Een avond in Maastricht!

We were online, looking for 'what's on when' when we stumbled upon 'Preuventmint' a four day culinary event in Maastricht. Maastricht, a city in the Dutch province of Limburg hosts this festival every year in the last week of August in the main town square.
We looked at their website and found the idea of over thirty stalls serving different cuisines and wines very promising!
We'd been forewarned that this weekend was going to be dampened by the storm clouds and a lot of rain, but this was something we didn't want to miss. We set out in the afternoon and in a little over an hour we drove into the city. Being Sunday, all the shops were shut but the main square was abuzz with activity- hundreds of people thronged the many stalls set up for the festival. It was already dark and cloudy and a cold wind had begun to blow. As we entered the open arena my senses were enraptured with the smell of warm cherry waffles fresh off the iron, steaks sizzling in the barbecue, skewered satay meat cooking over coals, freshly baked breads, so many types of cheese.......
We hopped from stall to stall but soon it started to pour! It got windier and colder and hundreds of people crowded under the make-shift canopies of the restaurants. It was hard to keep our spirits up with people stepping on our toes, our jeans completely drenched and our plates full of food balancing precariously in our hands. The live band played on, oblivious to all the commotion the rain had caused. The rain showed no signs of receding and we decided to head back home.
Had it been a bright, warm, sunny day we'd have definitely spent more time in Maastricht. We're not complaining though! The waffles and the cheese, the satay and the meats, the scampi and the piadina mamadou, the music and the celebration all made the two hours we spent there worth the drive!