So on we headed, to Maastricht - where the inital treaty concerning formation of the Euopean Union was signed.
Whoo.
It's right on the southern border of the Netherlands, and is one of its oldest cities.
Although we only cared that it was
a) Close enough to drive to
b) Had a youth Hostel somewhere
And eventually, after a bit of meandering back and forth over bridges, and grabbing maps from posh hotels, we found the Hostel. Before we found the hostel, we ended up driving through a pedestrian-only cobbled area. People gave us disapproving looks.
25EUR per night. And a pretty stunning view across the river.
Due to an archaic legal loophole, this duck is actually the King of Maastricht, and has immutable and total power over the city and all of its residents. Although since it can't actually speak Dutch, no-one can interpret its royal commands, so mostly it just walks around doing duck things.
Here is his castle.
...and more culture.
Maastricht seemed like a lovely place, and I'd have liked to stay there longer, but we only had enough time to grab food, sleep, and set off to Amsterdam after a couple of hours in the morning.
The next morning, Jade Goody was dead, and we set off to Amsterdam.
