

I returned to the bakery before we left for more raspberry and cheese bread goodness to eat tomorrow before we fly back to London. Kate wandered around and into a booksore and we both checked out a writing shop (pens, paper, etc.) before returning to the car.

The two biggest accomplishments of the day came next. Not only did we get out of Aachen without getting lost but we made it to Angela's apartment in Maastricht also without getting turned around.

We are leaving in a few minutes to walk around Maastricht into some shops and then going to the train station at 7 p.m. to wait for Cyriel to pick us up for dinner.

Dat ist alles.