Geilenkirchen Shopping

Balloons:  

Flik Flak
Need helium balloons? There’s a place in the Geilenkirchen Centrum called Flik Flak located across from the Rewe between the hair salon and the photography place. Price for latex balloons: 1 Euro/balloon if you use their balloons or 65 cents/balloon if you bring in your own. They also carry Mylar balloons! Ready for a party?

Bookstore:

Buchhandlung M Muehlbauer
On the main street in Geilenkirchen next to Cafe Schleypen – an excellent book store in GK with a very friendly, helpful staff.  They spoke only German, but were patient with mine and eager to help.  The children’s area is very nice and I was able to find some nice story books in German with stickers and a vocabulary section for learning the language. 

Copy Center:

Burotechnik Gier

Theodor-Heuss Ring 26
Geilenkirchen 52511
T: 02451-8008
Can’t believe it took me almost 3 years to find this place… could have made my life A LOT easier and saved me a bit of printer ink.  The Burotechnik Gier does most everything a basic Kinkos does with copies… and they are very friendly and helpful as well. *  Located directly across the street from the Geilenkirchen train station, it is easy to park there or in front of their building.  *  You can buy prepaid cards to get the best rate, or you pay a rate depending on how many copies you need.  *  Remember that our paper is slightly different from the European sizes, so center your document up and down on the copier and do a test page before running a lot of copies.  *  The photocopy machines are not super fast. If you are making hundreds of copies, bring a book or run some errands and come back later. 

Gift Shop:

Hahn – Wohnen mit Kontrasten

Gerbergasse 9
52511 Geilenkirchen
Web: www.hahn-wohnen.de
Tel: 02451-67-350

Hours: Mo – Fr 0930 – 1830; Sat 0930 – 1400

 One of my favorite “in a pinch” gift shops with beautiful Leonardo glass, linens, bags, and seasonal decor, I can ALWAYS find something nice when I need a birthday or hostess gift. The prices are good and the ladies who work there are nice as well. Located within the pedestrian area just across from the fountain.

Jewelry Store:

Maertens Uhren Schmuck

Konrad-Adenauer Strasse 130

52511 Geilenkirchen

Tel:  02451-2537

Near Cafe Schleypen and the bookstore across from the narrow parking lot in downtown GK.  Went here to get a ring resized and a bracelet resized.  They were very upfront with their assessment.  The bracelet could not be resized without breaking the links are recreating a new one which I was not willing to do, but they did a beautiful job on my gold ring, had it ready exactly when they said it would be ready, and only charged me 7.50 for the work.  Very friendly and do speak some English.

Geilenkirchen Information!

Though these pages haven’t been updated in a while, this is a tremendous resource for us. Surf it a bit and see what’s there. There are even resources on the WW2 battles here.

Geilenkirchen English Pages!
http://www.web-toolbox.net/gk-en/index.htm

Transportation:
http://www.web-toolbox.net/gk-en/geilenkirchen-infra03en.htm?reload_coolmenus

Bocadillo Baguetterie — Geilenkirchen

Bocadillo
Alte Poststrasse 10
Geilenkirchen
Tel: 02451-9116250
Web: www.baguetterie-bocadillo.de

Open: M-F 0830-1900; Sat 1000-1600; Sun Closed

Located just across from City Hotel and the train station parking lot is a small, but very nice little sandwich shop run by two of the friendliest people I’ve met in Geilenkirchen.

Here at Bocadillo, you can enjoy delicious home made soups, salads, and a great variety of sandwiches on a your choice of three different breads. The coffee is great and though the place is small, it is also very clean and well decorated. The owners speak English very well and are very nice.

Prices? Great! A really big baguette sandwich costs under 5 Euros and is easily big enough to split with a friend or take half home for another meal. Small versions are available as well.

If you do not like mayo/sauce on your sandwich, do ask for it without. Though it is not stated on the menu, even the hot sandwiches come with some sort of dressing on them.

Child friendly and dog friendly. (In fact, while I was there, a family came in with a small dog, and the owner of Bocadillo made the dog a special sandwich as well!)

Jabusch Hotel and Restaurant – Geilenkirchen

In the small Geilenkirchen market square just next to the fountain and in front of the old church is a nice little restaurant – the Jabusch. I don’t know anything about the hotel facilities, but I’ve been there several times for lunch now and it’s always delicious.

I appreciate that they have a daily “schnell” or quick plate that you can get without waiting an hour. These lunch specials are usually around 5 Euros and the portions are enough to fill you. One of my favorites is the Mettwurst mit Gruenkohl – a flavorful sausage served with a delicious green cabbage/leafy greens mix and creamy mashed potatoes.

The room was smokey once, but smoke free since and there is now a no-smoking sign up, so it shouldn’t be a problem (all restaurants will be smoke free in Germany after July of this year anyway).

If you are in GK and need a quick German meal that will fill you up – true comfort food, go to Jabusch.

Jabusch Hotel and Restaurant
Am Markt 3; Geilenkirchen
Tel: 02451-2725
Email: hotel.jabusch@t-online.de
Web: www.hotel-jabusch.de

Nail Lady in Geilenkirchen

Reader Recommendation…

Need a nail lady here?

AnnaLisa

Tel: 01577-254-0037
Address: Next to – Konrad Adenauer Strasse 214 set back on the street.

50 Euro for a full set and 30 Euro for a fill.

Geilenkirchen Market – Tuesdays and Fridays

The market in Geilenkirchen is small, but good. It has the essentials. Meat, cheese, produce, plants… sometimes pierogies, fresh pasta, leather goods, and other random things. It’s worth a stop.

When I go, I never miss the cheese guy.

The “cheese guy” at the Geilenkirchen market on Fridays is absolutely wonderful. He speaks beautiful English, is very friendly, and can teach you about the cheeses as he gives you samples. I always enjoy my stops there learning about a new cheese. You will not get good ol‘ American cheddar here. These cheeses are all made from fresh, unpasteurized milk. He can tell you where each cheese comes from and for some, which cows produced them. With wine sold there as well, he is also available to do wine and cheese events as well.

try:

• Pierre Robert made from creme fraich
• St. Nectaire AOC (AOC is a quality control label for French cheeses. Out of 1000 French cheeses, only 47 have this coveted marking)
• Goat cheese rounds with cinnamon, figs, or papaya (hidden behind the counter – just ask)

Information on cheese vendor:

Wein & Kaese Events
Elke Pennartz
Feldstrasse 81; 52146 Wurselen
Tel: 0172-5356204
info@weinundkaese.com
http://www.weinundkaese.com/

Burg Trips – Geilenkirchen

Stir crazy with no vacations in sight, or just needing to get out and walk, the local castle, Trips Burg just outside of Geilenkirchen is a great place to go for a quick outing with or without the kids (or dogs).

The “water castle” built in the 15th century and then expanded in the 17th century was built on four islands surrounded by water. There are beautiful pathways extending far beyond the castle for biking, walking, and jogging. We saw people there feeding ducks and gorgeous swans. Now I know where we’ll go when we have stale bread.

The swans were storybook in their elegance with perfectly orange beaks and bright white feathers. We even saw one black swan with a red beak. The castle isn’t huge, but it’s still a castle and is beautiful with it’s surrounding water and stately manner. Part of it has been modernized with new windows and is used as a care facility for the elderly. The other parts are closed off to the public, but the trails all around are heavily used. We walked quite a distance enjoying the scenery. Not far from the castle down the path is a wonderful old reflecting pool, a perfect oval shape with gorgeous oaks planted around it. The reflection is amazing – perfectly glass-like. Oaks are planted around reflecting pools and the branches and cuttings thrown into the water, so in the summer with the heat, the tannins from the oaks turn the water black and thus give off a near perfect mirror reflection.

With great FLAT trails expanding seemingly endlessly in either direction, this is a great place to walk, run, roller blade, bicycle, and walk dogs. You can easily walk from Burg Trips straight into downtown GK for a quick lunch or shopping trip too.