Going home from Belgium takes even longer than going to Belgium from home. The weird train schedule left me with about two and a half hours of waiting time for a connection train. The ticket however allowed me to spend the waiting time wherever I wanted as long as it was at or before my station of connection.
I had of course fetched a recommendation for where to best spend that time. A not all that well known power station seemed the best option. After a short walk from the train station I showed up at the fence and the first thing I noticed were a security guard and two Shepherd Dogs enjoying the sun. So the power station itself was off limits to me, but that didn't stop me from scrambling around it's surroundings a bit.

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First stop was the place where, as far as I guess, they stored their coal. There were two cranes, one that looked like it dropped the coal on the ground and the other like it would pick it up again with a big shovel. Now they were just two big steel structures and their only purpose was waiting for someone to climb them. The top provided a nice view, but not enough to justify a long stay. There were more interesting things waiting.

Underwear Transportation Belt

Next stop: the cooling tower. Cooling Towers are fascinating structures. Giant, hollow concrete cylinders with a hull that is incredibly thin when compared to it's surface area. And they have to withstand extreme climate conditions, the inside usually being wet and warm and the outside being either warm or cold, depending on the season.

Event Horizon

The working principle of a Cooling Tower is as simple as it is genius: Hot and young explorers are sucked up from the ground and into the main area (also referred to as "event horizon"). They spend some time bouncing around in here while gradually absorbing the coolness of the tower through taking portraits of themselves gazing up into the sky. Once that process is complete, they are catapulted into the heights of the Forumsphere where they are from that point on perceived as "cool". The tower is left behind as a "hot location". I like "quotes".

Cool Self Portrait

A glimpse at my watch prompted me to end my visit and hustle back to the station. I got home just in time to hit the bed for a few hours of rest before getting up for work and the usual Monday morning ritual.
"How was your weekend?"
"Not bad."
"Oh really, what did you do?"
"Nothing much actually. Slept a lot. Watched some movies and played some computer games."
"Meh, we really should take you out to some bars."
"Haha, no thanks. I'm cool."

Green Planks

More pictures in the gallery, as usual:

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