Cake and churches (a little trip to Maastricht)

Sometimes you discover a gem nearby. Last weekend we spent two days in Maastricht, probably the most Belgian city in the Netherlands. As the boyfriend, erm husband, was tired from a trip to Berlin, we just hung around, went shopping, had cake … Maastricht is a really cosy city with a lot of really nice shops, coffeebars, churches … An ideal destination for a relaxing weekend!

Hotel Les Charmes
We stayed at Hotel Les Charmes, a lovely renovated place in the middle of Maastricht.

Hotel Les Charmes

hotel Les charmes

Dominikanen

Boekhandel Dominikanen cop. Roos Aldershoff

We went to church quite a lot. Not that we are becoming proper catholics, but in Maastricht there are a few very nice examples of what to do with empty churches. There was the bookshop Dominicanen in the Dominican Church, the nicest bookshop I have ever been to. We browsed books, magazines, had coffee … An ideal way to spend some hours.

We had dinner at Kruisherenrestaurant, another really nice example of a church turned into something else. This is a hotel, bar and an upscale restaurant. We had the suprise dinner of the chef, which was delicious. A pea bavarois and a sweet potato soup with sea bass and scallop were the starters. The main course was deer. The dessert was amazing: yoghurt panna cotta with blood orange icecream, white chocolate mousse and a hint of whiskey and something else I can’t remember.

TaarT

TaarT

The main goal of our trip was lunch at TaarT. I had an Italian quiche and a glorious berry-vanilla cheese cake. I loved the atmosphere and the environment: upcycled furniture, ditto plates, tea jugs, cups, cutlery … I just loved it. I definitely wanto to go back and have high tea or a cake workshop there.

We are definitely going back to Maastricht. Bonnefanten museum was closed as well as the Salonard bakery, and this most lovely tea bar called Teazone was completely full on Sunday.