Okay, you got me, technically my shoulder was no longer dislocated but it still was not cute. Remember that time I dislocated my shoulder in Bali? Well, two weeks later I was meant to spend a couple of weeks in The Netherlands. Traveling from Amsterdam to Maastricht eating all of the fries I could get my hands on along the way.
Back in 2017, I was working front desk at Hostelling International. They’d developed an exchange program with YHA hostels around the world. I applied, was accepted, and assigned to spend one week in Amsterdam and one week in Maastricht. I was so excited to be going back to Europe at Christmas time. If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit a European Christmas Market you are truly missing out.
Even though my recovering shoulder, and huge sling, knocked my confidence down a bit I couldn’t throw away this opportunity. I caught my flight as scheduled and when I arrived at the hostel I was greeted with “you still decided to come?” Worry quickly set in when I arrived. I wondered how much my arm would get in the way but I quickly got over that and made the most out of my time. Each city proved to be as beautiful and walkable as the last even in the middle of winter.
After a week in Amsterdam, where I learned about the hostel, visited museums, and met up with a friend from college, I took a train to Utrecht where I spent a day. Utrecht feels like Amsterdam’s little brother, it’s a bit smaller and moves at a slower pace but with the same beautiful architecture and canals. I took another train down to Maastricht where I spent another week working, eating, and visiting the Christmas market. With Europe being as small as it is, I was also able to fit in an evening in Liege, Belgium. That is a story for another day.
Even though I was able to do and see many of the things on my list, there are of course things I missed out on. My dreams of riding a bike through the cities and experiencing the nightlife will have to wait. These things will just have to wait until the next time. The moral of this story is don’t let a little shoulder sling stop you from seeing the world. A torn achilles is another story…
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