25. Beek Elsloo Between the villages of Beek and Elsloo my ramblings today took me to Beek-Elsloo station where a ten minute bike ride brought me to the delightful village of Elsloo - with the beautiful stone cottages and elevated views of the Mass river and the Julianakanaal. A little gem in this part of Limburg. A proper Limburg coffee at the Elsloo Castle and I was ready to take on some hills around the area for some more views of the surroundings.

24. Bunde Bunde just on the shoulder of Maastricht - a stretch of train line where the city gives way to the village.  I have passed Bunde many times on the train during this project but never alighted - that was remedied on this trip. Agnes lunchroom for sustenance and onward to ramble around and see the area - some of the old farmhouses doors still intact, in the older part of town on a square sits the deconsecrated S t Agnes church now converted to a community center . The newer St Agnes church near the shopping area is from the 1959 and has a statue of St Agnes on the outside - she is well represented in this town. Bigger park on other side of town gold tennis courts etc. Like most towns I wander around in this region - it always turns into a bakery and art/church trip.

23. Sittard Recommend a stop by the VVV it had a really good selection of regional foods and wines from the Limburg region.  I enjoyed wandering around Sittard  - it feels like a town of two halves, with so much history and old school charm (including timber house from 1530 and the 17th Century Baroque church and the 1300 Church in the main square with the 80m tower built in a typical way you see around this region with layers of brick and limestone,  but as you wander across the other side of the water you can find big public spaces film houses, library museums etc. A quick trip into the local history museum will give you a good overview of the area - all in Dutch but easy enough to navigate, and staff there are great.

22. Geleen Oost Still following the Geleenbeek river this station brought me to Geleen, which is served by two stations - however I travelled via Geleen Oost only on this day, and from the station cycled into the pretty center and visited the shops, bakery, cafes and did a spot of shopping on the grey rainy day I was there. When mining stopped in these regions they became large scale industrial areas and Geleen is home to DSM and SABIC the world's largest petrochemical companies. The plants are large and it is fascinating to whizz by on the train at night when all is dark and all that you can see are you whirl past is the blur of the lights of the refineries - it's actually very beautiful to witness. In the cold light of day not so inspiring (depending on your perspective) - these regions offer a lifeline in terms of employment and they manufacture the raw materials for most of the world's consumer goods from plastics and methanol to nutrition components, paints, and i...

21. Spaubeek I cycled around a little in the quiet area. There are some hiking trails that cut through woods in this area and plenty to see while cycling around - little churches, castles and the river Geleenbeek. 

20. Schinnen                                Between this railway station and the woods, you will find the Canisius syrup factory - the iconic household syrup of choice in this region. After your initial purchase, this will fast become a staple of your cupboard and you will not be sure what you did before you discovered it.  I'm a fan of its use in the type of stew that is made in this region but it goes with everything. Every year this factory processes 16 million apples and it has a small store where you can pick up all sorts of goodies. From here I cycled onward to Thull - through what I think were hazel rows, up the steepest hill my bike has seen in these low lands to the Alfa brewery - a family-owned independent brewery. I was somewhat disappointed that although they were serving beer,  apparently they don't have a license to sell to anyone on spec and I would have had to book a tour in o...