Traffic Update

So, since I posted about the Belgian verkeershinder recently, I figured I might as well update that post with this one.  I was surprised to find this article in our local newspaper only days after I posted on my experience driving in Brussels . . .

ECONOMY Despite the crisis and the long queues, the number of cars in our country in one year increased by 50,000 units to 5.5 million units.

That according to the latest figures from the FPS Economy. A total of 6,993,767 registered motorized vehicles in our country. Besides the ordinary cars concerns include 740,000 trucks and vans, 450,000 motorcycles, 184,000 agricultural vehicles and 16,000 buses.

The electric car remains a marginal phenomenon. The 919 electric cars represent only 0.016 percent of the 5.5 million cars.

No doubt Belgians have an obsession with owning a vehicle despite the vast options for public transportation here.  Not to mention the bike!  

Of course, there is some added cost to biking too - the likely assured event at some point your bike will be stolen.  We should know.

Which reminds me of the time Ross was headed to the train station here in Hasselt and the lock for his bike was all the way upstairs (3rd floor) and I said "Don't worry about it, who would steal that POS?".  When he returned to the station, I got this text . . . "Bike's gone".  There you have it.

Released just yesterday, these are current gasoline prices (in US dollars) per gallon.  Also included are gas prices, for this time of year, since our move to Belgium in 2009.

Release Date: October 2, 2013 

Retail Premium Gasoline Prices, Selected Countries(U.S. dollars per gallon, including taxes)

Date	Belgium	France	Germany	Italy	Netherlands	UK	US
9/30/2013	7.90	7.69	8.12	8.88	8.83	8.17	3.76

10/1/2012

8.24

7.51

8.16

9.00

8.90

8.46

4.09

10/3/2011

7.81

7.45

7.55

7.95

8.15

7.83

3.70

10/4/2010

7.14

6.81

7.04

6.97

7.62

6.94

2.97

10/5/2009

6.95

6.71

7.28

6.86

7.47

6.34

2.71

That's a 5-year average of  $7.61 per gallon for Belgians and an average of $3.45 per gallon for Americans.  Frankly, I don't know how they do it here.

Nearly 7 million vehicles on the road in this tiny country.  No wonder there's often pretty much always a traffic jam! 

Verkeershinder

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

1 of 10

AFP/Getty Images

1. Brussels, Belgium

According to the annual INRIX Traffic Scorecard, drivers in Brussels face the worst traffic jams 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 :)

Forbes article

First Birthday!

Today is Norma Grace's first birthday!

and here are just a few

of my favorite photos

when we got to meet her

for the first time.

Just look at her now!

What a little doll :)

Happy birthday, Norma Grace.

Happy birthday to you!

One score and ten

but it seems like only yesterday.

 

dear Randi

 

We are a very lucky . . .

family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RANDI

Summer Days

My blogging has been hit or miss lately.  Probably because I've been spending a lot less time indoors on the computer.

This is a summer for the record books.  At least in our record book.  This is our fifth summer in Belgium and this one is by far the most wonderful of them all.  I can hardly think of more than one day in recent memory when it rained or was overcast.

The temperatures are cooling off now, but the days are still beautiful, often sunny and raining only once or twice a week.  Our yard looks fabulous and I've planted more flowers than every other year combined!

This is my bike after one of many trips to the garden center.

Most importantly this summer . . . Ross returned from South Korea.  Yay!  We've enjoyed him being home, cooking and eating all his favorites, hearing the piano played beautifully as it should be, and hitting all the local kringwinkels.

Ross and I also made a purchase last week that was quite an investment, but after all, we use it every day. 

As a matter of fact, it's essential not to leave the house without it.

Plus, as Ross noted . . . this incredible acquisition was Made in Italy and Carved in Belgium.  

What would you pay for something so precious?  So stupendous?

If you guessed 22.99 Euros, you would be right.

  

By the way, the current exchange rate on 22.99 euros makes that $30.63.  

That's right . . . we paid 22.99 Euros ($30.63) for this stunning work of art.  We even got to watch the Belgian carve it - which took less than a minute!  Amazing.

That's right.  We paid $30.63 for . . . 

a single key to our front door.  

Now that's a Belgian bargain if I ever saw one.  Even I was stunned.  

And this coming from someone who will pay 50 Euro for a pair of flip flops and think I got a good deal :-\

__________________________________________

All in all, it has been a FANTASTIC summer of gardening, sun-tanning, travelling . . .

 Cancun!

Paris!

Ross's return!

. . . and it's not over yet!

  Cheers!