Friday morning. In about five minutes we leave for the lock that takes us into Belgium. Noodle and Rosie are truly at home on the boat and are now taking their morning siesta on the large apple green doggie bed under the steps. That is a good sign. They no longer feel any anxiety or follow our every step. This is home.
Last night we left them alone for the first time while we went out to dinner. Trip Advisor rated a nearby Thai restaurant number one over an expensive two star Michelin. Finally an excellent meal! The food was amazingly good and we ordered additional dishes for lunch and dinner today. I kid you not, it was the best Thai food we’ve had outside Thailand. Only 56 Euros for wine, beer and generous helpings for two days! Small things make us happy.
We’ve loved Maastricht anyway. It’s our second visit and a total of six days. I call it little Paris. Being within eight miles of both the German and Belgian borders it has a real European flavor different to the other cities in The Netherlands. It’s known for its arts, music, history (oldest city in the country), fine food 
and little specialty $$$ shops of clothing, hats, shoes, pastries, cheeses and a world famous chocolate maker who has served both The Regans and The Clintons while in office. They proudly display photos of their visits in the window.
We’re rather sad to leave after more than three months in The Netherlands. It’s been such a positive experience being new boat owners. Any questions, supplies or services have been done or answered by experts and in perfect English. France may have all the charm, good food and wine, but efficiency is not one of their attributes. OH, we are off…….
Liege, Belgium – Later that evening.
With English speakers behind us we approached the border. Rob contacted the authorities on our radio and replied in what sounded to me, fine French. I asked him what he said. He said, “I don’t know but they seemed to understand me.” He’s cute. They instructed us to tie up and report to the office with the boat paperwork. Rob walked across the bridge, up three long flights of stairs to the top of the huge locks. We got our permit for boating in Belgium, no charge. We were in high spirits and Rob replaced the Dutch flag on the mast with the Belgian flag. Then the six story high doors opened and we see that we are at the bottom of a lock that seemed at least 100 feet deep. We were in the narrow lock for “pleasure boats”, not big barges, and felt that we were in a deep crevasse with the high stone walls that were covered in thick muddy slime. Very spooky. By the time we’d risen to the top we’d had to move the ropes six times to the dirty bollards embedded in the walls, collected slime all over the boat, the bumpers, ropes and our clothes. It was the lock from Hell – here’s what my lovely leather boat gloves look like afterwards. 
Once out and on our way, we were hit by a huge storm with black skies, heavy rain and wind. An hour an a half later we were finally safely moored in Liege. We took a deep breath, cleaned the boat, stripped off our clothes, showered and ate our nice Thai lunch. 
All is well again although with the storm came a cold change. We have to dig under the V-birth for our winter clothing again. At least for the next two days they forecast temperatures around 60F and rain. Great. At least we have power and can run the electric heater and stay nice and cozy. Let’s hope we haven’t missed the summer.
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