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Tag: Belgium

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!

Heading North!

Heading North!

Published on 9 June 2026

All packed again, and back on the rails, all the way up north to Scandinavia this time! To get there would take me two Deutsche Bahn ICE trains—what could possibly go wrong?—and for the very first time: an SJ EuroNight sleeper train. 

As often before, the ICE 15 from Brussels-Midi to Köln Hbf was already waiting at the platform by the time I arrived in the station. While the DB app warned me about border checks, in the end there weren’t any, or at least not in my carriage. 

Nevertheless, we still arrived in Köln ten minutes late.  However, my connection left twenty minutes late, so I had plenty of time to take a moment to sit down at the Heberer bakery in the station, for my classic Schnitzelbrötchen lunch with an Apfelschorle. 

The second ICE couldn’t quite make up for the lost time, so I arrived in Hamburg Hbf a bit behind schedule. Luckily I had planned for such eventualities and left leave plenty of time before my sleeper train departure. So after dropping off my bag at a Nannybag location—the station lockers would be closed by the time I’d come back—I had dinner at Im Sprinkenhof: a Hamburger Schnitzel mit Bratkartoffeln, one specialty from Hamburg I hadn’t had yet. 

Then it was about time to retrieve my bag and head back to the station, for the SJ EuroNight 344 to Göteborg. That was actually not my final destination for this leg of the trip, but more about that tomorrow. Meanwhile, time to enjoy my private, first class sleeping compartment, read a bit, and go to bed, to hopefully wake up in Sweden… Goodnight!

Brussels Breweries Tattoo Tour – Quinquagenarian Edition

Brussels Breweries Tattoo Tour – Quinquagenarian Edition

Published on 9 May 2026

When I just had my Brussels breweries tattoo in 2022, featuring my seven favourite local breweries, I celebrated the occasion by visiting them all in one epic taproom crawl… It became an annual event, and since I was turning 50 years old this year—and apparently that is significant—I did the fifth edition of my Brussels Breweries Tattoo Tour a bit earlier than usual, actually on my birthday, on the 9th of May!

The visited breweries were—as always—Cantillon, L’Ermitage, Mazette, La Mule, La Senne, La Source, and Surréaliste. Seven breweries, seventy minutes in each taproom, and at least one birthday beer in each…

Continue readingBrussels Breweries Tattoo Tour – Quinquagenarian Edition
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.