Belgium
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Benelux Adventure – Leuven
For the final part of my journey, I’d been initially looking to stay in Brussels so I could connect with the Eurostar train back to London. But being such a compact country means there are plenty of better, less busy and cheaper options nearby. I’d previously ticked off the tourist towns of Bruges and Antwerp,…
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Benelux Adventure – Dinant
One of the joys of using a rail pass is the ability to stick a pin in a map and choose a fairly random destination. I knew little about Dinant in Belgium, other than it looked very picturesque. From Metz, my route involved going briefly back into Luxembourg which wasn’t an entirely pleasant experience. I…
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Benelux Adventure – Mechelen
Discovering three cities in a single day isn’t usually achievable, but in designing this trip I’ve opted for destinations that aren’t too far apart. So, after the briefest of looks around Utrecht and Gouda, it’s s lunchtime departure for the two and a half hour journey to Mechelen in Belgium. It’s just half an hour…
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Baltics and Scandinavia – Part 11
Osnabruk’s main station was busy with the morning rush hour. A large group of schoolchildren had gathered with their teachers, noisily preparing for their journey. I just hoped they wouldn’t be heading for Amsterdam. In what was becoming now typical German style, the Deutsche Bahn intercity service was twenty minutes late arriving, making the possibility…
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The Beast Arrives
So far on this trip, it’s been decidedly cold – but also sunny. Bright days usually mean me spending extended hours outdoors, making then most of the sights. But today, it’s turned cloudy, and with it, the weather front known as the “Beast from the East” is pelting its full windchill over this part of…
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“Merci”, not “Dank U”
Brussels Midi Station isn’t the nicest place to arrive. For starters, it’s huge – combining training, metro, tram and bus services. That makes finding the exit difficult enough – never mind the correct exit closest to my hotel. “To be honest I wouldn’t have recommended you stay in that neighbourhood,” says Jack, being completely open…
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A Tourist Trap(pist)
Having learned about the patron saint of beer earlier in the day, it seemed fitting to find out exactly what all the fuss is about. I have to confess, I’m normally a real ale kind of guy – and I mostly enjoy lighter, weaker beers. So the menu board at Le Trappiste presents something of a challenge.…
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Frozen canals, some horses and a nunnery.
Bruges looks stunning in the morning sunshine. The TV news is full of how the UK is failing to cope with a dusting of light snow and slightly cold weather. Here, the air temperature is -1c, but the windchill makes it -6c, which means some fairly brisk walking, since the option of a canal trip…
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A train, a tower and some beer.
My only previous knowledge of Bruges involved an Irishman falling from a tower, a dwarf high on ketamine and a gangster shooting blindly in the town’s square. It was quite a sight, condensed into 85 minutes of a film which seemed to mainly feature Colin Farrell’s eyebrows. And although I’d already decided this wasn’t going…
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