Take your change before the introduction of the Weed Card.

If you live in one of the neighbouring countries of the Netherlands, it has always been quite easy to buy cannabis just across the border. Unfortunately, due to an amendment of the law this is going to change. On the first of March 2012 the ‘weed card’ is going to be introduced starting from the south of Holland, which means that Eindhoven is going to take part in this new rule immediately.

They will introduce this new rule to prevent drug tourism and to monitor the sales of cannabis. However, like many others we think that this measure is only going to increase the illegal sales of cannabis, which means that more drugs are going to be sold illegally on the street. From what we know now it is not going to be possible to obtain a weed card if you’re living outside the Netherlands. Only foreigners who are living or working in the Netherlands are qualified for this card. Furthermore, during the application foreigners should be able to provide a Dutch sofi-number (Social Security Number) and a copy of their contract of hire.

After the introduction of this new rule, people can apply for a weed card in a coffee shop in their neighbourhood. So it will no longer be possible to buy weed outside your district. Moreover, with the new rule people can only buy a maximum of five grams per day. Drug tourism is most likely going to stay and the government will only make it worse by putting a stop on the regular way of selling cannabis. We’re pretty sure that foreigners will still be able to buy cannabis just across the border, but for now it will no longer be in the coffee shops.

However, if you want to buy cannabis the easy way, you should take your change and visit a coffee shop without weed card before it’s too late.

Spring/Summer events in Eindhoven.

This will be the latest blog of the best of Eindhoven. We want to give you an overview of big events that you can’t miss in the next months!

April 29 – April 30: Queens night and Queens Day:
April 30 is a National Holiday, originally to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. The night before, people from over the whole country come to visit Eindhoven because of the Queens night! A lot of DJ’s and artists will perform in the inner city of Eindhoven on the locations Stadhuisplein, Stationsplein and the Markt. On Queens day, there are also a lot events. In many cities and villages Queens day is celebrated with a market where everybody can sell whatever they want on the streets. Look for a complete overview of activities in Eindhoven on: http://www.oranjedegekste.nl/

May 25 – May 28: Eindhoven Culinair
Eindhoven Culinair takes place in the Stadswandelpark. During the event you could taste different food, prepared by the regional restaurants. There are is also a lot of entertainment and music.

June 8, 9, 15 and 17: Guus Meeuwis – Concert: Groots met een zachte G
Guus Meeuwis performs in the Philips Stadium every year in June. Guus Meeuwis is a Dutch singer who score several hits in the Netherlands. He wrote for example the songs ‘Het is een nacht’, ‘Per spoor’ and ‘Brabant’. The concerts these year are even more special, because the Netherlands national football team have to play these days in the UEFA Euro 2012. It’s a really great experience even if you don’t like the music.

 

July 12 – July 15: Eindhoven Ballooning
This is an annual hot air balloon festival in Eindhoven. There is a braderie, a lot of music and a funfair. You could also fly with one of the air balloons yourself! You have to register then. The entrance is for free. Look for more information on: http://www.eindhovenballooning.nl/

August 3 – August 12: Park Hilaria
Park Hilaria is one of the biggest festivals in Eindhoven and visited by an average of 600.000 visitors every year. There are more than a hundred attractions, but also food kiosk, live shows, street entertainment and circus acts. Look this video in English which introduces Park Hilaria in Eindhoven.

August 10 – August 12: Folkwoods Festival
Folkwoods is an open air music festival in Eindhoven. The organizers of this festival want to organize a good festival, just like the old days. It is a festival for people who like tuneful music from the Netherlands, Europe and the rest of the world. The Folkwoods Festival takes place in the middle of the woods. The festival has a good reputation among the visitors and artists.

August 24 – August 25: Brabant Open Air
This year for the first time in Eindhoven! Brabant Open Air will transform the square in front of the Klokgebouw in Eindhoven into a festival terrain with a huge stage. Kaiser Chiefs, Racoon, Miss Montreal and They Kyteman Orchestra will perform here!

WIN! WIN! WIN!

Give the right answer on the following questions to win a movie gift card!

1)Which area in Eindhoven had the nickname ‘the forbidden city’?
2)When did Gerard Philips open his first lamp factory?
3)What is the name of Eindhoven during Carnaval?

You can find the answers in our blogs. We'll pick a winner on April 3, 2012!
Send the answers to thebestofeindhoven@gmail.com

Did you know this about Eindhoven?

This week, in the newest blog: Some funny and interesting facts about Eindhoven. Did you know...

… Eindhoven is a lot older than Amsterdam? Amsterdam was granted city rights in 1300, Eindhoven was already granted city rights in 1232.

… before Philips and the lighting city, Eindhoven had the nickname ‘La ville fumée’? In the 30s, Eindhoven was famous because of the many cigar factories in the city. 

… the lighting route (lichtjesroute) is organized annually to commemorate the liberation of Eindhoven in September 1944? Eindhoven wanted to give the celebration some extra light. The inhabitants of Eindhoven were asked to help by making their houses shine in any way possible for one day. Nowadays, various frames with ornaments made from lights are mounted onto lamp posts, but also special resting places are designated on the route.

… Strijp S had the name ‘the forbidden city’ for years? Only workers of the Philips factories were allowed to enter the area.

…  in South-Afrika, Johannesburg, there is a quarter with also the name Eindhoven?


 … in the light tower (licht toren), the light hadn’t been turned off for years? By night, Philips was testing the durability of their bulbs. Because of this image, the building got the name ‘the light tower’.

… the ART hotel Eindhoven has 192 rooms, which all have a different design? Even the numbers of the rooms are designed differently.

… the Admirant is the highest building in Eindhoven with 105 meters?

… Eindhoven has its own Jezus? The famous Arnol Kox is a street preacher in a mobility scooter who brings his message to the people who are shopping in the city center of Eindhoven. If he is there, you can’t miss him.  

… Theo Maassen (comedian, actor) stole the UEFA Cup from PSV in 2000?

… the name of the pop music venue "Effenaar" is a reference to the old linen factory? It had a machine to remove creases from fabric.  In Dutch this is called effenen and the machine was therefore called the effenaar.

… the Eindhoven station looks like a radio? The building is also included in the catalog of "Le Temps des Gares," the famous list of memorable station buildings on the earth.

… former coach Guus Hiddink awarded honorary citizenship in Eindhoven in 2006?

… the two statues in front of the Philips stadium are the famous footballers Coen Dillen and Willy van der Kuijlen?

… Steven Spielberg used the liberation of Eindhoven in his TV serie Band of Brothers (starring Tom Hanks)?

… PSV won the national championship for the first time in 1929? After that, the club has won the national league 21 times.

… de Bijenkorf in Eindhoven has a fake third floor?

… the market on Tuesday in Eindhoven has already existed since 1232?

… on the location of the Heuvelgalerie there used to be a castle? During excavation prior to the construction of the Heuvelgalerie in 1989, foundations of a castle were found.

… the Van Abbemuseum built the smallest covered bridge in the world? It is bright pink and designed by John Körmerling.

Low Budget Eindhoven: Dinner/Movie Special at Sizzling and Pathé Cinema

Restaurant Sizzling
Stationsplein 3a
5611 AB Eindhoven
Tel: 040-2134459
Website: http://www.restaurantsizzling.nl/

Sizzling is Spanish restaurant and a nice place to be if you want a great evening for a nice price. The restaurant Sizzling offers a special Pathé menu on every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. This menu (€23,50)  is an optional three course diner inclusive a movie ticket. While you’re eating, Sizzling will buy the tickets and they make sure that you will be in the cinema in time.  One of the specialties of Sizzling is the presentation of the food on hot iron plates.  In this way the dishes are served ‘sizzling’.
When you want to have the Pathe menu in Sizzling you have a choice of five appetizers, four main courses and three desserts.

Last week, we visited the restaurant because of the Pathé menu. After that, we went to the movie ‘extremely loud incredibly close’ We really liked the dinner! Here are some pictures of our dinner:

Looks good, right??
We certainly recommend this restaurant, especially because of the Pathé menu. They have much more choice on the general menu, but we were also satisfied with only the Pathé menu.  If you want to go here, we advise to make a reservation. We were in the restaurant on a normal Tuesday, but it was also really busy then.

Old & New: A Look in the The History of Stratumseind
Part 2


This week we will have a look on the other part of Stratumseind.

The Boston Pub (42) & Cafe de Kram (41)

The left picture was taken in 1950. The left building (The Boston Pub) used to be the Labrehuis, a organization that took care of the homeless in Eindhoven. This homeless shelter had room for 25 people. The right building (Cafe de Kram) with the nice white facade used to be Butchery Peels.



Cafe Repelsteel (23) & Playerz (24)

The Playerz, the right building, has got a lot of negative publicity last months. The Playerz had to close their doors temporally, because one of their bouncers would have been too violent against a visitor. This café was not the only one with this problem, also Café Today and Café Santé had to appear in court because of the same reason
The left picture was taken in 1964. The building of Café Playerz used to be the home of J.J. Keunen. Keunen was one of the owners of tannery Keunen, which was located behind Stratumseind next to the ‘stadsgracht’ (the canal).

The Karaoke Bar (25)

The left picture was taken in 1932. In 1932, this building was the vegetable shop of family Lamers-Van Rooy (1926-1942). In 1950, greengrocer Sanders established his shop here. Nowadays you can sing along with your favorite songs in this Karaoke Bar.



D'n Katelein (26) & Phuong Anh Snackbar (27)

In the right picture you see the Phoung Anh Snackbar with a very little terrace. The hungry partygoers go here to buy a lumpia. Not really special you may think… BUT on this place there used to be the Pom Lai. This was the first Chinese-Indian restaurant in Eindhoven (1950). You have to imagine that in this time, this was one of the only restaurants where you could get ‘strange/foreign food’.  (The left picture was taken in 1968)

Bar 2 Alex (28) & de Bakkerij (30)

On the left picture (1968), this part of stratumseind was a real shopping street. There was a shoe shop, a liquor store, a vegetable specialist and a bakery. Nowadays, you can find here the coffeeshop de Bakkerij (the Bakery). Unfortunately, a lot of buildings are empty in this part of stratumseind.



Flooding of the Dommel in Stratumseind, 1926

Queen Wilhelmina in Eindhoven

Queen Wilhelmina visited Eindhoven in June 1927. On this picture you see a festive parade with Fords in Stratumseind.



WTF is that?: The weirdest buildings in Eindhoven

Yes, we have a lot of strange/weird/mad buildings in Eindhoven. You hate it or love it. What are these buildings and what are the stories behind them? We made a selection of our favorites!

The Evoluon

This UFO look-a-like building is one of the most famous buildings in Eindhoven. It was built in 1966 to celebrate the 75th birthday of Philips. The purpose of the building was to open a special exhibit on science and technology in it. All of this was based on an idea by Frits Philips. He wanted to give the people of Eindhoven a beautiful educational gift to celebrate the anniversary of Philips. The museum was unique, because visitors did not only look at the exhibits but also were able to interact with them. You actually were allowed to touch things. After the opening, every year about a half million people visited in the Evoluon. But in 1989 the exhibit was closed because of a declining number of visitors. Today the Evoluon is used as a business conference centre.

De Bijenkorf

De Bijenkorf (literally ‘the beehive’) is a chain of upscale department stores in the Netherlands. De Bijenkorf of Eindhoven is without a doubt a very striking building. It was opened in 1969. The concept of the architect (Gio Punti) was to design a building which represent ‘the strength, the power and the importance of the city’. He used green stones, because this was a dominant color in the landscape of the Netherlands. If you take a good look at the picture, you can also see that the building has a fake third floor. In the beginning the people of Eindhoven didn’t like the building, but that is different now.

The Flying Pins
No, this isn’t a publicity stunt of the local bowling club. This is actually art. The artists, Cleas Oldenburg and Coosje Bruggen, had a big vision behind it. We quote: ‘The configuration of the ball surrounded by smaller elements of the same size refer to the creation of the city Eindhoven. Eindhoven (as the hearth) was also surrounded by 5 independent villages, it’s like the solar system.’ Yeah right...

Soestdijk Palace II
This is the little version of Soestdijk Palace, Soestdijk Palace II. The real Soestdijk Palace is a former palace of the Dutch royal family. Dutch entertainer Johan Vlemminx lives in Soestdijk Palace II. The building used to be a police station, but Vlemminx rebuilt it into a copy of Soestdijk Palace. Another weird thing about the building is the fact that it is in front of Jewish cemetery…

The Blob
The Blob (Binary Linear Object Building) is a characteristic and progressive building in the city centre of Eindhoven. It was designed by architect Massimiliano Fuksus, who also designed the shopping centre Piazza. There was a lot of discussion about the design of the Blob. A lot of people didn’t like the idea of building a futuristic construction in front of historical national monuments like the Witte Dame (White Lady) and the Philips Lighttower.  Anyway, the blob was opened in 2010. Inside the Blob you can find different stores like for example the Dept.

Old & New: A Look in the The History of Stratumseind
Part 1

Stratumseind is the place to be if you want to experience the nightlife in Eindhoven. There are over 40 bars in this street. Each bar has its own public and music. Saturday night and Friday night  the pubs are open till 04:00. Thursday night the pubs are open till 02:00. This night is also known as student night. Stratumseind hasn't always been a nightlife district. It used to be a street with industry companies and small businesses, like barbers and butchers. In the seventies, these shops were replaced by bars and pubs.

Today, we will give you information about the history of the first part of Stratumseind (1-14 & 31-39 on the map) . We will start with a view on the Catharina Church with the Catharina square.


Catharina Church + Square & Cafetaria De Hoek (31)
On the first picture you can see that there used to be a rectory next to the church. Unfortunately, this rectory has been demolished. The square had been broaden. Therefore, nowadays stratumseind starts with Cafetaria de Hoek (ground floor of the flat in the middle).

De Spijker (2), Thomas (3) and Cafeteria de Hoek (31)
The old picture gives a streetview of Stratumseind in +/- 1900

De Spijker (2), Thomas (3) and 't Begijntje (4)
The left picture was taken in 1963. Nowadays, the two buildings on the left are known as cafe 'De Spijker' (The Nail). In these two buildings, there used to be a little hardware store with the same name. The people of Eindhoven could buy their nails, screw and bolts here.
In 1878, Thomas van Dijck, director of a timber factory, bought the beautiful white building in the middle of the picture. He rebuilt it into a music hall annex cafe and he sold it to the male voice choir of Eindhoven in 1923.  Later, the building has been used as a furniture shop, a textile shop, a shoe shop and finally as a kebab shop.
In 1995, after the renovation, Cafe Meneer van Dijck (Mister van Dijck) opened his doors. But I assume the owner prefers the first name of Mister van Dijck, because nowadays the cafe is known as the Thomas.

Thuys (7)
Café Thuys used to be the little book shop Smaling. The left picture was taken in 1939.

Tipsy Duck Pub (36)
The left picture was taken in 1976 when the Tipsy Duck was named 't Bierwinkeltje (the little beer shop). Cafe 't Bierwinkeltje used to be a butchery.

New Tavernee (12), La Route (13) and Krazy Kangaroo(14)
The left picture was taken in 1968. You can see that Café Tavernee already existed in 1968. Next to Café Tavernee there was a little barber and a hardware store.  

De Rechter (38), Bongo Beach(39), The Jack (17) and Miller Time (16)
The last picture was taken in 1910. Here, the buildings on the right side are still intact. In 1944 these buildings were bombed (first picture). Nowadays, you can find cafe the Jack and cafe Miller Time here (second picture).
On the left side, you see a big grey building. This is the justice building of stratumseind. You can still see the word Justicia on this building. It was inaugurated in 1843. Behind the building there are still residues of the former prison.
This justice building used to be cafe de Rechter (cafe the Judge). Unfortunately, the building is empty know.

Liberation of Eindhoven
1944. Liberation of Eindhoven. Parade through Stratumseind

Party! Asphalting Stratumseind!
Yes, a new asphalted road was a reason to give a big party in 1953!

Want to see more historical pictures of Eindhoven?
Take a look at www.eindhoven-in-beeld.nl

NEXT WEEK: PART 2!

Tips for a Low-Budget Night Out: Dinner at Listers Parkzicht & Musical in Parktheater

On Saturday February 25th, we had a very great evening. First we had dinner at Listers Parkzicht and after that we went to the musical "Next to Normal" in the Parktheater in Eindhoven. It all might sound quite expensive, but if you do it right you will have a low-budget evening! Here are tips and how we experienced the evening

Dinner at Listers Parkzicht:
A five minute walk from the Parktheater, will take you to the restaurant called "Listers Parkzicht". The restaurant serves a classical French cuisine. They offer two courses for €21,50 and 3 course menus (€24,50), and we were lucky, because we had a discount card for one free dinner! We received that card from the 4xvrij (which means four time for free). 4xvrij is a website, where you can get coupons with 50% off from different trips, so also for different restaurants. The dinner was absolutely delicious and the waiters were very kind! They had a full restaurant with guests who wanted to go to their musical in time and they did a really good job. We had a three course dinner in just 1,5 hour! We started with a delicious carpaccio with a very nice truffle cream (1). As main course, I had tartar (2) and the others had sea bass, scampi and spaghetinni(3). Unfortunately, we don't have a picture of our dessert (only an empty plate(4), because we couldn’t wait to eat it! It was an ice cream with hot cherries.
My Budget here: 17,25 euro (including two drinks and the discount)



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Musical at the Parktheater:
The Parktheater has recently been renovated and offers a variety of shows and entertainment productions. It’s a very modern building and it also has a really interesting design inside. If you’re interested: Parktheater also organizes tours through the building. In this tour you will get the opportunity to be on stage and you will have a look behind the scenes.
The theater even has international productions, so it’s also interesting for foreign visitors. These are some of the top performances the Parktheater has to offer for this year:
- Dance: HyperISH - ISH
March 15^th 2012
- Music: Golden Earring
March 19^th 2012
- Cabaret: Met alle respect – Theo Maassen
April 13^th  – April 15^th  2012
- Musical: Saturday Night Fever
May 23th – June 3th 2012

You could also choose to have dinner in the restaurant in the theatre itself, which is "Park&Pluche". They offer a special theater diner for the visitors of the Parktheater. Park&Plushe has a special dish on the menu, which they call  ‘the favorite recipe of …’  Every month, one of the famous artists, who performs in the Parktheater gives his/her favorite recipe. So for example in the month January, they had ‘the favorite recipe of André van Duin’(1), which was sprouts with bacon, potatoes and stew.

We saw the musical ‘next to normal’ in the Parktheater this evening (2). Top musical artists (3), like Simone Kleinsma, Freek Bartels and René van Kooten, performed in this musical. The musical had a very heavy story, about a mother (Simone Kleinsma) who suffers from depression. The musical was a big success on Broadway (3)!

Budget tip: For students, the Parktheater has a very interesting offer. Students could buy a last-minute ticket on the day of the performance for just 12,50 euro. This offer applies to all performances (except when the performance is sold out) and the tickets are available  half an hour before the performance starts. This is a very good offer if you compare this to a musical ticket which easily costs 40 euro.



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