My lack of sleep caught up with me as I nearly missed a 7:30 am deadline to have our luggage set out in preparation for leaving Amsterdam. It was a good thing I had packed my suitcase the night before because when I opened my eyes and looked at my phone, it said 7:28 am! Yikes!

We left our hotel about 8:45 am and went on the road to Maastricht, arriving about 11:30. The medieval town features two basilicas and an old fortress.

Our tour guide, Oda, made an interesting comment about visiting so many churches and cathedrals in Europe—even if you’re not a believer, they are cheap museums (!) with architectural, artistic and musical features to visit. As for me, it seems like it’s churches I like to visit, and especially to take pictures of pipe organs.

Oda is an experienced tour guide of 14 years, and is Italian on her mother’s side and Belgian-French on her father’s side. We have heard her speak English, Dutch and French on this trip. She did live in the United States for a time, but it must have been quite a few years ago, because she says things like “neat-o,” “bang shazam,” “yippee” and other quaint expressions like “itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, yellow polka dot bikini!”

I was especially lucky to catch someone practicing at the Onze Lieve Vrouweplein as you can see by this video:

I also took pictures of the organ and pulpit at the Waalsche Church, obviously Protestant because of the placement of the pulpit squarely in the middle.

It was not until 7:00 pm that we arrived in Luxembourg and drove directly to the restaurant for a welcome dinner.

Tomorrow we’ll tour Luxembourg in the morning then travel to Trier in Germany for the afternoon.