Weekend Excursions - First month in Europe Posted on: 5th October 2016 :: Photo Credits: Silva, Prayaag, Gaurav, Sagar, Pabitra, Manish, Alap, Kavitha ::
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Preface
Travelogue of weekend excursions taken during first month of exchange semester at RWTH Aachen, Germany (September 2016-17)
Weekend : 1
Location: Drielandenpunt (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium)
We finally received our bus pass on 5th September and everyone was eager to kickstart the ‘Eurotrip’. We decided to begin with the nearest famous tourist spot: Drielandenpunt. The Drielandenpunt or ‘Three-country-point’ is the location where borders of Germany, Belgium and Netherlands meet. We left Aachen in the afternoon and took a bus upto the last bus stop on Germany-Netherlands border. We were surprised to find that the border between Germany and Netherlands was nothing but a painted road-strip. There were houses along the border as well. (As if, one brother wanted to stay in Germany and another in Netherlands, so their father had to build the house on the border...sorry, poor joke :) )
There were two paths to Drielandenpunt from our location: first was a walking trail through Forest on the German side and second was a concrete road on the Dutch side. We decided to walk along the trail. It was a wise decision! The magnificent panorama was truly refreshing. The weather was great too: sunshine and cool breeze, a perfect combination for hiking through the forest.
On the way, we walked past a bar/restaurant with a beautifully built viewing tower. Unfortunately it was closed at that time and we couldn’t go up.
Finally, after a tiring but enjoyable hour-long walk we reached our destination: The Drielandenpunt!
It was a small but beautiful tourist spot surrounded by lush green forest. The exact meeting point of Germany, Netherlands and Belgium, was marked by their respective national flags and a plaque.
We spent an hour roaming around the three country point. As the evening rolled in, we headed back to Aachen along the road on Dutch side. The houses and buildings along the way were simply stunning!
This short but wonderful excursion ignited the traveller within each and every one of us, and gave us a perfect glimpse of the European extravaganza that lay ahead!