~Just Klomp it~

Fiets

Today I am practicing my bike riding skills. The Dutch are crazy for bikes, learning to ride practically as they learn to walk. The Netherlands roads are very bike friendly, with separated bike lanes and special bike crossings. The narrow streets of Amsterdam are MUCH better suited for a biker than a driver. Rush hour looks like a Critical Mass convention.




The thing that amazes me the most are the women that strap their kids onto the bikes and head off. Probably because I am an unsure rider and a little unsteady, but I can't imagine having even one kid on a bike, let alone three! This photo is a very common sight!

by Bala Nallama

There are these great cargo bikes, which seem to be used very often in Amsterdam for actual cargo,  but also for more kids!

Here is the super fancy "fiets" that I am rocking at the moment. We are probably going to try to sell it and get a cheaper one (every euro counts when you have an unemployed slacker like me at home), but for now it is working. Notice the tulips in the basket. 

I was a regular bike rider in my early days, exploring my neighborhood and the streets around Colleyville, Texas, until the drivers license came along. The muscles one uses for riding are completely withered, so I am working on that. I intend to bike a few miles over to the one windmill in Purmerend and take photos soon, so that is my goal at the moment.

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Next, I will figure out if Atlas will behave himself enough to run along side the bike, but I am not holding my breath on that one. Maybe I will get a cargo bike just for him!
Tot ziens and happy riding!

A few candid snaps from Waterlooplein, Amsterdam. Those are honest-to-goodness wild swans!

This is a bruin cafe which are famous in Amsterdam for their dark interiors, and close, gezellig  atmosphere. It was two level, and I looked out over the bar, where two older gentleman were holding court and opinionating loudly with ales in their hand, while their wives sat on a bench behind them, drinkless, and looking rather bored.

The little shops that are all over Amsterdam remind me so much of those mysterious and intriguing closed shop doors on Main Street at Magic Kingdom. They hint of fascinating objects and hidden back rooms, but the door is always closed, never to slake your curiosity. 

Looking out the bus window onto a pastel sunset and farmland thick with geese. 

Today we visited Artis Zoo, located in the heart of Amsterdam. It is a zoo that was founded in the 1800s, and is full of old and beautiful architecture. The animals looked healthy and were well enriched, many of them actively playing or interacting with toys, and most of the exhibita were biocentric and very nice. There were even young gorillas in a great dayroom. Lots of biodiversity too, including an insectarium and a gorgeous aquarium that i only saw à sliver of. There is lots to see, and I am eager to go back and hopefully, find à job! (If anyone from Artis reads this, I have eight years of dierenverzorger experience with diverse taxa, and a focus on behavioral husbandry and conservation education. Hire me!)

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Ijskating in the Netherlands

I have been a bad blogger lately and have not been posting, a problem I aim to remedy soon. But for now, here is a gorgeous video shot probably a few weeks ago, when the canals were all frozen, and everyone was out on the ice. Is it any wonder why the Dutch are famous for their speed skaters?
All of the towns in the Netherlands are surrounded by these dykes, or canals or whatever they are called because so much of the land is reclaimed from lake or ocean waters. Thus, you could skate from one side of the country to the other on ice without stopping, and there IS a huge and very popular race that does just that. It is 800km! It very rarely happens though, because the weather is rarely cold enough for long enough to make the ice solid for the whole trip. Maybe this year?
Enjoy!

Dutch Winter from Kasper Bak on Vimeo.