From 2 October 2026, NS International will launch a new direct ICE service from the Netherlands to Hamburg, bringing the popular northern German city within easy reach by rail. The service will initially run to Hamburg and will later also serve Bremen. Passengers will be able to board in Amsterdam, Hilversum, Amersfoort, Apeldoorn, Deventer, and... Read More
Autumn 2025. We – Sam and Danny, Michel and Wille, and Timothy – are travelling to Japan for a quite classic tour of the Land of the Rising Sun. We are flying separately as we used miles. On the planning: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawa, Osaka, and Expo 2025, Hiroshima, Himeji, Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Hakone, and... Read More
In early March 2026, Frank invited me to join a behind the scenes tour of the Antwerp opera house. The place now houses Opera Ballet Vlaanderen or Opera Ballet Flanders, which – as the name clearly says – brings opera and ballet, and classical concerts. The story of opera in Antwerp begins in 1661 with... Read More
Scheduled passenger flights to arctic region in Norway and Finland Brussels Airlines launches scheduled passenger flights to Evenes in Norway, Kemi, and Kittilä, both in Finland. These destinations are added to the winter timetable, as holidays to the Arctic in winter are becoming increasingly popular. In addition to scheduled passenger flights, Brussels Airlines also operates... Read More
After Bonn in 2023 and Münster in 2024, Dennis and I went further than North Rhine-Westphalia for our 2025 Christmas market in Germany outing. We went to Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, at the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle rivers. Hence the name of the city. I’m starting this series with a post on gay,... Read More
Virgin Trains has taken a major step towards challenging Eurostar‘s dominance of cross-Channel passenger rail services after the United Kingdom‘s rail regulator gave the green light to a track access agreement that could allow the company to launch international services in 2030. Up to 20 daily services The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) announced... Read More
NMBS / SNCB will mark its centenary with a unique travelling exhibition bringing together almost a century of Belgian railway history in a single 300-metre-long train. Featuring historic locomotives and carriages spanning from the 1930s to the latest generation of rolling stock, the exhibition will visit Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek in Brussels, Liège-Guillemins, and Antwerp-Central Railway... Read…
Every year we go to London as my boyfriend is a big fan of London (or at least some of his favourite shops are located there). This year we combined our London trip with a few days in Liverpool as the hotel prices in London where exorbitant due to a big convention in the London... Read More
Belgian beer will be celebrated on two separate occasions this summer, but Belgian Beer Weekend and Belgium Beer Week are not the same event. While both celebrate Belgium‘s beer culture and its recognition by UNESCO, they have different organisers, formats and geographical reach. Belgium Beer Week takes place first, from 24 to 30 August, and... Read More
In 2024, I showed Oscar from Denver, Colorado the highlights of London. It was his first time in England. In contrast, Thanh and I have been to the capital of the United Kingdom many times. During the weekend of Pentecost 2026, we went together for a weekend of museums, food, and a concert. Looking for... Read More