Short trip to Brussels

Earlier this week I had to attend a meeting in Brussels, just 300 kilometres away from Frankfurt. The trip was so short that I did not even take a single picture of Brussels. Just to be on the safe side and to avoid problems with delays, I decided to go to Brussels the evening before and sleep there one night.

However, I could not find an easy train combination for my desired time and I took the plane there. The flight itself was stupidly short (30 minutes flying) and, to be honest, too expensive for the service that I received. A better offer of direct trains would definitively defeat flying in such short distances. Once in Brussels, I decided to take the train, which I remebered as very quick to reach the city centre. Maybe because I was in a hurry or because I was tired or because whatever, this time it took longer than expected.

As in my previous trip there (in October, if I am not mistaken), I got the impression that the city is somehow not very dynamic, I do not know how to better explain it, but you see other cities improving while Brussels was great ten years ago and now it is not that great.

Arriving at hotel NH was disappointing as well. Due to cuts in personnal, everybody around the hotel was extremely young (and not too-well paid, I guess) and the restaurant was closed. Here I faced one important problem: where to have dinner. I tried some places around the hotel but they were closed (apparently it was too late for dinner, just 21:30). So, I had to use the room service of the hotel, containing only pasta...

I had planned to have lunch with my friend Saskia, but it was not possible, because, on the one side, my meeting was extended to cover also the afternoon, and, on the other side, because Amélie was sick on the weekend. From now on, we will consider the idea of removing March from Amélie's calendar...

The meeting was alright, nothing extraordinary, to be honest. Then, on the way back, in the airport, when I met a senior colleague of mine, I could not help wondering which is the purpose of flying business class in such a short trip, especially when it is paid by taxpayers' money?