Free Jazz Concerts at Bagels and Beans

You most likely already love the food and the atmosphere reminiscent of a US coffee shop, but now Bagels and Beans offers FREE live jazz concerts as well.  What is there not to love about that?

Every last Sunday, starting 28 march, Sittard will have shopping Sundays and Bagels and Beans will be open and host FREE Jazz Concerts.

You can find out about all the other activites by signing up for the newsletter next time you stop by.  It’s in Dutch, but it’s usually pretty easy to figure out the basics.  And if you go here, you can find the Bagels and Beans music agenda.  Events are from farthest out, so you have to scroll down to see what’s going on now.

Local Theater — Alliance Players

The Alliance Players are a theater group at the Brunssum base that’s has been around since 1974. They do several plays each year including a Panto that is a lot of fun for the entire family. These plays are not only fun to see, but a great opportunity for adults and children alike to participate in. All plays are held at the Brunssum base theater.

Alliance Players
AlliancePlayers.org
Email: info@allianceplayers.org

Opportunity: This is a volunteer group and a really fun group, so if you like theater, missed the days of high school plays, secretly wish you were on Broadway, or just want to be creative and have fun, they need acters, prop folks, set folks, sound, lighting, costumes… use that email above to get more information on how you can become a thespian.

Auditions for this year’s panto are coming up this Wed, Sat, and Sun. Details are on the website. It’s the Wizard of Oz with Jeff Yeatman directing.

Blues’s Bands

Germany is not where I’d expect to find fabulous Blue’s music, but there are some gems out there and apparently, a fairly large group of German Blue’s fans. The following site will give y ou concert events, lists of bands, and a whole lot more. It’s all in German, but a lot of the words are similar, so you might be able to figure it out without too much trouble. When in doubt – babelfish.

www.blues-news.de/aktuell/aktuelle_news.html

This is a link to the website of Rumblin’ Willie’s, a band that I’ve seen twice now at the Cafe Curiosa in Dremmen. The band is amazing – truly fun music and they interact well with the audience too. They do “gigs” too, so for a large event, they’d be a great change of pace.
http://bluesnews.raum-klang.net/home.htm

Rumblin’ Willie’s conact information is below – Willie does speak some English.
A. Hirschfelder Tel.: 0177/8376087 Email: rumble.willie@t-online.de
Michael Hertrich Tel.: 02153/1397963 Email: Michael.Hertrich@gmx.de

Movie Theaters: Brunssum

Don’t know what’s playing at the last minute? Check out the site – from here you can look up ALL Aafes theaters.

http://www.aafes.com/ems/euro/brunssum.htm

Cafe Curioso

Cafe Curioso
Erkelenzer Strasse 16
Dremmen
Tel: 02452-930727
Cafe Open: Saturday and Sunday 1000-1900

Das Atelier: Antique Shop
Open: Mon-Thurs 1400-1900, Sat 1000-1900

Eclecticism at its best, Cafe Curioso mixes it up – from the truly beautiful to the strangely tacky adorning what feels like some one’s living room to the cramped upstairs with treasures hidden among the antiques, here you can dine, shop, and on the best days, enjoy soulful blues that will put you right down on Bourbon street like you were back ‘in the day.”

For antiques, I’ll stick to Tongeren though you will find treasures here if you dig enough. But, go to a Blue’s Night… you’ll get a dose of atmosphere and curiosity mixing a memory you won’t soon forget.

For food… the quiche and cakes are delicious and I’ve heard… that the breakfast is difficult to beat.

Movie Theaters: NL and BE

Netherlands:

Foroxity
Sittard
Review and complete information
www.Foroxity.nl

Royal Theater
Stationsplein 3-5
Heerlen
Tel: 045 571 420
www.royaltheaters.nl

H5 Theaters
Geleenstr 9
Heerlen
Tel: 045 571 3030
www.H5theaters.nl

Lumiere
Bogaardenstr 40
Maastricht
Tel: 043 321 4080
www.lumiere.nl

Minerva
Wilhelminasngl 39
Maastricht
Tel: 043 326 0543
www.minervabioscopen.nl

Belgium:

Euroscoop
Zetellaan 74
Theaters in: Maasmechelen, Lanaken, and Genk
Belgium
Tel: 0032 89 778590
www3.euroscoop.be

Movie Theaters: Foroxity

Foroxity Filmarena
Rijksweg-Noord 330
6162 AR, Geleen-Sittard
046-4363300
http://www.foroxity.nl/

Thinking about moving to Germany, one of the thoughts that crossed our minds was: movies. Would we be able to see the new releases that came out just after we left the states? Would we be able to see them in English before they hit the base theaters?

The happy answer is: YES!

Many (sadly, not all) American films are shown in The Netherlands in their original versions (OV), meaning in English with Dutch subtitles. The Foroxity Filmarena in Sittard is only about 35 minutes from Geilenkirchen. It’s clean, AIR-CONDITIONED, has a nice restaurant, and shows some great movies. (Foroxity is a great hot day hangout.)

IMPORTANT: When looking up movies on the website, pay attention to the OV or NL next to the title. If there is no lettering, it’s most likely the original American version. If it says, OV, it will be in the original version as well. But, if it says NL, then it’s going to be dubbed into Dutch, so unless you speak Dutch, you don’t want to go to that one.

Website tip: If you want to see what is coming up in the next couple months that is not released yet here, click on “Verwacht” in the lower right hand column. There you will see months and dates as it gets closer of new releases. Some movies (not all) have special opening night deals.

Reservations: For popular movies (like Harry Potter and Batman), you’ll want to get your tickets in advance. You can order them online, but the site is in Dutch, so it’s slightly tricky. Call 0031-046-4363300 to reserve tickets over the phone or you can go online and order here. This site (http://www.belbios.nl/) will show you the premiers that are coming up.

We were even able to see the new Harry Potter movie the night it was released a full 6 hours of the East Coast!

When you plan your time around a movie here, add an hour to be safe. There will be an intermission. Longer movies sometimes have two. It’s irritating at first, but you’ll get used to it and it gives you a chance to use the facilities or get another cappuccino, beer, or snack. Yes, beer. They serve alcohol at the Foroxity and at the Harry Potter premier, they even served free alcoholic “potions.”

If you have GPS and Foroxity doesn’t show up, the Roxy theater entry will get you there. When you get to that main road, just look for the large theater and signs to Foroxity. There’s been a lot of construction, so it can be confusing and some GPS have no idea where they are.

If you have time for the restaurant, the food is good. I like the Insalata de Copa (recipe below). My daughter loves the bitterballen – a Dutch appetizer. They are deep fried balls filled with something gooey inside almost like gravy. They sound disgusting and don’t look much better, but they do taste great.

The ingredient list/recipe for Insalata de Copa:

Romaine or lettuce of choice
Diced green, red, and yellow bell peppers
Diced cucumber
Mozzerella shredded
Honeydew melon chunked
Parma Ham or prosciutto in thin slices

Mix all and drizzle with balsalmic vinegrette.

Ernestos Mexican Cantina, Sittard

Ernestos Mexican Cantina
Markt 32
Sittard, Limburg 6131
Tel: (0031) 046-45-81331
http://ernestos.nl/menukaart/index.php

Tonight, I decided to try something new and went to Ernesto’s Mexican Cantina at the markt in Sittard. It sits between the upscale Meds and the little costume shop. You’ll know it by it’s brightly colored patio and chairs.

Atmosphere? Quirky. It’s long and narrow and decorated wall to wall with random souvenirs from Mexico ranging from the moderately nice to the downright tacky. At our table hung a metal skeleton – not the most appealing dining companion, but interesting.

Food? Ok, so we ordered the Topopos Grande and quesadillas to share. The quesadillas were average – I mean, we were at a Mexican cantina in The Netherlands, so it isn’t going to be phenomenal, but the flavor was good and if you’re desperate for Mexican, it’s passable. The Topopos consisted of a basket of thick overly salted chips with three small bowls of salsa, guacamole, and garlic sauce. Again, average. Good to know it’s there, but I don’t need to go again.

Surprise… I ordered a cappuccino (when do I not order a cappuccino? never). I’m always curious about how it will be delivered. The cappuccino itself was pretty ugly. The foam wasn’t smooth, but dimpled like foccacia before you bake it. But, the sweet surprise came on the plate that accompanied the overly strong dimpled drink. The plate was piled with a multitude of white and brown sugar cubes and sitting in the middle was a delicious chocolate covered profiterole (cream puff). So, may be I’d go there just for the cream puffs. That was great!

Party Zone? Definitely. This is the place to go if you want to stay out late. They are open EVERY day (Sundays too) from 1700 until 0200, and, most nights, they have live music. The poster that intrigued me the most had a picture of a row of Russian Matrioshka dolls on it and in large letters, it read, “Ernestos Presenteert: Russische Disco met Transit 55 “Gipsy Groove.” Russian disco???!?!?! Hard to imagine. I may have to check that one out! Besides, I just googled “Ernesto’s Sittard” and it came up with a ton of hits with band names, so it looks like it has a history and has even had a few albums produced there during live concerts.

For Kids? Yeah, at 5:30, there were very few people there, so it wasn’t overly smoky or loud. The chips and salsa made my three little people happy, so for a non-ice cream snack place at the Sittard Market, it isn’t bad, but then, most days, I’d rather go to Bagels and Beans. Still, if you’re out later and need a quick snack, it isn’t horrible. And, most of the bands don’t start until 10pm – way after the little one’s bedtime.

Smoking? There is a nice sign in the window indicating both a smoking AND non-smoking section, but when I asked for the non-smoking section, I got a very ambiguous answer and was seated just three feet from the only smoker in the place. But, like most places in this area, it’s all hit or miss.