Local Cultural Emersion

Reader Recommendation…

20th Annual Cultura Nova comes 27 August – 5 September, 2010!

Check out “Culturanova” at http://www.culturanova.nl/ to learn about this annual festival. The website features a British flag icon that takes you to an English site with lots to explore. This festival features theater, visual arts, music, dance and more at 19 locations around Heerlen and Aachen. Many venues are free and those with an entrance fee are reasonably priced. You may even find advertising booklets around town in both Dutch and English. If you think you’ve not been getting out much lately, this is your chance to plot an outing, or two – or more!

FREE things to do

Very little in life is free and in Europe that seems especially true, but get creative and I think you’ll find that there is a lot to do. As I start to search through old posts and brainstorm a bit, I’ll add things here and I’ll also create a label called “free” to make searching for these outings a lot easier. I am not in the area anymore though and really do need your help with this one. If you think of something, please add a comment, then I’ll incorporate your ideas into the blog. Thank you all! ~T

Free places: Historic walks though towns and villages, parks and playgrounds, nature walks in the woods, markets, festivals…

• Pick a town or village and do a little research. The more you know about its quirks and history, the more you’ll get out of your walk.
• Take paper and pencils, sit somewhere pretty and do a sketch. Think about colors and styles. May be even pick your favorite artistic style and try to draw your object in that style.
• Play I-Spy while you walk or plan ahead and turn your walk into a treasure hunt of things (statues, buildings, animals) to find.
• Get silly with a camera regular or disposable. Take funny pictures. Post with things.
• Bring a bag for a nature collection. Go home and look up the “treasures” that you find.

Historic Walks:

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• Maastricht: There are a million possibilities here especially if you get a map of the city and do a little research. Right along the river in front of the old city gate, the Helpoort, is a wide green space that curves around quite a ways hugging one of the old city walls. This is a great place for children of all ages. Bring a frisbee and play a while. Or just walk. You’ll find history (old walls, gates, and turrets), a small free zoo with birds and deer, ducks to feed, a small canal, and statues including one of a man in a bear suit, a woman petting a dead giraffe, and D’Artagnan, the 4th muskateer who died in battle in Maastricht. You can spend all day here relaxing, playing, feeding the ducks, riding bikes, roller blading, etc. And for a treat ($), you can walk over the pedestrian bridge for an amazing scoop of ice cream (~1.20/cone). If you venture away from the green space, you can find more bits of history in the old churches and city squares and many statues in a variety of styles. Look for wall art both set into the wall and painted on the walls and look at the house numbers. Some of them date to the cities origins when every home in Maastricht had a distinct number. In the Stokstraat quarter’s little square by the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk you’ll find a hotel with an old Roman ruin inside. The ruin isn’t open all the time (I think weekends only), but it’s free and interesting to see. In another small hidden square, you’ll find in stones a layout of a Roman bath hidden underneath as well. Head to the VVV on your next trip. There is a wealth of information there.
• Aachen: This isn’t the most walkable city for me with a lot less pedestrian space than Maastricht and seemingly more traffic, but the fountains and statues in Aachen are truly special. Do a few web searches and find a good map and you can have quite a treasure hunt looking for them and learning their stories.
  

Natural Parks:

• Teverener Heide: The large forest area that surrounds the base. Accessible both on base (parts of it), and from Teveren, Gillrath, Schinveld, and Neiderbusch. This place is wonderful for bike rides, horseback riding, and nature walks in all times of year. Shaded from the heat and beautiful iced over in winter, it’s quiet and beautiful.
• Worm Park in Geilenkirchen: This smaller park has a man made lake with ducks and geese to feed and a small green space surrounding it. From here you can walk to the castle Burg Trips and back. It’s a nice walk.
• Eiffel National Park – Located just south of Aachen with it’s edges only 45 minutes away from us, the Eiffel is a forest rich with hiking trails, wildlife, lakes and waterways for your recreation. http://www.nationalpark-eifel.de

Playgrounds:

• Neiderbusch has a wonderful playground with two tall slides. Good for all ages. A great place for an all day picnic. It’s not hard to find. Just drive through Neiderbusch on its main road and look for a fenced off area with trees on one side. The entrance is around the corner. Drawbacks: The bathroom has no toilet – just a hole.
• Naherholung Übach-Palenberg: Located between Zweibruggen and Ubach about 10 minutes from GK and the base. Has a lake, walking trails, bathrooms, a cafe, paddle boats, a large playground, a large green space for games or picnics and model boat races in the summer months. 02451-47645
• Carl Alexander Park in Ubach: A short hike to a beautiful view, a playground and a cafe. Go here for more info: http://livingingk.blogspot.com/2008/06/carl-alexander-park-ubach-baeschwiler.html
• Outside of Geilenkirchen, out past Burg Trips, is a fun little playground right next to horse stables and a cafe at Müllendorf. You can ride/walk to it from Burg Trips on the small path. http://www.web-toolbox.net/gk-en/sights-e/40-geilenkirchen-muellendorf.htm Horse riding is available for a small price.

Festivals and Parades: While food, rides, and games at local festivals might cost you, most festival admittance is free and you can easily limit how much you spend while there. Check the “annual events” calendar for some more ideas.

• Carnival Festivals, Dances, and Parades – every February in many villages in Germany and the Netherlands
• Schutzenfest/Kirmes – German towns have small parades in June and August to welcome in summer and celebrate the “Shooting Festival” and the new king and queen of the village. These are short, but fun to watch. Truly a part of local culture. Dutch villages also have similar festivals.
• Cultural Festival in Heerlen – every August – http://www.culturanova.nl/
  

Your discoveries???? Leave a comment!

Carl Alexander Park – Ubach-Baeschwiler

Located between Ubach-Palenburg and Baesweiler, this newly opened park was created on and around an old coal refuse pile from the region’s mining days.

There’s a long green space with playground equipment including some really fun swings, a large rope climbing structure, and swivel chairs. Walking and biking trails weave themselves in and around to the top of the hill, and there’s an outside cafe serving ice cream and drinks. A large red building contains stairs that lead to a series of metal ramps and more stairs that will lead you all the way to the top of the hill. The walk up the ramps with small children took about 15 minutes. The leisurely walk down the trail took about 25 with stops to take photos and look at rocks.

At the top, you’ll find a nice viewing place and a amazing view of the area. The children will enjoy the piles of black rocks and may find a fossil or two among them. A great place for families, for picnics, for rollerblading and biking, or for a class to explore the rocks and flora in the area, you won’t regret the 10 minute drive from GK.

From GK, take the 221 south towards Ubach-Palenburg. Take the first exit to Ubach. At the round-a-bout, take the second exit and continue on that road past the McDonalds. At the stop light where the Plus and Fressnapf stores are, turn left. Continue on that road through the roundabout until you see a sign for the Carl Alexander park. The first parking lot is there. If you continue into Baesweiler, you’ll find another parking lot by turning left by the Aldi (I think it’s an Aldi – look for signs to the park).