Showing posts with label liberation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label liberation. Show all posts

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Liberation Day @ Maastricht 13 September 2009

Maastricht, 13 September 2009, windy and occasional drizzle - Today marked the 65th anniversary of Maastricht's liberation from the Nazi. The first Dutch city to be liberated by the Americans in 1944. This anniversary was celebrated with exhibitions, ceremonies and concerts. The city center was packed with tourists and locals alike enjoying this meaningful day whereby many brave American soldiers gave their life to free this city. I'm fairly surprised that it was celebrated with a bang here.
Hence, the World War II Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial is the only American military cemetery in the Netherlands. The Cemetery lies in the village of Margraten, 6 miles east of Maastricht. The Limburg Symphony Orchestra performed Dvorak's Requiem at the cemetery.

The opening of Maastricht cultural season were also happening at the same time. At 45 different locations in Maastricht, everyone can enjoy free theatre plays, live music, etc. That was exactly what we did. My Hubs and I were in Maastricht for our visit to the parents-in-law/parents. We had another nice weekend.

On Saturday, an exhibition in front of the city hall's courtyard of reenacting
the Second Armored Army (150 men in original American uniforms and 70 vehicles from the earlier days of the Second World War II) were accessible to the public.









The next day afternoon, though, the weather was not so nice, we had a good time as well, went from one location to another catching all these talented local bands playing live on the streets of Maastricht. From rock n roll, blues to jazzy music ;) It was indeed nice. We managed to squeeze into a table for the 4 of us and sat right in front of the jazz band playing in ' T Bassin 10 mins walk from the city center.