Verkeershinder, more or less, means traffic problems in Dutch. We have our GPS programmed to "speak" in Dutch and it frequently uses that word as we travel around this tiny country.
Ross is moving into an apartment in Brussels and we've been making trips back and forth taking all the treasures we've found at the local kringwinkels (thrift shops). At first, we waited for the weekend and Jim did the driving.
I finally decided this week, despite normally driving as little as possible, I needed to get comfortable driving to the new apartment. Now, that may not sound like a big deal, but . . .
where do you think the worst traffic on the planet is?
Los Angeles? New York? Paris? London?
Nope, it's Brussels, Belgium.
According to an article I read in Forbes magazine, the INRIX scoreboard of navigation and traffic gives Brussels the Number One spot for "worst traffic jams in world"!
The 10 Most Traffic Congested Cities In The World
And to add insult to injury . . . Number Two goes to Antwerp - also in Belgium.
Keep in mind that you can fit the country of Belgium in the top one-third of the state of Louisiana. It's tiny . . . with a lot of people - and a lot of cars.
I don't know how many people use public transport here, but the times I've taken the train to Brussels, there is often standing room only. About 500,000 people commute to work each day in Belgium and a whopping 75% of those are going into Brussels. Thank goodness some people don't have a car!
So, having said all that, I'm cautiously optimistic about continuing to drive into Brussels - preferably not during rush hour(s) and preferably not in the rain. Neither of which is possible, of course :)
