The incident triggered a dangerous scramble for the euro bills on Monday on the busy A2 highway near Maastricht, as people ditched their cars in the middle, on the sides and of the road to pocket euros dropped from the money truck.

Police in the southern Dutch province of Limburg confirmed in their Twitter feed “it briefly rained Euro bills”.

Video from the Dutch Broadcasting Foundation (NOS) captured people dodging passing vehicles to pick up the cash littering the highway.

It is still not clear how much money was lost, nor how it fell from the truck in the first place.

Breda, Haarlem, Den Bosch, Maastricht and Nijmegen achieved the highest scores this year in the research for the 2010 Most Hospitable City in the Netherlands.

Last summer, Van Spronsen & Partners in cooperation with the Dutch tourist bureau in the Netherlands conducted the consumer survey for the second time.

The city from the 5 most hospitable cities in the Netherlands, with the highest score and will be titled most welcoming city in 2010. On October 14 the winner will be announced in Haarlem, the Most Hospitable City of 2009.

In the recent months, visitors to the 21 largest cities in the Netherlands were questioned about the degree of hospitality of 27 different aspects in the categories “Friendliness and Safety”, “Accessibility and Information,” “City and Architecture ‘and’ Hospitality and Leisure time ‘. Over 8000 visitors in total have been interviewed.

If you’re looking for culture, Maastricht is definitely the place to be – a city with a long and very rich cultural history. It should therefore come as no surprise that Maastricht is home to an impressive variety of historical museums and sites, ranging from artefacts from the Roman era in the underground museum beneath the Derlon hotel to the treasure chambers of Saint Servatius, from the Museum of Natural History to the Museum at the Vrijthof, located in the Spaans Gouvernement (Spanish Government) Museum.

The centre of Maastricht is compact and easy to explore on foot. Large areas are pedestrians- only and most sites are within walking distance. The old St. Servaas bridge links the old centre with the trendy Wyck district, and from the adjacent Céramique district you can cross back over the river via the designer suspension bridge, the ‘Hoeg Brögk’, and cut through the park back to the centre.

A completely new shopping centre now graces the banks of the Meuse, forming a link between the old and the new Maastricht. Mosae Forum hosts a wide range of nationally famous outlets, including The Sting, S. Oliver and Esprit – a major addition to an already rich palette of shopping opportunities.

Shopping
The popular chains are located along the Wyckerstraat and Maastrichterbrugstraat which, together with the Grote Staat, form the main shopping boulevard from the railway station to the Vrijthof.

Maastricht enjoys a welldeserved reputation for culinary excellence. The taste and quality of the food and drink served in this gastronomic capital is basic to the city’s culture. Culinary traditions are deeply rooted in Maastricht, as attested by the no less than five restaurants sporting a total of six Michelin stars in front.

A visit to Maastricht can easily be combined with a day trip spent exploring the surrounding area. After all, Maastricht’s central location within the Euregion means that you never have far to go! The Belgian city of Liège, just over the border, has a deservedly famous Sunday market plus a lot more to offer. And the German city of Aachen, with its impressive cathedral and numerous sidewalk cafés, is also not far away. Of course, almost everyone knows Valkenburg, with its caves and many cosy cafés. Less well-known is the fact that Limburg is the only Dutch winegrowing province.

Dutch Residents of The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven will be able to see their home on Google Street View soon.

With Street View users can see street level details on Google maps. The company has photographed almost all streets in and around thirty cities in the Netherlands.

The photos can be viewed by dragging a yellow icon on google map and look around.

In March, Google launched Street View, in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Groningen. Now also Utrecht, Den Haag, Eindhoven, Den Bosch, Tilburg and Leeuwarden will be included. The Randstad is almost fully covered.

Of the 21 Dutch cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, only Enschede and Maastricht are available at the moment.

The amazing 114 pounds tricycle from Google is limited to visit only a number of places, because it’s taking a lot of time to shoot good photos. Earlier this year a number of major tourist attractions such as the Efteling and Slagharen were captured.

These photos are not yet processed yet and only the windmills at Kinderdijk and Parliament Buildings are viewable on Street View at the moment.