day off

One of the things I like about Belgium is its tendency to put public holidays in the middle of the week, rather than always on a Monday as in the UK.

Yes, this makes it a little more awkward to take a long weekend, but is that really fun anyway when everyone else in the UK has also decided to thus making thr roads and public transport uncomfortably busy.

The Belgium way, you get to have an unexpected mid-week break from work, meet friends for a perusal of the Jeu de Balle flea market, get lebanese lunch at a cafe in the sun, wander back downtown with your friends past all the antique shops to meet your boyfriend in the Grand Place, find another sunny cafe terrace to leisurely drink belgian beers, go home and bake blackberry-buttermilk cake, go out for dinner at a creperie, and then spend the evening watching Gladiator (hiding at all the too-gruesome bits) and eating posh chocolates left over from the birthday party on Saturday…

Doesn’t that sound so much better than fighting the crowds for a weekend of DIY or busy tourist attractions and beaches?!