Short report today. Sunday started on a very early train out of Rotterdam to Brussels. While we’re at it, Rotterdam’s ridiculous modern architecture extends to its station. I love it.

Centraaaaaal

Thalys do the international services to Belgium and France, and I managed to nab a “comfort” class ticket while they were still cheap

This is in Brussels south station. The more you look, the more it gets worse

Sightseeing in Brussels has never been high on my tourism list, but I did feel like checking out the Atomium to say I’d “done it” (and because science or something). Plus, another opportunity to tick off another metro cred.

Metro cred! Brussels has a lot of stations with their own characteristic, which I’m always a fan of

I swear I was supposed to be smiling in this picture

Main square

Obligatory picture of people taking a picture of the smallest famous statue in the world because it’s taking a piss

Main tourist spots covered, so was time to…

I moved onwards to the main order of the day - Bruges. My only regret is that I haven’t watched the movie “In Bruges”, so there’s a ton of jokes I can’t make.

My opinion of Bruges might be tinged by the fact that I was mildly sleep deprived (another snorer arrived in the hostel, yay) and doing constant walking with a rucksack. It’s definitely pretty and has a huge range of traditional, historic architecture. For example…

Quiet sidestreets is more my style

Jan van Eyck - he’s the guy who painted pictures where all the women look like Putin

But the more you walk around, the more it feels like the whole place only exists for tourists. Like, I know people live here. Lots of people. But the crowds overwhelm, and every shop starts to look like some kind of tourist trap. I dunno, it’s a good place, but maybe I’d need to visit in the off season for a better result.

That said, since I was a tourist, I took the opportunity to have a sit down and regain some kind of plan by taking a boat tour.

This guy has to give a live tour in three different languages

So, at this point, I’d tired myself out and wanted to head home… but suddenly I spotted a booster in the distance. Upon further inspection: CREDS!

Naff travelling mouse cred, but a +1 is a +1

Yep, turns out a fair rocked up just as I was travelling through. Some people might know of Bedouijn Sea Park which has a +1 near the centre of Bruges, but I wasn’t up for walking out to, then paying twenty euros for a single roller coaster and sad dolphins. But the metaphorical light switched back on when I saw the coasters. Screw history, this is what I’m here for. The other one was a tiny kiddie cred, and shame be damned, that thing was mine.

Elliott Family Roller Coaster!

Something familiar about Elliott

So yeah, on a better day, I might be more charitable about Bruges. It’s a very picturesque place and I’d recommend it if it’s your kind of thing but I have a low tolerance for places with lots of tourists (Cambridge probably did it in for me).

I stopped the night over in Ostend, on the Belgian coast.

This beach could be anywhere, but it was taken at Ostend, on the Belgian coast

Not much to say about Ostend, except it exists and is probably busier as a beach destination in summer. The Belgian hostel chain “Jeugdherberg” has a site here, and if you’re here in the low season, it’s worth booking a dorm, as I got a four-bed dorm all to myself. Winning!

Next report: we find new entries in the top 20.