Having been born and raised in The Netherlands and actually working in Amsterdam North for six weeks during the seventies, I never really knew what the center of Amsterdam was like.
Well, the first week of my recent trip, I stayed with my oldest nephew who lives in Amsterdam. While there I got the chance to bike along the canals (grachten ) regularly . I must say that I ' fell in love ' with the city, it's rich cultural history, beautiful buildings, museums, but also with how people move about it on a daily basis. There are literally thousands and thousands of bikes and bikers. Fathers and mothers biking with their small children, one on the front and the other on the back seat; something I hadn't seen since I was a young boy. There were so many bikers, it was like an ants nest. While they were biking many were on their phones or texting. Amazingly, I didn't see one accident or hear any yelling or swearing at others! Either they are extremely polite or they just know how to bike in Holland especially in Amsterdam!
Take a look at the pictures!
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| This was the bike I was using. A super sturdy Dutch bike with a basket in the front |
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| Standing in front of the house of former Dutch prime minister, theologian, founder of the Free University, author and publisher Dr. Abraham Kuyper.....But then I discovered that I was standing in front of the wrong house. His house was # 173 and I was standing in front of # 137. Anyways.....! |
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| There are thousands of ' left behind ' bikes, like this one. Once a year the city of Amsterdam does a major bicycle ' clean-up ' . |
