Dear all,

My friends (a whole big group of 6 of them) were at Brussels-Midi waiting for their train. 4 left to buy drinks, leaving 2 girls to watch a whole heap of luggage. Very soon, vultures started circling the girls and the bags, with one guy (the distractor) even running his hand down one of the bigger bags. This made the girls focus on him, while another (the star) tried to get away with a smaller bag. Luckily, the girls stopped the star before he could get away.

These guys are no fools. They know there's a higher chance of valuable stuff in smaller bags than in bigger ones!

Where possible, I try to avoid Brussels-Midi. On trips from Paris to Maastricht, I choose to change trains at Liege-Guillemins rather than at Brussels-Midi. While waiting for trains at Liege, I leave the station and seek refuge in the Quick fastfood restaurant opposite. Be forewarned, there are no lounges/snack stores in Liege itself! It's a very boring station!