Introduction to Maastricht, Netherlands (our home for a year!)

Day 3 (Thursday 8/18),
We still did not have any coffee filters and had to meet Yvonne from Paragon, a third party company that specializes in international relocation, bright and early for another full day of appointments.  This time it was a day of settling in services to learn our way around our new city and to get registered at the town hall.
We started off at the Albert Heijn grocery store (a larger location a little bit further away than the one by our house) to learn about the trash bags, recycling and bottle return processes.  The Netherlands is a very environmentally conscience country as they have to be since they are the most densely populated country within Europe and have very limited land area.  We then went on a little city tour of Maastricht to both City Centers (aka downtowns), where we finally stopped for a coffee at a cafe (which is never referred to as a 'coffee shop' as that means something completely different here ;)) and also went to a very old refurbished cathedral that was converted into a bookstore (such an amazing setting where I will definitely return).  We wandered around the city and stopped into a bakery, De Bisschopsmolen, (Bishop's Mill), dating from the 7th century, that is run by the oldest working water mill.
We then went to lunch in the Markt Square (one of the main  large squares in our city center where the markets take place).  I had an amazing beef carpaccio salad with goat cheese and Jamie had a traditional dutch lunch of bread and cheese.  The city is absolutely adorable with all the cobble stone streets, shops, restaurants, old buildings and cathedrals with incredible architecture and hundreds of bikers!  Maastricht is 2,000 years old and still has the walls that were built in the middle ages (early 13th century) to protect the city.  We are learning so much about the history of the Netherlands and all the influences they have had with the several other nations that have conquered the country including Rome, Spain and France.
Then we were off to the Town Hall to complete our city registration, the bank (ABN AMRO) to setup our local bank account, and then we drove out to the country a bit, past a little winery and stopped at an old castle that has been converted into a restaurant.  On our way home we stopped by Media Mart (similar to a Best Buy) so I could pick up a hair dryer.  
Later that evening we met up with Steve and Sarah, the other couple that moved to Maastricht from the states (Steve is Jamie's colleague from Medtronic), for dinner.  We went to Pet Thai (Trip Advisor's #2 ranking restaurant in Maastricht).  I think we were all excited to discuss our first impressions and experiences in our new town.  Steve and Sarah had moved here almost 2 weeks prior to us so they were a little more settled in and more familiar with our surroundings.  It was a very nice evening of good food, drinks and conversation.


A map of our new country . . Maastricht is in the very southern part of the Netherlands on the Belgium border.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastricht
http://citytripmaastricht.webs.com/

The city of Maastricht, the Maas River (Meuse River) and the St. Servatius Bridge (built in the 1200's)

 Helpoort, the 13th century town gate, the oldest in the Netherlands

 

The bakery, Bischopsmolen, in Maastricht run by the old water mill 

 Selexyz Dominican bookstore located in a beautiful refurbished cathedral

The winery in Maastricht right before the Belgium border

The old castle right on the Belgium border that we stopped at 

beautiful gardens at the castle

country side view from the castle

 These are red wine grapes growing on the castle buildings & pears growing on this vine on the wall!