European Sleeper inaugurated its night train service from Brussels in Belgium to Venice in Italy, via the Netherlands, Germany and Austria, in the night from Wednesday 5 February to Thursday 6 February 2025. But the sleeper train never made it passed Innsbruck. “And this is unfortunately not a surprise”, Back On Track Belgium says in…
Month: February 2025
ANTWERP | ‘Happy Family 全家福’ at Red Star Line Museum explores Chinese immigration
The temporary exhibition ‘Happy Family 全家福‘ at the Red Star Line Museum opened just after Lunar of Chinese (you choose) New Year. Via the story of three Chinese restaurants in the city and province of Antwerp, the museum explores the story of immigrants from Hong Kong, now part of the People’s Republic of China, to…
Turkey welcomed 62 million international tourists who together spent $61 billion in 2024
July 2024. Steve and I are cruising on the Norwegian Getaway, a Breakaway class ship by Norwegian Cruise Line or NCL. Interestingly, our stay on board happened shortly after the Getaway paid a visit to the dry dock for some refurbishments. The route? Piraeus, which is the port of Athens in Greece; followed by Mykonos;…
Arriva surveys customers for Groningen – Amsterdam – Utrecht – Antwerp – Brussels – Paris train
You may remember reports in 2023 on how Deutsche Bahn is interested in running trains from the Netherlands, via Belgium, to France. And DB would use its Arriva brand, already a household name in the Netherlands. Arriva is since 2024 also present in Belgium with the Tri-Country Train.
ANTWERP | ‘Compassion’ in the MAS: the many faces of compassion
On 31 January 2025, the new exhibition ‘Compassion‘ opened its doors at the Museum At the Stream (Museum Aan de Stroom, MAS) in Antwerp. Feeling or showing compassion is inherent to humans and has many faces. The exhibition runs until 31 August 2025.
NORWEGIAN GETAWAY | Disembarkation Day
July 2024. Steve and I are cruising on the Norwegian Getaway, a Breakaway class ship by Norwegian Cruise Line or NCL. Interestingly, our stay on board happened shortly after the Getaway paid a visit to the dry dock for some refurbishments. The route? Piraeus, which is the port of Athens in Greece; followed by Mykonos;…
European Sleeper now rides from Brussels to Venice via the Netherlands, Germany and Austria
In the night from Wednesday 5 February to Thursday 6 February 2025, the Belgo-Dutch night train company European Sleeper operates its first service from Belgium to Italy for the 2025 ski season.
REVIEW | ‘Welkom Aan Boord’ ft. Brussels Airlines shows reality of an airline
Brussels Airlines, production company Geronimo Entertainment and television station VTM are very prod of ‘Welkom Aan Boord‘ (‘Welcome On Board‘), a new reality show where ground staff, cabin crew and pilots are followed during their duty hours and on layovers. From Sunday 9 February 2025, you can watch the show on VTM and its app,…
ANTWERP | 433,000 visitors for Ensor Year 2024 at KMSKA, FOMU, MoMu and Museum Plantin-Moretus
The Ensor Year in Antwerp in 2024 was an overwhelming success. In total, more than 433,000 people visited the four exhibitions about the Belgian artist James Ensor, who died 75 years ago. A fantastic tribute to this innovative pioneer who still inspires many artists today.
Back On Track Belgium sees recognition for night trains in new Government Agreement but questions practicalities
Sleeper train travel advocacy group Back On Track Belgium has mixed feelings regarding the new Government Agreement in Belgium. The Kingdom has now a government after some eight months since the June 2024 elections. Such a long formation period is nowadays not unusual in Belgium and in Europe.