On the way to Mechelen

This weekend I have been visiting my friend Saskia, his husband Peter and their cute babies Amélie and Joaquin. For me it was the first visit in more than 12 months and you can easily imagine how much babies change in this period of time (now they are just 18 months old). It has been a very nice weekend in Mechelen, despite the long trip with the train across Germany and Belgium (and back).

On the experiencies with the train, I would like to highlight firstly the great seat I got on the trip from Frankfurt to Brussels: just after the cockpit of the train. I was there, watching the driver guide the train at, sometimes, 300 km/h. Today, on the way back, I had to take four trains (Mechelen-Brussels, Brussels-Cologne, Cologne-Cologne and Cologne-Frankfurt) and it was not so funny; mainly because the Belgian Thalys is not as cosy and modern as the German ICE.

Also on the train trip today to Brussels I have gone through the worst areas in Brussels (Schaarbek, or similar). It was not such a pleasant experience to watch prostitutes showing themselves in glasses, to see idle people in corners of the street, people around the station,... It is obvious that all the major cities in Europe have a dark side (for example, Frankfurt around Hauptbahnhof), but I got today the impression that Brussels's one may be too large.

But let's take the positive part of the trip, which I have really enjoyed and which I will likely repeat in the short-term.