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!

You must not know many Norwegians. :-)

In addition to this example I've been told by many people in Northern Germany that they generally prefer Americans to the British. The most recent reason is because of football hooligans, but the fact that they were in the British occupation zone was also cited to me, and by people too young to have experienced it.

What's more dangerous; an American with such a weapon or an American familiar with the metric system?

In all seriousness, thanks for the note.

It's considered OK because the people the stuff is being taken from are wealthy enough to replace it. And, Europeans are taxed enough for social programs.

Try not to look lost....

Great... but thanks for the heads up about Brussels-Midi and the whole system. I hope my rollaboard won't cause me problems.

It's not all bad, remember. I don't doubt any of the stories above, but remember that only those who have had bad experiences will feel most compelled to post on this thread.

I've been to Brussels five or six times, and Amsterdam twice, and never had any bad experiences like this (despite taking metros out to the suburbs on several occasions), so please don't let other people's bad experiences put you off going. Just keep 'em peeled!

Same here.

I even went out for dinner alone near Midi. No problems. Great people, too.

I suspect that the OP may have attracted thieves with the laptop cases.

I guess I have been lucky or being 6ft 4 helps, never had a problem in Europe with the baggage, and I do keep my eye on it. BRU is a great city with even better Beer^

I have noticed that I go out side the lower 48 and I get crap about being an American, had some in Montreal the other day start in for no reason. Got to love it!

But BRU like any city has its pro's and Cons, just be careful!