train - Martijn.be

Misery Fest 2026

Published on 25 July 2026

It had been way too long since I had been in beautiful Harzé to visit Misery Beer Co.… After a failed attempt last year, I finally made it to their birthday festival again this year!

When I visited their opening festival, there was a bus going all the way from Brussels. This time, there was just a shuttle bus from Liège station. It suited me just fine, since this way I had time for a coffee first.

The festival itself was all what I expected: great beers by Misery and three guest breweries—L’Ermitage, Verdant, and Pophin—terrific music, and tasty food. It was a hot day again, so I skipped the imperial stouts, but I tasted pretty much everything else.

After the last band, it was about time to get on the shuttle bus to the train station again. Some would come back the next day for more beers and different groups, but for me, just the one day was enough…

Mars in Antwerp

Mars in Antwerp

Published on 16 July 2026

It had been a while since I spent a day in Antwerp, and there was an exhibition about Martial Arts at the MAS I really wanted to see. The hot weather made the prospect of spending some time in a cool museum irresistible, so when I saw a gap in my work schedule, I was on my way!

But first coffee! Kolonel Coffee definitely wasn’t there yet when I still used to go to the MAS regularly, back in my teaching days, so it was a pleasant discovery.

The Martial Arts exhibition was really interesting! I learned about sports I had never heard about—don’t tell me you were familiar with the Iranian warrior training Zurkhaneh!—and enjoyed hearing the many testimonies of Antwerp practitioners. Oh, and Mars—the same one my first name is derived from—was there as well!

Curiosity satisfied, time to quench the thirst! Billie’s Bier Kafetaria was closed due to unforeseen circumstances, but I managed to visit most of the other usual suspects: Dr. Beer, Café Pardaf, Café Ernst, Billie’s Bottle Shop, and Beerlovers Bar!

Early Start, Late Trains

Early Start, Late Trains

Published on 19 June 2026

Reached this post by just scrolling through my blog? 
If you want to read about this trip from start to finish, instead of in reverse order, click here!

Taking trains through Germany is always a bit of a gamble nowadays. To improve my chances of getting home the same day, I planned quite an early start. But not as early as it eventually started…

The train I originally booked was supposed to leave from Copenhagen at 8h22, which was already quite early for my doing. But some weeks ago I received a message: my booked train would leave even earlier, at 7h39, so bye bye breakfast plans! I knew the DSB Lounge København wouldn’t have any food, so breakfast on the train it would be then! I even had to get one myself before departure, since there was no restaurant or cafe car on the DSB train to Hamburg.

While I planned sufficient time for my transfer, as soon as my obligation to only use booked trains—Zugbindung—was lifted, I also booked a seat on an earlier train, just in case… I would have missed that train, if it wouldn’t have been delayed even more than the train I came in on!

There wás a restaurant car on my ICE to Köln Hbf, but no-one ever came by to take orders, and when I headed to the restaurant get something myself, the queue was so long I couldn’t even see the end of it!

Funny story—but not really—during a long, unplanned stop in Osnabrück Hbf, the later ICE I was supposed to be on, pulled up at the platform right next to us… My train still arrived in Köln quite a bit earlier, though!

They eventually did come around to take food orders, so a little after five o’clock, I finally had some Bratwurst for lunch!

While arrival and departure times in Köln kept playing leapfrog for a while, in the end there was a comfortably gap between arrival of the train from Hamburg, and departure of my trusty ICE 10 to Brussels Midi. We left 33 minutes late, but at least I was on it, for the last stretch home!

And that marks the end of another trip!

On On to Oslo!

On On to Oslo!

Published on 12 June 2026

Friday is when the weekend starts, so also the day when the InterScandi hash event started! Since the event was in Oslo, and I was still in Stockholm, that meant I still had to get a train there first, to then kick off another crazy hash weekend with a little pub crawl, which even crazier beer prices…

While I was having breakfast in the SJ Lounge in Stockholm Central, the platform number for my train disappeared off the screen. That didn’t bode well… My SJ 3000 to Oslo eventually departed with a thirty minute delay, which grew to almost an hour during the six hour long ride. Unfortunately this type of train doesn’t have any solo seats—which I prefer when travelling alone—but the seats were wide enough to be comfortable and not to bother or be bothered by anyone.

After arrival in Oslo, I took a short bus ride—I didn’t feel like lugging my bag around town—to the Crow Bar & Bryggeri, where InterScandi officially started with a check-in, goodies handout, and storing away everyone’s luggage, and of course the first beer of the pub crawl! Loads of familiar faces, quite a few from Brussels, and a lot more from elsewhere…

The ‘pub crawl’ was actually just a list of suggestions where you then inevitably bump into other hashers. Half of those bars were on my to-do list anyway though, so the organisers did a great job, in my opinion. My first stop was at Henry & Sally’s, Mikkeller’s bar in Oslo, but apparently there is some law in Norway forbidding bars named after alcohol brands. Unlike yesterday when I forgot, I actually bought my Mikkeller Passport this time, and I had it stamped.

My second stop was at Oslo Street Food, where I got myself the Gangnam Chicken from Tunco.

After that I headed to Crafty Dog, once Oslo’s BrewDog bar, and it still shows. No tattoo or EFP discounts, though, but apparently they do give discounts for hashers!

I then still had time for a last beer at Café Sara, before a bus would take us to our accommodation for the weekend, Rønningen Folkehøgskole. There I was lucky enough to be assigned a single room, which was a nice surprise. A few more beers, and then it was time to turn in for the night.

Sunny Sweden, Rained Out Run

Sunny Sweden, Rained Out Run

Published on 10 June 2026

A new country, a new city, and a newfound appreciation for beer! First impressions of Sweden were great, and as expected, the hashers in Stockholm very welcoming.

A hot shower to start the day in sunny Sweden. Well, it was sunny for about five minutes after I opened the window blinds of my compartment… It was just enough though to enjoy my boxed breakfast in the sun. In the end, the train was even fifteen minutes ahead on schedule, allowing me some extra time—and snacks—in the SJ Lounge at Göteborg Central. Any other week I would not have needed to stop at Göteborg, but track works—although announced well in advance—made a transfer there unavoidable.

After queuing for a bit to get on the SJ X 2000, I found my extremely roomy seat, and I was on my way to Stockholm, the original destination of my sleeper. Within minutes a train attendant came to confirm my lunch order, and then later served it at my seat, at exactly the requested time.

After arrival, and a short metro ride, I could already check-in to my hotel: Citybox Stockholm. No people involved at all, or even in sight, but I was able to sort it out with just the consoles. It even seemed the machines had upgraded me to a very roomy, accessible room on the ground floor! Considering it was a room without windows—so no street noise anyway—that was just perfect!

Then it was time for my first proper coffee since Monday, at Drop Coffee, with some pastry from Svedjan Bageri.

But then it was time for a big moment: my first alcoholic beer in a month! In case you missed it: after my birthday brewery crawl, I had given alcohol a rest for exactly thirty-one days. So my first proper, alcoholic beer after that time was in Stockholm, in Akkurat, to be accurate. And boy, did it taste good!

I also had some homemade köttbullar there, served with cream sauce, pickled cucumber, lingonberries & mashed potatoes.

A new city usually also means a new hash, so I went back to the hotel to change, and was off to Fruängen—with the underground—for Stockholm Underground H3 Run 1656 – The Hot Dog Run. A sudden downpour just before the run was about to start, meant not all markings were as legible as intended… We found the drink stop, though!