Maastricht again

The day started off misty and grey but by 9.00 or so the mist had burnt off and the sun appeared.  It turned out to be a lovely warm day.

A work day today, nonetheless.  Ian had his head inside the engine room most of the of the day.  I must admit I don't really know what he was doing in there, apart from installing a standalone engine battery.  Until now we have been running off two batteries which serviced both the engine and household use, not a good idea.  So now we have a separate battery just for the engine.  But the installation is not quite finished because a piece of wire on the old battery to engine system is now just six inches too short for the new battery - a job that cannot be crossed off the list.

This morning Ian took time off to walk with me, carrying two large bags , in search of a laundry.  We found one that was service only: your stuff will be ready on Friday!  There was another about 70m further down the road that also did service wash only, 50c per load cheaper, and it would be ready in 3 hours.  Guess which one we plumped for!

We passed this wonderful section of old city wall dating from the 13th century.

Ian went back to his engine stuff and I went to the supermarket.  On my list was a female plug so Ian could make an extension lead for when he has work to do on the deck that requires power.  We had all the other bits, just lacked the female plug.  Well, we now have an extension lead with 3 females at the end because all I could find in the local supermarket was a 1.5m extension lead with a triple plug on the end.  Maastricht may be a beautiful town, but where we are is most definitely tourist territory.  The average Joe Soap tourist does not require the kind of stuff that we do!

When I got back Shaun insisted that it was time to go and sample the local beers.  Found a place that did umpteen different kinds of beer, and chips with mayonnaise.  Done deal, except I don't like beer so had fizzy water instead. And don't ask me what beers the other had, not my area of expertise!

On the way we passed this interesting "waterport" apparently a gate in the city wall for barges to unload, dating also from the 13th century.

Tonight Ian and I had a little barbie all on our own: some local sausage, which was really good, and a pork chop each, plus a rice thingamy with stir-fry veg and salad.