Digital Audio Guide:
Zicht op Maastricht Mobile invites visitors to take a walk through Maastricht with a new free digital audio guide available in Dutch, English, French or German:
“Discover Maastricht with your PDA, Smartphone, MP3 Player or iPod. Watch the presentations and listen to audio clips in the unique places of the city. Determine your own […]

For the past few years Brazilian samba bands have become an increasingly popular feature of our Maastricht carnival and can no longer be dissociated from it. But what exactly are samba bands? Where do they come from? And how did they reach our city? To learn more about this phenomenon Marleen Vara speaks with three members of Passatempo, her favourite samba band in Maastricht. [continued…]

Spanish expat Diana Berdun never misses a chance to go to the market in Maastricht. “I often purposely leave part of my grocery shopping (fruit, vegetable and fish) for the market. There I can find more choice, better prices and it is more entertaining to go from one stall to the other,” she says. Let’s follow her! [continued…]

About 9,000 people raced for healthy living in this year’s edition of the increasingly popular Maastrichts Mooiste event, which has evolved over the five years of its existence into a five-day fitness extravaganza. Next year may see the addition of a sixth day, organisers say. Or the event might become biannual. A report by Kathlyn Clore for Crossroads. [continued…]

très.b is a “a très cool” international band based in Maastricht. A profile by Crossroads writer Hania Piotrowska. [continued…]

Crossroads’ contributor Eliot Rolen discovers first hand the secret recipe behind the creation of what he calls “the delicious and universally welcoming weekly event that is dinner at the Landbouwbelang.” [continued…]

I’m sitting in the shade on my boat and the weather is just great. Huge carp are cruising around the harbour as the spawning season begins. Boats of all kinds are beginning to gather on the lake, from small sailing dinghies to monster power boats taking a break from zooming up and down the Maas. Swans glide over to snatch some bread before stomping off after the latest unwanted intruders. It’s wonderful to be on the water.

Read on further to get a glimpse of what it is like for British expat Gary Evans to live on the river Maas.

The 26 metre long Mamenchisaurus is the largest of the four Chinese dinosaur fossils currently on display in Maastricht’s spacious Centre Céramique. It is the first time that they are being exhibited in Europe and people from all across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and parts of France are flocking to Maastricht to admire the impressive beasts. [continued…]

Recently rated the world’s “fairest bookshop” by the UK’s highly-regarded Guardian newspaper, the Dominicanen has quickly become one of Maastricht’s tourist attractions. “After the Guardian article, this place has been a madhouse,” William Remmers, General Department Head of the store, tells Crossroads writer Amrit Dhir. [continued…]

US student Amrit Dhir continues his exploration of those sports traditions that are foreign to his home culture, yet thrive in Maastricht. This time Amrit introduces us to the world of Korfball. [continued…]

Far away in the cold and northern province of Friesland, a 22 year-old young Dutch woman by the superb name of Hille Morel van Mourik is passionately dedicating her free time to unravelling the mystery of the Limburg Goatriders. [continued…]

A multi art exhibition will on March 1 open the festivities around the International Women’s Day in Maastricht. Mondiaal Centrum has invited three women artists from South America, Alessandra Siviero, Cecilia Agüero and Amara Valencia, to present their work at its Atelier Mondiale. [continued…]

In the 18th century, while most of Europe was shaking off centuries of superstition and beginning to prepare for the age of reason, the lands which now form the Dutch and Belgian regions of Limburg were terrorised by hordes of flying devil worshippers.

Let’s follow Dutch author Reggie Naus on a fascinating journey into Limburg’s past to find out more about these strange creatures, who were to go down in history as the (in)famous ‘Bokkenrijders’, or Goatriders. [continued…]

Four huge, genuine dinosaur skeletons are currently on exhibit in Maastricht. [More photographs and press release…]

Maastricht’s city website reports that a total of 18.6 million tourists visited our city in 2006. Crossroads writer Hania Piotrowska speaks with Stephanie Hameleers at the tourist information office about Maastricht’s image and assets. [continued…]

“Nowhere in the world have I come across the magic that is Carnival in Maastricht. The people, the music, the atmosphere, the sheer joy of life make it a magical celebration”, says British expat Maxine Self, who is also the first international member of ProBeerDers, one of Maastricht’s many Carnival ‘drunk’ bands. [continued…]

Date: Thursday 17 January, at 20.11
Location: Foyer Kumulustheater, Herbenusstraat 89
Admission free
Drum rhythms are rolling up the ancient city walls, announcing the upcoming carnival. Carnival fever has hit our town. Three days and nights of celebrating in crowded streets and bars promise to turn Maastricht upside down. The entire city filled with fancy dresses, masks […]

For many Maastrichters, the Tempeleers go hand in hand with the Maastricht carnival. But how many of us know who are the Tempeleers exactly, and what does it mean to be a Tempeleer in Maastricht? Marleen Vara takes a closer look into the inner workings of the city’s most important carnival association. [continued…]

Crossroads writer Amrit Dhir sat down with Jan Sluijsmans, Director of Production & Programming for Muziekgieterij, a new resource for Maastricht’s underground rock and pop music community, on a Friday evening while local bands performed on the venue’s main stage.

They discussed the founding and development of the Muziekgieterij concept; the recent success of the inaugural festival on the Market square; why the Netherlands’ music scene has much to learn from Belgium; and the astonishingly low cost of renting a rehearsal space. [continued]

How are we to define a true inhabitant of Maastricht or “Mestreechteneer“? The following poem by the Maastricht poet Bèr Essers (31 August 1926 – 28 October 1995) reveals all:

“De Mestreechteneer“

When God - with quite a joyful cheer
thought out the Mestreechteneer
He said: this will be a work of creation
that will give myself great satisfaction;
I will give him, as my most important gift
a complete understanding of the art to live.

[continued…]

The name of this year’s carnival song is “Dao kump Maria” (“There comes Maria”).

“Maria is simply a woman from Maastricht. The song describes how she celebrates carnival: all by herself, but having fun with all the people around her,” explains carnival enthusiast Marleen Vara, who has kindly translated the song into English for Crossroads readers. [continued…]

Very soon you will understand the special meaning of the number eleven in Maastricht and all the joyous madness and silliness that go with it. [continued…]

Meet the mosasaur, Maastricht’s famous prehistorical lizard, whose fossil skull was first dug up around 1770 in the marl of Mount St. Pieter to the south of the city. Here is the story of this fascinating discovery. [continued…]

Handball? For Americans, the sport is virtually unknown or plainly misunderstood. For Europeans and the residents of Maastricht, it is quite a different story, Crossroads writer Amrit Dhir has found out. [continued…]

Is the gay community well catered for in Maastricht? With two important Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) organisations and regular big parties, the situation doesn’t look too bad. Crossroads writer Hania Piotrowska takes a closer look at the available options. [continued…]

Ever wished you lived in London or any other metropolis? Congratulations, say the creators of Mahl magazine, for if you live in Maastricht, Aachen, Hasselt, Heerlen or Liège you are an inhabitant of Eutropolis. [continued…]

After spending five years in Maastricht, and four teaching Spanish at various institutes in The Netherlands, Spanish expatriate Diana Berdun says she has not met a more passionate person about her country and its language than Mr. Hubertus Dolmans, the honorary vice consul of Spain in Maastricht. [continued…]

Spanish expat Diana Berdun explains why meeting the “Tuna Universitaria de Maastricht” immediately made her feel at home in the Netherlands. [continued…]

This year’s edition of Maastricht’s annual gastronomic festival known as “het Preuvenemint” had a special European flavour. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which in 1957 established the European Economic Community, and the 15th anniversary of the Treaty of Maastricht, the festival’s theme was entitled “Europe at a table” and each stand was supposed to represent one of the 27 EU countries. But did the festival fulfill its goal? A review by Hania Piotrowska for Crossroads. [continued…]

The Netherlands Board Of Tourism & Conventions is launching http://us.holland.com a fully Web2.0 based site, as well as the official launch of the world’s first National Tourism Board in Second Life, www.hollandsecondlife.com.
The new Holland.com is a fully web2.0 based website which offers not just a quick and easy way to find information about travel […]