A night with Young Blood Brass Band

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Maastricht. The temperature has dropped quite a bit and it definitely feels like fall around here. I love walking in my neighborhood. All of the leaves are falling off the trees and days like yesterday remind me how lucky I am to be here. Yesterday was gorgeous! Chilly, but it was a good day to go exploring. 

Since my bike was in the shop getting the front light fixed, I walked by foot to Fort Sint Pieter. I walked over the JFK bridge and was able to take some great pictures. Here's a view of the Bonnefantenmuseum. (We live about three blocks from the museum). I went there a few weeks ago with my new museum card. The building itself is interesting and the collections that I saw were a variety of art from medieval to contemporary. I love that the building is shaped like an egg. Here are some pictures from my walk over the bridge. (This is the southern most bridge in Maastricht).

Bonnefantenmuseum

A beautiful day in Maastricht!

The Maas river

View of our neighborhood from the JFK Bridge

Walking from our neighborhood (Céramique) over the JFK Bridge you end up in a neighborhood called St. Pieter, still in Maastricht though. The fort is on top of a hill that I heard a Dutch person describe as a mountain. (It's more like a slight incline). Here's a view from the walk up to the fort.

Walk up to Fort Sint Pieter

I found online that Fort Sint Pieter was built at the turn of the 18th century. Definitely not the oldest structure in Maastricht, but that's about as much as I know. Unfortunately, the fort was closed to visitors, I think due to construction. So this was the closest I was able to get. I'll have to go back with Jaap another time.

Fort Sint Pieter

On to the fun part of my day! A few weeks ago one of the horn players in our orchestra told Jaap about the Young Blood Brass Band coming to Maastricht. I had never heard of them, but Jaap has several of their CDs.  After my Dutch class, I met Jaap at Café de Belsj for some brass band music! Some other members of the orchestra we play in were there, as well as most of Maastricht. The place was packed. We could barely get in, but once inside it was great! I know that the structure of the group has changed, but there were three percussionists, two trumpets, two trombones, sax, and tuba. It was VERY loud! Probably one of the best performances I've seen in awhile. It really made me feel like I was in Brooklyn again and at some moments New Orleans. It felt like home. Despite the fact that I forgot earplugs and have probably done permanent damage to my hearing (Mom-don't read this) we had so much fun. You can't help but move to this music. I felt like I was somewhere in Williamsburg, minus the cloud of smoke. It was a great night in Maastricht!

Young Blood Brass Band