Blogs from Belgium, Europe - page 6

We left our French troubles behind and took to train north to Belgium via Lille, a town on the French-Belgian border. I had found a French ‘budget airline' of trains called Ouigo – the tickets are significantly cheaper and its €5 extra for luggage. Quite a good concept actually, it’s still a high-speed train but with no on-board bar. The next train we caught from Lille to Brussels was the Eurostar that had come from London. Once in Brussels, we took a local train to the nearby town of Leuven. Leuven is a very pretty town – a university town – on the Flemish/French language border (we learnt that from our Intrepid friend who is from Leuven). Our first day there we just walked around town to orientate ourselves and had dinner in the main square. ... read more

We always knew it would be a long day travelling - starting at 11.15 from Vienna and arriving at 21.37 in Brussels ?. There’s not much to say really - nice countryside, comfy trains, changed in Frankfurt - bit of a surprise there though, and I suppose it had to happen - ENGINEERING WORKS! Yes indeed, the train through to Belgium was diverted, so instead of arriving in Brussels in time for a couple of beers and walk in town, we were now destined to arrive in Brussels at 23.03 ????? and even then it was late! Ah well, thank goodness it was at the end of the trip rather than the beginning, and that we still had a hotel, with a bar, to sleep in. A beer and box of fried chicken and chips later ... read more

I toured the city of Bruges today and it was just as I pictured it: cute, scenic, and full of tourists. Bruges has cobblestone streets and tall towers, pretty canals and old churches. It has great old religious art and the only sculpture by Michelangelo to leave Italy in his lifetime. I think this statue of the Madonna and Child was featured in the movie The Monuments Men. It was a satisfying experience to finally visit this town that I have heard and read about for years. I was prepared for it to be crowded, so the number of tourists didn’t bother me (as it has in some of the places I have been on this trip). I guess it’s all about expectations. I don’t usually travel in the summertime because of the crowds, but this ... read more

3 trains today ! Wilmslow station at 8-17 - train no 1 to London - the start of the low carbon adventure! Typical virgin train, arrived on time, nothing spectacular but took nearly 3 hours (engineering works - ugh) - quick walk to st Pancras international - we did try the wellness walk (avoiding Euston road) but a lack of signage meant we went on the Euston road anyway! Splendid Eurostar train to Brussels and then a local train to Brussels central and our lovely hotel right near central station( arrived about 5 ish ). Ashes was on and to our great surprise NOW TV app worked overseas - so we watched the end of the test match - OMG what a finish! Quick change and walk into town - SO many chocolate shops and waffles ... read more

We left Zeebrugge at about 9am and headed for Luxembourg and Trier. The forecast for the day was mixed so we kept he roof up and caught the motorway to start off. After a couple of hours it was time to drop the roof and find some more scenic routes! This extended the time the journey took but we saw so much more of Belgium. We arrived at the hotel overlooking Trier above the woodland were we had seen the wild boar when the children were small. There was a great view of the town and just time for a walk down to the wild boar ? enclosures and back before bed. ... read more