Together with the spouse i was in the city of Aachen (in Dutch: Aken) last weekend,interesting city with great atmosphere.
Of course we took the train,from Rotterdam to Eindhoven,Eindhoven to Heerlen,thence local DB train to Aachen,announcements in German and Dutch!
Nice hotel called Bensons,very close to the central station,plenty restaurants and shops,and historical Dom (cathedral) and Rathaus (townhall).

At the central square,near the townhall,there is a great trainshop called Huenerbein (=chickenleg!) well worth a visit.
They sell all well known brands,in various scales.
Just prior to Christmas,the shop was very crowdly,also because walking space is kept to a minimum.
Everything is there,Marklin,Trix,Roco,LGB,you name it.
Plenty catalogues,calendars,DVDs too.
Interesting startersets around the Euro 100 mark.
Saw a Marklin gauge 1 P8 for Euro 2,500.-.
Prices for Marklin loco's in the used section i found over the top.
Apart from trains,they also sell modelcars from various makes,some i found very tempting,like the pre WW2 Mercedes racingcars in silver.

And,of course,for our returntrip home,the local train at Aachen was 10 minutes late,no reason given,just late.
As a result we missed our connection at Heerlen and Eindhoven.
For us not a big deal but you could miss a flight at Amsterdam if your schedule is tight.
I really wonder why people are not being told of backgrounds of delays.
They let you print a travellingschedule and thence they are not keeping it!