TRI-COUNTRY TRAIN | Taking a peek at Heerlen and Aachen

After years of being in the pipeline, the (in)famous Tri-Country Train started running in the summer of 2024. Operated by Arriva and with NMBS / SNCB personnel on the Belgian side of the route, the Drielandentrein, Dreiländerzug or Train des trois pays connects Liège in the eponymous province in Belgium to Maastricht in the province…

Belgium to host Eurovision Song Contest 2026? But in which city?

Coming Saturday, 1 February 2025, a jury and the television watching public will decide will represent Belgium for Flemish public broadcaster VRT at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel in Switzerland. Oddly, Belgium has been on top of the bookmakers’ charts for the outright win. Íf, and it’s a big íf, that happens, which…

BELGIUM | Fête du Rail at Rétrotrain, Saint-Ghislain

August 2024. Two weekends in a row, we experienced some Belgian railway heritage. On the 11th, we went to Baasrode-Noord for the Dendermonde – Puurs Steam Railway or Stoomtrein Dendermonde-Puurs over line 52. On the 17th, we travelled all the way to Saint-Ghislain for a special ride over freight railway line 100, organised by Le…

HAINAUT | Discovering Mons

In May 2024 Thanh and I visited the Rodin exhibition at the Beaux-Arts Mons museum of fine arts. Obviously being in Mons, we explored the capital of the province of Hainaut in Wallonia. 

Hasselt Highlights

April 2024 was cold and wet. For Antwerp Pride Magazine, I went to Regenbooghuis Limburg to interview the people of Roze Bink. But as I had to travel to Hasselt anyway, I thought it was a good I do to get there early and explore the capital of the Belgian province of Limburg. 

Liège Pride 2025 on Friday 22, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 August

Liège in in the eponymous province hosted its first fully-fledged pride the past weekend. Some 3,800 people marched through the streets of the Cité Ardente or Fiery City. Some 10,000 attended Liège Pride as visitors. A success for the organising committee, which announced the dates for next year: Friday 22, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24…

BELGIUM | Introduction to Charleroi

A month after our visit to Couvin, we returned to the province of Hainaut. While Danny and I have conducted trains to Charleroi-Central many, many times, we never really got out of the station to explore the 5th most populous city in Belgium.