Vakantie Begint!

Don't mess with Belgium and its holiday season.  Actually, don't mess with Europe and its holiday season.  

It's an entitlement and come hell or high water, every European will be going somewhere on holiday during July and August.  Not June.  Not September.  July and August.

It's a ritual and do not underestimate it.  The office or the factory job will have to wait and "entitlement" is not just a cliche', it really is required.

Here are just a few of the local headlines when July 1 rolled around . . .

If you can only go to the Belgian coast, that's good enough -

Extra treinen naar de kust op 1 juli, 

de eerste dag van de grote vakantie 

(Extra trains to the coast on July 1, the first day of the big vacation)

But if you can afford it, you'll go even farther -

Vakantie-uittocht zorgt woensdag 

voor piekdag op luchthavens

(Vacation exodus creates peak day on Wednesday for airports)

Woensdag weer piekdag op Belgische luchthavens 

(Wednesday  again peak day at Belgian airports)

Het vakantieverkeer in Europa begint op 

gang te komen. Dat betekent vooral richting 

zuiden een rode dag op de wegen.

(The holiday traffic in Europe is beginning to get underway. 

That means a red day on the roads going south.)

That article, accompanied by this photo, shows just where nearly everyone in Europe is headed, if possible.  

South!  

One would think that a few people here and there would prefer to take their vacation some other time of year.  Even those with children in school might consider Spring break or Easter or . . . 

Maybe there are a few . . . they are over in the left lanes headed north :)