Valkenburg: Early Morning Shopaholics

Christmas cheer in Valkenburg
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We made the decision last night to join the free optional excursion to Monschau, over the border in Germany. The coach driver had assured us it would be well worth it and there would be plenty of time left to go around the caves in Valkenburg. Monschau is supposed to be the oldest town in Germany and has another very famous Christmas market.

Having made our minds up, we don’t have to be at the coach until 10am, so we have an early breakfast and go for an early morning walk on a very promising bright and crisp morning. Our first stop is just across from the Hotel, we find an excellent florist selling all manner of Christmas decorations. It is a beautiful shop and before I know what’s hit me I’ve lost my friend in amongst it all. I can already tell she’s going to put me to shame now she’s got her shopping head on!

She’s not naked anymore. Someone has kindly given her a Santa hat and matching scarf, so she won’t catch her death of cold now.

Best Western Hotel Walram
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A few euros lighter, we head back up the river we followed last night. Along the way we bump into a couple from our coach who ask us where the town centre is. We walk along with them chatting until we get to the main road. We point them in the direction we took last night and explain that seems to be the town centre. However we go a different route, towards a rather grand old building in front of us. It appears to be of some historical importance as it has a notice on the wall, sadly it’s only in Dutch so we don’t really know what it is. However it does look like the adjacent garden might be open to the public (well that’s the excuse we are going to use), so we wander in and around it, finding ourselves drawn back again to the town centre.

We pass plenty of shops, but despite it being past 9am, none seem to be open. This seems to be the way of it in most European countries. I suppose in England a lot of them would be closed until 9:30am, but I wouldn’t be surprised if these didn’t open until after 10am. Perhaps they stay open longer in the evening to coincide with the markets?

As we wander around the streets we got the definite impression that it really wouldn’t be worth spending a whole day here. I had suspected this and my backup plan had been to catch the train into Maastricht. However the trip to Monschau sounded like the best bet. The only thing that might be worth a visit in Valkenburg, besides the caves, was the castle that towered above us. It looked fantastic lit up at night, but it also dominated the town in the warm glow of morning sun.

We headed back towards the hotel, looking for the entrance to the supermarket we had seen earlier. This ended up with us walking all the way around it, until we finally found it facing the hotel. My friend loves ordinary supermarkets and shops. She wants to get some of the basic bits here because they will be much cheaper than in touristy Christmas markets. We end up with a basket full of waffles, Edam cheese and cherry liqueur chocolates. We reach the till by 9:55 and of course the cashier has to ring the bell and query items, then the elderly customer has to be helped to count out her money … it really is just like being at home!!!

I’m dispatched to leg it over to the coach and stop it leaving. However when I get there no one is rushing and the smokers are still getting in that one last fag. Someone appears to be running late so we are waiting. I see my friend leave the supermarket and rather unkindly start waiving franticly at her. As it happens we have quite some time to wait, so I pop over to the statue we saw last night. She’s not naked anymore. Someone has kindly given her a Santa hat and matching scarf, so she won’t catch her death of cold now. My friend on the other hand took the chance to go around the side of the hotel to look at a small field of goats that she’d spotted last night.