What do you do with the local newspapers that get stuck in your door slot every week? I receive five different papers every week. Some are from the local government (gemeente), in my case gemeente Nuth, and others are from commercial sources. One of the best ones I get is the "Zondag Nieuws". I can read a bit of Dutch so I always go through it and look for ideas of things to go see. I am not fluent but I can look at the pictures and read enough to see if it might be interesting or not. Then I go online and see if I can find more information and hopefully English text. If you can't read any Dutch at all you can still find useful information by looking for web addresses embedded in the article and going to the website. If there is no English text you can use one of the many translation services to do a machine translation of the text. Now I will tell you that Dutch does not come through machine translation extremely well but it is good enough that you'll have an idea of what is being said.
Scanning through today's paper brings up one of my pet peeves; that is that they very seldom give you much lead time on an event. For example, in todays paper is an article of an event that started yesterday and will conclude today. If the rain holds off I am going to go see it this afternoon but I sure would like to be able to plan ahead a little. Below are some events I pulled out of today's Zondag Nieuws Westelijke Mijnstreek.
On Saturday and Sunday (3&4 September) from 1000-1800 hrs the Kasteel Eijsden will have an Open Day. This is a unique opportunity because the castle only opens its doors to the public one weekend every two years. The property is owned by the Belgian Earl Marcel de Liedekerke de Pailhe. Prices are €7.50 for adults and €5.00 for children under 12. Tours begin on the hour and half hour. It is highly recommended that you send an email to tickets@saintececile.nl and request tickets. They will write back with instructions on how to pay. The tours are very popular and you will wait a long time if you don't have pre-purchased tickets. Kasteel Eijsden is near the town of Eijsden-Margraten. Plug this address into your GPS: Graaf de Geloeslaan 8, 6245 AS Eijsden, Netherlands. I'm going to have to figure out how to squeeze a visit to this kasteel into my weekend plans.
The Limburg Province Plowing Championship happens today just outside of Born (just west of Sittard). The competition begins at 1300 hrs on 17 hectares of fields. There are different categories of competition; modern and antique tractors as well as two, three, and four bottom plows. There will also be a horse-drawn equipment demonstration. Plug in "Graetheide 91, 6121 Born, NL" to your GPS and it will get you close enough. There is an all Dutch website but it doesn't give much information at http://www.agroprom.ajksittard.nl/ploegwedstrijd_info.html
I went to the Plowing Contest and it was a lot of fun. If you have the time you might want to go to the National championship this weekend.
From Thursday 1 to Sunday, September 4 Roermond is dedicated to the World Culture Parade. Op het Stationsplein, Kloosterwandplein en in de straten van de Roermondse binnenstad spelen meer dan 80 nationale en internationale muziek- , dans-, en theatergroepen uit de gehele wereld. At the station, Monastery Wall Plaza and in the streets of the city Roermond play more than 80 national and international music, dance and theater groups from around the world. Top acts playing on the station with breathtaking shows, music and dance, all guest in our city for the WCP. Unique, but most sensational Roermond cozy and something for everyone! Come to the cathedral city and discover this great four-day event on World Culture Parade 1, 2, 3 and 4 September 2011 in Roermond place. Go to the following website for more information. There is an English language button on the top menu (click on the British Flag icon). Roermond Festival
Ok, here is something very unique. On 3-4 September Roermond will also host the World Championship Timber Sports (Sponsored by Stihl). I have watched these competitions on TV many times and they are very interesting. According to the Stihl Timbersports website, "Established in 1985 by STIHL, the number-one selling brand of gasoline-powered handheld outdoor power equipment in America*, the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series, billed as the Original Extreme Sport, attracts the world's top lumberjack athletes in a competition based on historic logging techniques. The Series is seen by more than 20 million viewers annually in more than 62 countries on networks such as Eurosport and ESPN, where it is one of the longest running shows. Athletes compete in a variety of disciplines based on traditional logging skills to determine the best all-around lumberjack. Disciplines include hot saw, single buck, springboard chop, standing block chop, stock saw and underhand chop."
On Saturday the individual events will take place. This will be the top 16 finalists from around the world. On Sunday they will run the team events; 22 national teams will compete to include a youth team. Entry price is €10.00 for adults and €6.00 for children 16 and under. Plug in this address to your GPS: Hatenboer 59, 6041 TN Roermond. I cannot find the times for the events but the awards takes place at 2000 hrs each night. From watching this on TV I think it is probably an all-day event.
Margraten Memorial Concert 2011 will be held on Sunday, September 4, 2011 at 15:00 Hrs. Free admission.
The program consists of MISSA SOLEMNIS (opus 123 in D gr.t) by Ludwig van Beethoven.
The performers
Limburg Symphony Orchestra
Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, conductor
Kelly God, soprano
Mirjam Schreur, mezzosoprano
Yves Saelens, tenor
Math Dirks, bass
Brabant Koor (Louis Buskes, choir master)
There is an English language website for this event at Margraten Memorial Concert
Ok, so that is just an example of what you can find out by flicking through your local, community newspapers. Give it a try and see what there is to see and do during your assignment to the Schinnen-Brunssum-Geilenkirchen area.
Happy Traveling
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