Travel - Martijn.be

Leaving Lille

Published on 19 December 2025

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The last day in Lille was going to be a very short one. Basically I’d just have breakfast and bail. But considering how easy and quick it is to get there, I might just return for a day trip another time!

Since my train would leave quite early, I had my breakfast in the hotel. Then it was time to say goodbye to ibis Lille Centre Gares, and make my way to the station. I first went to the ‘wrong’ station Lille Flandres, to see if I could get access to the lounge, but apparently my very cheap first class tickets didn’t qualify.

So I spent some more time in the very modern Lille Europe train station, where I discovered some huge wall paintings in the metro station part. But eventually it was time to board my TGV INOUI and head home again…

La Ville de Lille

La Ville de Lille

Published on 18 December 2025

After easing in to it with just a couple of hours yesterday, today was the day to fully experience the city of Lille! As usual I started with some culture, before drowning in coffee and beer.

My day started with the “Classic” bacon and egg roll at PADDO CAFE. It was definitely more fancy than any bacon roll I’d had before, but certainly a good way to start the day.

For the cultural part of the day I then first went to the Hospice Comtesse. Quite unexpectedly there was security with a handheld metal detector at the entrance, so I quickly had to move my pocket knife from my trouser pocket to my jacket, which foolishly wasn’t scanned or checked at all… Half of the exhibition was dedicated to the history of the building as a hospital founded by Flemish countesses—hence the name—and the other half was about the history of Lille in general.

Since I was still totally uncaffeinated at that point, I went for a coffee and a chocolate peanut butter cookie at Bloom Café.

Next on the programme was the Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille. Again there was security here, but this time even with metal detector gates. The jacket trick didn’t work this time—“Please put your jacket back on and deposit anything metal in the tray”—but luckily my knife is slightly smaller than my phone, so I managed to hide it underneath, and… they didn’t notice!

Once inside, I thoroughly enjoyed the museum. The collection was impressive enough, but I especially liked how the building was made into art as well, only fully visible when standing in very specific spots!

After another coffee at Chido Café, it was then time for my first beers at Sikaru, followed by La Mousse Touch’, and the Bar du Singe Savant.

For dinner I went to Le Broc, specialised in cheese dishes. La Trilogie du Broc definitely didn’t disappoint! I do have to mention though, that a country so proud of their cuisine, it’s funny to see how here in the North they’ve adopted a dish from the ridiculed United Kingdom—Welsh rarebit—and serving as Le Welsh in every second restaurant here!

To finish the day in style, two breweries: Fives Cail and hôp[i].

34 minutes…

34 minutes…

Published on 17 December 2025

Apparently it only takes a 34 minute train ride to get from Brussels to Lille! So this cloudy afternoon in December, I found myself once again in Brussels Midi for my shortest high speed train ride ever.

This train ride was unique in more than one way: it was also my first time travelling by TGV INOUI. It definitely wasn’t the train’s first ride though! One of the armrests of my seat fell off, and everything else felt a bit dated as well.

Age hadn’t slowed down this train, and it raced through Flanders—both Belgian and French—with a speed of nearly 300 km/h. Consequently, we arrived in Lille Europe perfectly on time.

After a quick check-in at hotel ibis Lille Centre Gares, I headed to Coffee Makers. I had been there last time I was in Lille, but since it’s the specialty coffee shop nearest to the station—and my hotel—it was the obvious choice.

Also near the station was HEIN – Brique House, the Lille taproom of said brewery. From there it was a ten minute walk to BeerChope. As the name would suggest, it is indeed a beer shop, but if you would walk in there unsuspectingly, you’d think it’s just a normal bar…

Just across the square was BBP Lille, another taproom of one of my neighbourhood breweries. Very recognisable as a BBP venue, both from the outside and the inside! And just like BBP Bailli, with a very prominent pizza oven.

For a taste of some northern French cuisine I went to A Taaable. Unfortunately that was a bit of a letdown… I probably should have known that there would be quite a bit of cartilage in Les Pieds de Cochon et Queue de Bœuf en Andouillette, so that’s on me. But the fact that it wasn’t even hot in the middle was totally on them! So when they asked the usual “Was everything okay?”, I actually told them the truth, and they comped me the meal.

On to more beer then, at Beer Square! I had hoped to get some more food there—since I only finished half my plate—but unfortunately the kitchen was already closed. The beers were nice though, as was the artisanal dry sausage!

To finish the evening, I went to La Capsule, the favourite bar during my last visit to Lille. The beer list was just as cracking as last time, and the bar staff was really helpful in helping me avoid the beers I would be able to drink at the Five Cail brewery taproom tomorrow anyway.

A Day of Deutsche Bahn…

A Day of Deutsche Bahn…

Published on 30 October 2025

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Time to go home! Just two high-speed ICE trains, with an easy, 51 minute transfer in Frankfurt am Main. Well, that was the plan, but when travelling with Deutsche Bahn, things hardly ever go as planned…

Since it would be quite a challenge to pack my bag—with more beer, pálinka, clothes, and goodies than I originally left Brussels with—I had my breakfast in the hotel. I even got around to trying the waffle iron this time! Once everything was squeezed in my bag, I checked out for the last time in a while, and went across the street to the station.

In Wien Hbf my ICE to Frankfurt (Main) Hbf was already waiting for at the platform twenty minutes in advance. Well, at least half of it was, so people with seats in the missing carriages were slightly panicking… The other half was attached a bit later, and the then complete train left on time, and stayed on time until we arrived at the first station in Germany… There, due to some ‘technical issues’, we stayed at the station way langer than scheduled… For a while, it still seemed feasible to catch my connection, but the closer we got, the more unlikely it became. Luckily it wasn’t my first time travelling with DB, so I had made sure not to be dependent on catching the last train to Brussels in Frankfurt.

We arrived in Frankfurt am Main Hbf about ten minutes after my scheduled connection left. Fine, I already made a seat reservation on the next—and last—train to Brussels, about an hour and a half later. So I left the station to get something to eat and kill the time. My first choice was a trendy hamburger restaurant, but there was a queue outside, so I went to a fast-food place instead. As it turned out, that queue probably saved my return journey…

Back in Frankfurt am Main Hbf, I went to the platform where my train would leave from. Just after I got comfortable for the wait, I noticed something on the departure board: my train would skip Frankfurt am Main Hbf, and depart from Frankfurt am Main Flughafen Fernbf instead! So I jumped on the first train heading in that direction, which dropped me off at the regional train station at the other side of the airport, and made my way over a dozen escalators and through long corridors to the right platform, which I got to in time.

And just when you think it’s over: another train in front of us broke down, so our ICE had to make a detour. Eventually, at ten minutes after midnight, I alighted in Brussels Midi station… Next time I’ll just take the ÖBB NightJet again!

Babel & Backhuhn

Babel & Backhuhn

Published on 28 October 2025

Last full day of this trip, still in wonderful Wien! It’s a Tuesday, so the museums are all open again, including the Wien Museum and Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Lots of walking around ahead, so a small breakfast won’t do today. The Morgenmuffel at Café Goldegg was exactly what I needed: basically an English breakfast in a baguette. And a basket of chips…

The Wien Museum was being renovated last time I visited, but today I finally got a proper introduction to Vienna’s history!

Kaffeefabrik, on the other hand, was indeed open last time I was in the city, but definitely worth a revisit.

Caffeinated again, I went to check out where all those Bruegel paintings ended up: in the Kunsthistorisches Museum apparently. Best known of his paintings there probably is the Tower of Babel, but I recognised several others. The Roman collection was quite impressive as well!

By this time, breakfast was largely digested, so I headed to the Bitzinger Würstelstand for a Käsekrainer sausage. Well, I was unpleasantly surprised by a very long queue—there was none when I passed it the day before—so I went to Würstelstand Südtirolerplatz near my hotel for that cheesy sausage instead.

In the evening there was one more bar completely new to me to discover: Die Freunderlwirtschaft. Not that many (craft) beers on draught, but there was a surprisingly diverse selection in the fridge.