On 4 October 1830, Belgium declared its independence. The Netherlands recognized the situation on 19 April 1839. But the National Holiday is 21 July, as Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha took the constitutional oath to become King of the Belgians.
Tag: History
KOBLENZ | The Middle Rhine Museum or Mittelrhein-Museum at Forum Confluentes
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.
KOBLENZ | Deutsches Eck, the German Corner at the confluence of the Moselle and the Rhine
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.
TRAIN WORLD | ‘Fashion & Trains. Fashion along the railway, since 1835’ exhibition from 18 September 2026 to 29 August 2027
Fashion and rail travel come together in a new exhibition opening at Train World in Schaarbeek / Schaerbeek (Brussels) on 18 September. ‘Fashion & Trains. Fashion along the railway, since 1835’ explores how clothing, uniforms, luggage, railway carriages and travel habits have changed together over almost two centuries.
ANDORRA | Tourism grew modestly in 2025, with shifting visitor patterns
Andorra welcomed 9,194,340 visitors in 2025, a modest increase of 0.7% compared with the revised 2024 total of 9.13 million. Behind that seemingly stable headline figure lies a notable shift in visitor behaviour. The number of tourists staying at least one night rose sharply by 12.7% to 4,362,733, while the number of day-trippers fell by…
KYOTO | Nijō Castle
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…
EUROPE | Five combinations of one-day-cities you can visit in one-week trips
On 18 August 2026, Italy‘s Urban Mood Magazine published ‘10 Underrated European Cities to Visit in 2026 (Before Everyone Else Does)‘. I roamed the Trip By Trip archive to find ten other ‘not top op mind‘ cities in Europe to visit. Doing so, I stumbled upon a few one-day-cities which are best combined together.
SAN MARINO | 2025 record year for tourism
I turned 45 in June. I have this tradition – when possible – of not being in Belgium for my birthday. From Sweden in 2013 to the Châteaux of the Loire Valley in 2014, Lake Orta in 2015, Rome in 2016, London in 2018, North Carolina and Virginia in 2019, England in 2022, and Rotterdam…
ANTWERP | Queer Walk Central Station to Hessenhuis with Linx+
On Sunday 17 May 2026 – Norway‘s Constitution Day but also and foremost International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, aka IDAHOT or IDAHOBIT, Dennis and I partook in a Queer Walk by Linx+. A guided walk retracing Antwerp‘s queer history.
LONDON | V&A East Storehouse and V&A East Museum at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford
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.