A new year just came about and I’ve already started executing my “bucket list”. One of my dreams was to sleep in a castle with my youngest princess. She and I traveled 2 hours to Maastricht (in the province Limburg) so we can live like Elsa from Frozen for the weekend. Limburg’s hilly landscape almost puts Amsterdam’s flat lands to shame. It almost felt like we were exploring another country! Upon arrival, we had lunch at the Kruisheren Hotel, a former convent that has retained its character and transports you back centuries.

After this historic introduction we took a stroll through town for some much needed sightseeing and shopping.

Retro&Chic (Heggenstraat 1) a store full of antique toys, fashion collectables and antiquities, Traders Pop (Heggenstraat 16) for clothes, vintage, books, magazines and postcards and Second 4 All (Bredestraat 16) High end vintage store   are a few of the stores that quickly became my favorites. For an afternoon tea we went to Livin Room (Heggenstraat 7) a cosy lounge/lunch room. On our way to Kasteel de Hoogenweerdth we saw remnants of what was once a dividing city wall. The architecture was magnificent and truly felt like we were being transported into a fairytale. The views were everything we could have ever imagined a castle to be. Spending the night took our experience to the next level. We had the entire top floor at our disposal and each room possessed modern design elements all while retaining its ancient charm.

         This wonderful experience with my daughter is definitely one for the books!