Weekend Fun, Onze Verjaardagen

Our weekend was jam packed with parties, visitors, and music. Jaap and I have been running non-stop this past week.  From my book club meeting, to dinners out for our birthdays, parties,  visits from the Jansens, and a trip to Rotterdam for North Sea Jazz. We've been busy, but having fun!

The school year officially ended for me on Thursday (always a great feeling), which was followed by a book club meeting complete with tapas and wine with my International Women's Club friends. It was such a great day. Perfect way to kick-off the official start of my summer vacation. Every time I come home from book club I tell Jaap how much I love it. This month we read The Great Gatsby and had one of our best discussions of all time. I look forward to it every month. I'm happy to have this literary and stimulating outlet in Maastricht. It's such a great group of women.

And the weekend just got better from there. Jaap and I celebrate our birthday 5 days apart, so and we gathered up our family & friends for some drinks out on the town... Dutch style. Meaning, we pay for the drinks. Another culture shock for me as an American where you're friends won't let you pay for anything on your birthday. We had a great time with our friends at Café Forum. It was a nice way to say good-bye before we part ways for our summer holidays. 

Jaap's parents, Trees & Jan, came to Maastricht for the party and a weekend at our place. The weather was perfect for walking around town on Saturday. We strolled around the Stadspark, through the Jekerkwartier, and around to the Vrijthof for some lunch on a terras. 

The Jansen men outside St. Servaas Basiliek 

And since the the weather has been fairly nice this past week (excluding todays' downpour of rain) we had dinner with Trees & Jan out on the balcony. It's become my favorite new place in our apartment. Good weather, good German wine, and good company. Het was gezellig!

As I write this post, Jaap is sitting next to me on the couch writing his first guest post for the blog. He'll be writing about our visit we took to North Sea Jazz on Sunday. I'm looking forward to what Jaapie has to say about "all that jazz"!