My 2009 EUGEN experience in the Netherlands can be summarized in 3 main points: hornet invasion, surprisingly interesting and fun day trips, and more alcohol than should be allowed. Now allow me to elaborate below.
EUGEN 2009 camping ground in the Netherlands
Hornets, field trips and alcohol
Our camp site was on a farm in the middle of nowhere. The closest town where we could go shopping was a couple of hours hike away. The weather was very warm throughout the week and that part of the country was experiencing a hornet invasion. It wasn’t unbearable, but it was certainly unpleasant, especially during the mornings. We constantly had to fight off hornets during breakfast and had to be vigilant if wearing slippers. There were a few incidents of people getting stung and one more serious case when someone accidentally swallowed a hornet. They were rushed to the hospital and were fine in the end.
To my second point, as you may know the Netherlands is a fairly flat country. After the impressive field trips and sights I had seen in Switzerland the year before, I honestly didn’t have high expectations for the Netherlands. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the field trips and sights I saw. I will go into details in the chapters below.
Finally, I went a bit wild on the alcohol consumption during this particular EUGEN meetup. In addition to the daily beer consumption, we had an infamous night of “wine tasting”. Our friends from Slovenia had each brought quite a few numbers of bottles of wine. Apparently Slovenia has many good wines and so they decided they would host a huge wine tasting party. Suffice to say, the tasting quickly devolved into chugging bottles. That night was an absolute blast, ending in the biggest bonfire the north had seen – A little Game of Thrones reference there for any fans. However, the second day’s hangover was no joke…
The Caves of Maastricht
The first field trip I attended during EUGEN 2008 took us to the province of Limburg, the most southeasterly region of the Netherlands. Our first stop was at Gemeentegrot, or Cauberg Cavern.
Entrance to Geementegrot
Geementegrot is part of the network of limestone caves known as the Maastricht caves, or the Caves of Saint Petersberg hill. These are basically a system of interconnected old underground limestone quarries. The trip involved a a guided train ride through the dark underground complex.
Art decorated walls inside the caverns
Dating back to the 13th century, the Maastricht caves were originally dug to mine chalk. Over the years, as mining this rock had become less profitable, the caves took up different roles.
Sculpture in marl in Cauberg Cavern
The walls were decorated with art over hundreds of years, which lead to them becoming tourist attraction. During times of crisis, like World War II, the caves were used as shelter for civilians and military personnel. After the war, part of the complex was turned into a nuclear shelter, which was part of our guided tour.
I had seen a few cave systems before, but nothing as massive and impressive as this multi-century man-made complex. It was truly an impressive experience. One that I would recommend to anyone visiting the Netherlands.
Three Country Border
Following our visit to the Maastricht caves, we took the bus to the tripoint in Vaals. The tripoint, or the Three Country Border, marks the border point between Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. One of the main attractions there was the Labyrint Drielandenpunt, Europe’s largest outdoor shrub maze.
Labyrint Drielandenpunt at the tripoint in Vaals
We ventured into the maze and spent many eons trying to navigate its treacherous, shrubby, ever winding pathways. I’m joking. We probably spent about an hour in there. But it was definitely a fun experience! At the center of the maze we climbed up a platform from which we could see in the direction of any of the three countries. Me and my navigation group made it out safe and sound, just in time. However, some of our other companions had to cheat and climb over the shrubs to get out before the bus left them behind.
Fountain in the Labyrinth
Aside from the Drielanden Labyrinth, the tripoint is also the highest region in the Netherlands by altitude. Our next and final stop for the day involved visiting the continental peak of the country, the Vaalsberg. This monumental hill sits at a whopping 322.4 m altitude! How anyone could climb such a tremendous hump is astounding!
Searching for the way out from one of the elevated lookout points
Nevertheless, we did the unthinkable and hiked Vaalsberg. However, in some way that I can’t fully recall, we ended up in yet another man-made cave. The Dutch sure seem to like their caves.
Another hole in the ground to explore in Vaalsberg
A trip to Belgium
The second field trip I went to involved a day trip to Belgium and was only offer on one specific day. The list got filled quick and I wasn’t about to miss out on a chance to visit Belgium. In an amusing twist of events, the day before the trip we had our country of origin presentation evening in camp. For these presentations people would usually talk a bit about their home countries geology, or culture, or something down that line. It was during this evening when our Slovenian friends presented the wonders of their country to us all in the form of insane amounts of wine.
The party tent at EUGEN 2009
I won’t go into the details of that night, but I will say that it was an absolute blast! I was among the last standing, or should I say wobbling people to enjoy the final flickers of our big bonfire. However, this meant that I barely had a few hours of sleep before my alarm violently woke me up early next morning. I felt absolutely miserable. However, I wasn’t about to give up on the chance to visit Belgium! I could barely drink half a cup of coffee before upsetting my stomach. I zombied my way onto the crowded bus and fell asleep instantly.
My first 10 minutes in Belgium
About two hours later I woke up suddenly to the loud voice over the bus speaker letting us know that we had 10 more minutes to our destination. My stiff neck was frozen in an awkward sideways position for a couple of minutes. As I slowly got my bearings, I realized we were in a big city, going up a windy road to some sort of fortress.
I could barely focus on the outside world. My head was throbbing and my stomach was turning in all the wrong ways. I kept telling myself that I just needed to hang in there 10 minutes and then I would rush to the nearest restroom. However, that wasn’t good enough. As a cold sweat started sweeping across me and my vision and hearing were fading, I realized if I didn’t “unload” I would just pass out. Reluctantly, I grabbed the nearest empty trash bag and gave one last miserable and desperate glance to my poor unknown German companion sitting next to me. Then… well… I think I don’t need to spill it out for you. I already spilled it out for him… Oof!
10 minutes later, in Belgium…
A mystery city
After I got the chance to wash up and walk around a bit, I started feeling better. Even with the nagging headache and hangover after effects, I was very happy to have not missed out on the trip. The fortress we had driven up was amazing and the view of the city below was absolutely fantastic. I had no idea where I was, but I wanted to see more.
Grumpy me and my splitting headache with the beautiful Belgian city in the background
I’m pretty sure I was told the name of the city a few times, but in my state it just didn’t stick. So much so, that it took me writing this blog, to finally ask my old pal Daniel where the heck we went to in Belgium. Turns out it was none other then the capital city of Wallonia (the French region of Belgium), Namur.
View of the rooftops of Namur from the Citadel
We spent a good while exploring the city fortress, also known as the Citadel. Apart from the breathtaking views of the city, there were various old canons, artillery pieces, barracks and other such things to discover. There was also a geological part of the citadel tour, focusing on the foundation on which the fortress had been built.
Exploring the Citadel
After touring the citadel, we got back on the bus and drove to a nearby quarry on the outskirts of Namur. It was at this time when in proper Romanian fashion, me and my compatriots decided to take our lunch and nap under the shade, while everyone else went off to tour the quarry. No regrets. That nap fixed me 100%. Well, I guess my only regret was that we never got to explore the city of Namur more. It sure looked like a fantastic place to spend a few days at least.
The Citadel of Namur and its tilted rocky foundation
Europe’s biggest seaport
On my third field trip, we headed to the Delta Works in the Netherlands. On the way there, we passed by Rotterdam, Europe’s biggest seaport. Even though I didn’t get to see the city itself, during our drive, I got a glimpse of the vast industrial and shipping areas surrounding it. It was quite a sight to behold. Me and my friends were eagerly awaiting to have a view of the North Sea. Instead, we were treated to seemingly endless lagoons, canals, and all other sorts of water bodies used for transportation.
The busy shipping lanes near Rotterdam
On the one hand the sights seemed boring and unappealing. On the other, seeing first hand the sheer magnitude of the ongoing daily operations supplying the continent with all sorts of goods from across the world was quite impressive.
Delta Works
The Delta Works is a complex of 6 dams, 3 locks and 4 storm surges built to protect The Netherlands from flooding from the North Sea. Since a big part of the country is below sea level, flooding is a constant threat to the people living there. Completed in 1997, the Delta Works is one of the most impressive feats of hydraulic engineering to date. Apart from protecting the Netherlands from flooding, the complex also provides benefits for water quality, agriculture, shipping access and recreation.
Walking underneath one of the large locks of the Delta Works
We started off our visit at their office building with a short presentation of the complex. We also had some of the most delicious sandwiches imaginable for lunch. Oh, those salmon sandwiches were divine… I would go back there just for that alone!
Storm surge barriers at the Delta Works
After our informative presentation and… those scrumptious sandwiches, we got a first hand look at part of the Delta Works. It was truly a massive structure, or I should say, chain of structures.
Shores of the North Sea
At this point me and my friend Daniel finally got to touch the waters of the North Sea for the first time in our lives. It would end up being but a prelude to a future adventure further north.
Utrecht
The final field trip during my visit to the Netherlands took me to the city of Utrecht. This was part of the cultural trip, which is always held on the last day of each EUGEN. We walked the cobblestone streets of the city center, taking in the sights for a couple of hours.
The Dom of Utrecht
Canals, coffeshops and colorful houses lined the narrow city streets left and right. The centerpiece of the city is the gothic Cathedral and Dom of Utrecht. Built in the 14th century, the Dom is the oldest and highest church tower in the country.
Canals and a sea of bicycles
After our walk, we went to a Belgian bar with that had a crazy high amount of beers on tap. One more flavorful and fantastic then the other. It was during this visit I discovered how amazingly tasty Belgian beers were. To this day, they remain my favorite style of foamy alcoholic beverage.
Nothing better then having a few quality beers with friends in a Belgian bar after an epic week in the Netherlands
My friends and I spent the rest of our remaining time in Utrecht enjoying our drinks and reminiscing about our fantastic week in the Netherlands. EUGEN 2009 had come to and end and it was now time to part ways. They would go back to camp for one last night, while I had to catch a train back to Germany.
In my previous post I mentioned how I went to EUGEN Switzerland in 2008. I also said I would showcase the field trips I went to during the week there. Now again, because of how long ago this was, I sadly can’t recall the names of any of the places. Perhaps one of my EUGEN friends, Gaudenz, who was one of the organizers for EUGEN 2008, can help out in the comments.
As with each EUGEN event, there were a number of field trips to choose from during our week long stay. Some of them are organized twice, so that people have a chance to do all, or almost all of them. All the field trips are worthwhile, but we each have our own preferences for what we’d like to do and see. For me, it was hiking. I wanted to go out there and walk up some Swiss mountains and see some geology on the way! There were two perfect options for this. One of them involved visiting a big dam and then hiking for most of the day around that region. The second one involved a hike up a fairly tall mountain peak.
Hiking in the Swiss Alps – 2008
I believe the name of the place with the dam started with an L, so let’s just call that the L-dam. Then the mountain… all I remember is that there were cows and horses on the way, so I’ll go with cow-mountain.
The L-dam
The morning of our trip was fairly chilly and cloudy. We were all so tired in the morning. The late night partying combined with the early wake-up was a drag. Even now I can hear the organizers walking through camp in the morning, beating on metal pans and pots to wake everyone up. The horror…
My tired friends in the mornings, Switzerland 2008
I recall we took a fairly long bus trip to reach our destination. I also specifically remember the road was very winding with many sharp turns. This, because every time I tried to fall asleep the bus would turn and I’d end up banging my head against the window… concussion number 45.
Then finally, about two hours later, we arrived at the L-dam. The place must have been beautiful. Too bad we couldn’t see much due to the clouds. Ok, I’m exaggerating, but to be fair, it was pretty damn cloudy. At least for the first part of the day.
My friend Daniel in the clouds
We sat out on a trail following the lake. On the way, we had a few stops at several rock outcrops. I recall one of them had a bunch of nice garnets and, everyone took a piece with them. For the non-geologist readers, garnets are basically cool looking minerals that are sometimes used as gems. They kind of look like little mineral balls with nicely shaped geometric faces. Some of these garnets can even grow to a few centimeters wide. Take two of these big garnet balls and a long staurolite in the middle and you have a recipe for an obscene Bachelors dissertation project “wink, wink”.
The L-dam, somewhere in Switzerland
The weather started improving during the day and finally we got to see our beautiful surroundings. Gorgeous mountains on each side of the trail and the lake behind us. It was a wonderful field trip that I would gladly do again.
Hiking around the L-dam lake
Cow-mountain
On our second field trip in Switzerland we had the perfect hiking weather. Beautiful clear skies on a warm summer’s day, with just the right amount of a cool mountain breeze to keep us fresh.
The perfect weather and scenery for a lovely mountain hike
We started our hike from an already relatively high point and had to reach a peak of around 2500m. On the way we passed a bunch of horses and cows. For whatever reason this images stayed with me, hence why I decided to name it cow-mountain. Maybe it’s due to all the old “Milka” chocolate commercials with the cows and the Swiss Alps. Does anyone remember those?
Our EUGENeers gathering for some field geology
I recall our geologist professor/guide for the day had quite the hefty pace. So much so that some people had a hard time keeping up with him. I can’t remember what else we did during this field trip, except for walk, walk, walk, higher and higher.
Slippery terrain and impressive rock outcrops weathered by the elements
As you may imagine, the hike was absolutely worth it. The views we had on the way and especially from the top of the mountain were incredible. We even got to see some glimpses of snow here and there. Remnants of old glaciers, now just a thing of the past.
Me and Daniel: the brotherhood
Heading home
After the wonderful week in Switzerland we embarked on our multi-train journey back to Romania. All was going well, until we had to board the final train in Vienna. The second class cars were so packed that some of us had to upgrade to first class at extra cost to get on the train. When I mean packed, I don’t just mean all the seats were occupied, but that so many people were squatting on the train car hallways everywhere that there was simply no room.
It was an over night train ride too, so since I was very tired after the long week and the previous train rides, I agreed to be one of the guys to pay the 50 euros extra for the upgrade to an actual bed. That didn’t stop me and my volunteer friends from moping all night about the expensive ticket. However, we found a satisfactory solution. This first class premium service included a complementary 0.5 liter bottle of water. We simply told ourselves that it was that damned bottle of water that cost us the extra 50 euros.
Us and our 50 euro water bottles
In my next post I will jump ahead one year to EUGEN 2009, which was held in The Netherlands. So stay tuned for that!
Alright, so this week’s post is going to be a bit different – and yes I’m really trying to turn this into a weekly thing.
I will go further back in time to my first travel adventure out of Romania. Well, at least the first non-family related one. This all happened in 2008, during my second year at University. I know, feels like a lifetime ago… So one of my friends and classmates shows up one day talking about a summer camp he found out about. An opportunity for geologist students to go camping in Switzerland, relatively cheaply.
The organization doing this was called EUGEN. Which is a fairly common Romanian name and also happened to be the name of my uncle’s neighbor. Oh but it’s not that Eugen, it’s actually the European Geoscientists Students Network. I guess they left the S out of the acronym because EUGESN doesn’t roll off the tongue as nicely as EUGEN.
What is EUGEN about?
Back then I didn’t know anything about them, but as I would find out, they are a German-based organization that had been doing yearly summer camps for geologists and geology enthusiasts for a few years. Each year participants would hold a voting session where they would decide what country would host the next year’s EUGEN event. The whole thing would be fairly cheap and even cheaper for students living in the poorer eastern European countries. The event would last a week during which there would be various field trips one could choose from, social events, lectures and a cultural trip. Oh and a lot, and I mean A LOT of alcohol. All in all it’s an absolute blast of a week. A chance to visit another country, meet new people, make a bunch of friends and have a great time. The best part is that EUGEN continues to date! So what are you waiting for geologically inclined reader? Go! Fly off to Slovenia for a great time this summer!
EUGEN Austria in 2018 – Udra Udra!
Alright, so I went off on a bit of a tangent there, but I’m always happy to do some PR for these guys. Shout out to all my EUGEN readers out there!
Back to 2008 and when I first heard about them. This was back when I was piss-poor, so any cost was a high cost for me. Regardless, the opportunity was incredible and my parents were happy to sponsor my trip.
Off we go
It was some time during August, as it usually is, when the event was hosted. We had a fairly large group of Romanians attending that year. Most of which were university classmates of mine. I remember the logistics of getting to the location were quite tricky. Mostly because none of us had cars to drive. There were no easy flights either, so the only option we had really were trains. I think we had to change 4, or 5 different trains in total. I believe it was over a day’s worth of train travel.
The obelisk of Horea, Cloșca and Crișan in Alba Iulia, Romania 2008
The first train was from Alba Iulia, Romania to Vienna, Austria. The second one would cross Austria and take us to around Innsbruck, where I think we had to change to another train that would cross over the Swiss border. Then I know for sure there was at least one, if not two more train changes within Switzerland. This was mostly because the event location was near a tiny little village that nobody outside Switzerland has heard of called Domat/Ems. The village is close to a bigger town that nobody outside Switzerland has heard of called Chur. Chur is actually pronounced Coor, or Cur, like ass in Romanian. Sorry, I just had say that – Gaudenz, I hope you’re reading buddy!
A quick stop in Vienna, Austria – Mandatory taking of photos as proof that we went there in 2008
The experience
Now, I won’t go into day by day details of my excursion to Switzerland. Primarily because it’s been such a long time that I can only recall bits and pieces of it. However, I will reserve my next post to go over some of the wonderful places we saw during our field trips.
As for here, I would just like to state that it was a fantastic experience. Not just for myself, but for all of us from Romania that went to EUGEN 2008. The amazing field trips, the great people we met, the evening parties, the incredible food! Oh God, the Italian food night when everyone had like 3 portions and then the toilets couldn’t handle it anymore… The Italians serenading the chefs with live music… What a night! I remain extremely grateful for the organizing team and EUGEN for the opportunity.
Switzerland was/is such a radically different country then Romania that it’s like night and day. A real eye opener to how nice and civilized a country can be. Well, kind of like Norway for those who have read my Norway series. For those who haven’t, well what are you waiting for? It’s right here!
Walking around Chur, Switzerland 2008
Starting to feel like this post is one big advertisement, eh? Well, you bet your Chur it is!
Hope you’ll stick around for my next post about our Swiss EUGEN adventure! Until then, I bid you farewell.
