The Vegemite Tasting in Maastricht

Sunday Afternoon Vegemite Tasting at Gauchos!

One of he highlights of the week was on Sunday afternoon at Gauchos when we had our Vegemite Tasting Contest to see who agreed with Mirusia and liked it and who agreed with André and did not like it at all!!!! Mirusia won, but in all fairness to André I must tell you that when it was time for the raising of hands, Mirusia was standing there watching all of us. ;-) Thank you to Gary and Mirusia for making this little event of ours very special! They both sang the Vegemite song with us (lyrics for the non Aussies provided by Jann) and then Mirusia gave us all a roaring AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!! :)
Below are the pictures of Jann and I preparing the Vegemite on bread with butter added to it, the fans at the tasting and Mirusia and Gary singing. And Thank You to Gauchos who helped make it special in providing us with everything we needed and setting the tables all up for us!! Another moment in that week we'll all remember ...

.

Jann  Gary  Sue

Photos are by John and Bobbie deJong

Below is a photo of Mirusia eating her Vegemite taken by Alice

Here's Mirusia Eating Her Vegemite Sunday at Gauchos

Photo sent to us by ©Alice

Maastricht 2009 Concert Photos

Fireworks Over The Vrijthof by ©Simon

There are SO many pictures and as I'm going through them some just jump out at me ... here's a few that I really liked a lot and wanted to put on now. I wish I could put the above Fireworks picture on full size. It is like WOW!! Great photo Simon ... :)

André on The Theater Steps by ©Alice

André and Carla in Concert by ©Sonja

Franco on Theater Steps by ©John

Andre Rieu's Last Concert on The Vrijthof 2009

The Vrijthof Taken at 8:00PM on Tuesday ~ The Last Concert

Tonight is our last concert ... we are all sad, but at the same time anxious to go home. Here is a picture that I just took to show you the Vrijthof. I took two pictures and spliced them together so you could see the Cafe's down the side which you can't see on the Webcam. It's now a Beautiful warm evening with blue sky and sunshine as the clouds over the Vrijthof have passed per order of André!! :) ... Talk to you all soon, Sue

Hoi Hoi From Maastricht!!!!

André's Website Hosts All Come Together in Maastricht!!

I know I haven't posted much, but we're having SO MUCH FUN!!!!!! We are going to TRY to get a few of the many, many pictures that we've taken on tonight. :) AFTER the concert ... :) The weather is now Beautiful and The friendships here are beyond belief!

An Afternoon Shower on The Vrijthof

I don't have time tonight again to put many pictures on, but here's a few. I know you've seen the weather with the rain ... BUT, today was another BEAUTIFUL Day! The temperatures have dropped down in the lower 70's thank God! At 91* it was just way too hot for here! We had an afternoon shower that lasted about 30 minutes and then the sun was back out off and on the rest of the day... Don't go by the weather forcast you see on the internet ... it's 95% wrong!

Sonja and Ruth arrived today and we enjoyed dinner at Gaucho's!

Above the little cars you see driving all over on the webcam. I call them the "Rieu Bugs" :)

Working on the Light Towers, they're almost done!!

Andre Rieu Concerts in Maastricht

Breakfast on The River Maas

Today our day started out as it does everyday ... breakfast at the cafe on the River Maas. It is so peaceful and beautiful there! The picture is the view from our table. The rest of the day we walked the streets, took in more of the sights and went the the VVV. The picture with the horse and buggy I took from our room.

I'm tired tonight, so just a few pictures. Ruth and Sonja will be here tomorrow and we are looking forward to seeing them.

As you can see by the webcam they are getting a LOT done!! They have ALL the light towers up today and the stage part about finished. Everything is there and they're getting it together fast!! It's been fun watching all the huge trucks roll in all weekend. If you could see the tiny street they have to come in one you'd wonder how on earth they do it!! I will take more pictures tomorrow of what you can't see off the webcame frame ... and will try to get them on tomorrow night ... Sue and Betty :)

The last picture is of Betty where we were having dinner at Gaucho's ... we have dinner there EVERY night so we can watch what they're doing on the Vrijthof while we eat. :)

Boys Playing in The Fountain on The Vrijthof to Cool Off

Pictures of Day Three ... It was another warm sunny summer day in Maastricht today and so many little things going on all over the city. Here's the link to the pictures of just a few of those things Betty and I saw ... I'm too tired tonight to post all of them, but these give you an idea how things are going on the Vrijthof now ... it's amazing how fast they work and how organized they are!!! We were here early last year to watch them, but it still amazes us how fast they get it all up! A lot more trucks pulled up tonight with all the lighting structure and I'm sure we'll see those go up on Sunday.

Click Below and Scroll Down To Day Three:

►Maastricht 2009 Photos as We Take Them!

"Happy Fourth of July from The Vrijthof in Maastricht!!!"

It's a Beautiful Sunshiney Day here! ... As you can see we have our "Flags" in our window and are ready for the Fourth!! If you're watching the Webcam you can see they're getting the whole foundation up for the stage!! I've taken lots more pictures and will put them on tonight when we come back to our room.

Enjoy Your Fourth of July BBQ's Everyone!!!

Betty and Sue :)

Some Pictures From Maastricht

Our View From Our Room We Awoke To This Morning!!

Just a note to say we're having a lot of fun!! Still on the tired side, but here's a few pictures I took yesterday and today ... Some trucks pulled in this evening and it looks like they're going to be putting the fencing up tomorrow. Last year they had the stage half done by Sunday afternoon, so I expect that they'll get going on it all any time here now ... watch the Webcam!! :) Click on the link below to see the pictures ... Sue and Betty

►Maastricht 2009 Photos as We Take Them!

The Parlor is Going To Be "Quiet" For a Few Days

Betty and I are off to Maastricht this Wednesday, July 1st and it's packing time now!! BUT ~ I will be taking my 'Baby Laptop' with me this year, so I will be able to put pictures on for you all to see while we are there!! And to all of you going this year ... Safe Travels and See You Soon!!! ... Sue :)

Frank Steijns, Violinist for André Rieu, Breaks His Leg

From "De Limburger" By Franks Buschman

The Maastricht city carillon player Frank Steijns, did forego the American Tour with André Rieu in favor of the European Carillon Festival. And now he is at home with a broken fibula.

For the past fifteen years he has been climbing up in the church towers, including the Saint Servaas basilica in Maastricht. He has climbed thousands and thousands of steps, sometimes through narrow passages into the crest of the churches. Never did anything go amiss.

But, in the transportation of his mobile carillon from Maastricht to Weert on Wednesday, something did go amiss. Right there in the street, in a very insignificant manner, Steijns, (city carillon player for Maastricht-St Servaas and city hall, Weert and Heerlen's St.Pancratius church) and since 1994, violinist in André Rieu's Orchestra, had just loaded his portable carillon into a small truck. Six frames each of 200 kilos (440lbs) with 41 bronze bells.

"There is a specific way in which you can safely load them. Everything went just fine again this time. Everything was loaded and I jumped off the tailgate. I landed wrong." With the fall he also scraped his nose and chin. A passerby called the doctor who arrived shortly on the scene. Steijns could not be admitted to the hospital in Maastricht right away, so he decided to drive on to Weert.

"I drive an automatic, so I did not need to use my left leg. I thought that I had severely twisted my ankle, and it would be alright. Above all, I definitely wanted to go to Weert so I would not miss the first day of the Eurocarillon Festival". After all, he is the head man of the festival organization. "I had to let the tour through America with André Rieu go by the wayside. I wanted to experience this Carillon Festival where players from all over Europe will be attending. We have a beautiful program with performances in squares and churches in Maastricht, Weert, Heerlen, Achen, Hasselt and Neerpelt."

But the X-ray in the St. Jans Gasthuis (hospital) in Weert showed that Steijns had broken his leg (fibula) just above his left ankle and that same evening he underwent surgery.

Also that evening he spent a lot of time on his laptop changing the programs of the festivities and asking other carillon players to substitute his performances.

"Rieu, who was one of the first to send me a text message from Las Vegas, always says: "The show must go on", and so it must. I do not want the festival public to notice that I myself will not be able to perform for a while. They should be able to just enjoy the other carillon players."

Translation © by John

Photos of André Rieu's California Concerts!

Good Friends and Andre's Concerts!

John, Bobbie, Sonja, Ruth, Mary Ann, Betty and myself just spent a few wonderful days going to Andre's concerts in Ontario and San Diego. I have added a few of the pictures we took for now. I will add more pictures in a couple of days.

John has some AWESOME pictures as he always does of the concerts with some really great close ups of Carla, Mirusia and Andre!

For me, the highlight was the San Diego Concert ... WOW! It was just amazing!!! And we had our "Meet and Greet" with Franco, Bela and Gary!!! Then there was the after parties in our hotel rooms talking about the concerts and just being with good friends, laughing and having so much fun. It really did end all too soon, but we know we'll all be seeing each other again in just a couple of weeks in Maastricht! ►Below is John's rendition of our wonderful weekend!

Click on Link Below for "NEW PICTURES" added now!!
►Photos of Fresno, Ontario and San Diego

WHAT A WEEKEND THAT WAS, WOW!!!!!!!!

Our weekend started out a little bit earlier than planned. Although we had not planned on a concert in Oakland, we managed to obtain a few tickets at the last minute, so off we went to Oakland for our first 2009 West Coast concert on the 16th of June. We met with Kay Berman and her daughter Jennifer for a late lunch, and then left for the venue. Since it was early when we arrived, the venue gates were still closed. We were first in line and after the gates opened were able to park close to Andre's busses. We made our way into the venue, where we met Julie Spengler, whom we had not seen in a long time. After a nice chat with her it was on to enjoying Andre and the JSO's music. We had a wonderful time, and according to some of the JSO members we spoke with after the concert, the best audience participation so far. (No need to go into details, since Kay has already written a wonderful report on this concert). We arrived back home rather early in the morning, but still on our Andre cloud.

The following day, Sonja and Ruth joined us, as we prepared for a short drive to Fresno on Thursday. There we were met by Kay, her husband Howard, and Jennifer. Joan, her friend Thelma and Joanne also joined us for a very early dinner, before going on to the Save Mart Center. A few of the ladies did not have a ride to the venue, so we all piled into one car. You should have heard the cackling!!!! Every one was having a super time already, and spirits were high in anticipation of what was to come. But first, a Meet and Greet organized by the Fresno PBS station. Lynn, Hanneke and Nicole were the JSO members attending. The Fresno concert was again, just like Oakland, fantastic. Although it is the same music, every concert is a little different. The audience's participation, little things that you missed at a previous concert and so on. We had a great time again, but like always the ending came too soon.

Next day, off to Ontario. After an uneventful day's drive, other than missing a rest stop where Andre and the JSO were taking a break, we arrived in Ontario. First things first. Off to Sue's house where we were first met by Sue's pets, Sassy and Honey, and then off to dinner and reminiscing.

The next morning we did have some time to visit the Ontario Mills shopping center, before leaving for the concert. The venue in Ontario, the Citizens Bank Arena, is fairly new, and a wonderful place for yet another super Andre concert. There we met, Joan Levitt, Nino and Elke Freitag from Germany (wonderful to see them again) and also Jorge and Marisol Orihueta from Argentina, whom we had met last year in Atlantic City. (Nice to see them again too) And yet, another fantastic concert, a great audience, but it too came to an end too soon.

Then on to San Diego where Betty and MaryAnn joined us for sight seeing and our last West Coast concert. The weather was with us. Beautiful sunshiny days and pleasant temperatures. Lots to see and do, but not really enough time to take it all in.

On to the concert in Chula Vista, which was to be Andre's second outdoor concert in the US. Houston, TX being his first. And what a concert it turned out to be. It was by far the best of the West Coast concerts we've attended. Great music, a fantastic audience that did not want to let Andre go, with lots of encores. But, alas, that too had to come to an end, and left us with wonderful memories of a few fantastic concerts and a wonderful time we all spend with our dear Andre friends. ~ John

My "Special" Flowers From Bobbie

After reading John's report, it reminded me of the flowers that Bobbie brought me when they arrived at my house on Friday. They weren't
just ANY flowers ~ They were the flowers that André was given on stage the night before at the Fresno Concert!! They are a week old now and still as fresh and beautiful as they were that night!!

I saw that Kay had a picture posted of André holding them at the concert, so thought I'd put the two pictures of them on here ... Thank You again Bobbie!! The picture is Ruth, Sonja, Bobbie and John.

André Rieu US/Canada Tour Starts June 12th!

It was a GREAT Tour!! Now it's on to Maastricht!!

©Photos of André and San Diego by Heather, Graphics by Sue

André Rieu ~ A Concert Like No Other!

ANDRE RIEU ~ A CONCERT LIKE NO OTHER!
Two hour and forty-five minute set has audience cheering for more!

Vancouver Canada June 18, 2009: What made the concert work so well was Rieu’s obvious passion and love for the music he makes. His orchestra is top notch and all its members seem to share his enthusiasm for their craft, expressing a genuine enjoyment that would be impossible to fake. They played with such expertise that it was impossible to not be impressed with the calibre of the musicianship.

This is one of the Best Review's I've read on André!

Click here to read the FULL REVIEW:

►http://www.theepochtimes.com:80/n2/content/view/18280/

André Rieu's Oakland Concert With Kay ...

Is there anything left to say? I think I’ve run out of adjectives. Each concert I see I think is the best one so far…until the next one. What made this one so special is that we (daughter Jennifer and I) met John & Bobbie for an early dinner prior to the concert and were able to visit with them both before and after the concert. They know many of the orchestra members and singers so they introduced to us some of them.

We met and talked to Franco and Gary before the concert, then waited by the busses after the concert and watched them all file out of the venue, a few at a time. Gary, Franco, Bela, Vincenzo and Mirusia all came over to talk to us and several others waved and said hello. This was very exciting for Jennifer and me since we had never met any of them before. They’re all such lovely, normal, down-to-earth people. We even saw André walk to the bus. He was preoccupied and speaking with someone as he was walking so he didn’t come over to us, but he did look our way, nod and, I think I heard him say hello. I almost missed him. Jennifer had to nudge me saying “Mom…Mom…it’s André!”

The audience was very responsive and enthusiastic, especially after the balloons dropped. Another first for us was sitting in floor seats under the balloons. It was hard to walk while tripping on all the balloons as we made our way to the stage for the encores. The concert was the same as New York and many of the others. Even the same 8 encores were played, but André was a little more animated, jumping up and down and swiveling his hips during Marina (which drew quite a reaction from many of the ladies in front of the stage!). Many people jumping, dancing and waving their arms…left me with a black & blue toe, but it was well worth it.

André has obviously been practicing throwing the Polaroid photos from the stage since in New York there were few that made it past the first row. Last night he threw them all past the first 8 rows. The lady sitting behind me caught one, then handed it to me and wished me a happy birthday. Those of you who have seen this concert know that André asks who has a birthday today, and since I’d seen this before, I raised my hand even though my birthday was over two weeks ago. The nice lady behind me thought it was actually my birthday and wanted me to have the photo. How sweet is that!! I thanked her over and over and asked if she was sure she wanted to do that, but never had the nerve to tell her it really wasn’t my birthday. It’s an excellent photo of him. And his thumbprint is on it.

Tomorrow is the Fresno concert. Ten of us are meeting for a late lunch before the concert. Will this one be even better??? My feet won’t be touching the ground until long after Maastricht!