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September 4, 2004

Fiets and Feets...

A few days ago I promised to fill you in on my wacky move to Rotterdam, a cautionary tale about everything that could, and, in fact, did go wrong in the middle of a move.

I will indeed do this very soon, waxing lyrically and at length. Actually, I waxed lyrically and at length about this very subject not five minutes ago, but the Internet cafe computer (still no air conditioning in here, sigh) JUST ATE MY ENTIRE ENTRY because I was out of credit time (gah!).

So in the meantime, because it was a long post and because I'm still suffering from the remnants of the horrible summer cold that has kept me couchpotatoing on the, um, couch for most of this week, here's a little about what the Dutch do on their bikes...

The Netherlands is the country of the bike, or the "fiets" as it is called here (sounds like feets). Everyone has one. Kids learn to ride practically before they can walk. Here are the top ten things that the Dutch do on their fiets (or is it fietses?)

1. Walk the family dog (no, I am not kidding). Or even walk dogs in the plural. When I say "walk" I mean, of course, that it is only the dog/s who will doing any actual walking.

2. Go supermarket shopping for a week's worth of provisions. Even in driving rain.

3. Chat to friends on cell phone whilst cycling to work/school. Or, in fact, on the way home from the supermarket with a week's worth of provisons on board.

4. Apply makeup whilst cycling to work/school (don't try this at home, everyone!)

5. Take the kiddies for a breath of fresh air around the park (Dutch parents of small kiddies often have a seat on the front AND the back of their bikes). In fact, they take the kids EVERYWHERE on their bikes...including supermarket shopping.

6. A bike is also handy for moving house...just imagine how much stuff you can stuff into your saddle bags, and how many bags you can carry on the handlebars. Not to mention how much stuff can be crammed into those handy kiddie seats on the front and back...

7. Impress your friends by cycling without hands. Actually, scrub that, because all your friends, too, can cycle without hands...

8. Impress foreigners by cycling without hands...

9. Offer 2 friends a ride to wherever it is that you are all going (possibly to supermarket?), because there is plenty of space for one additional person on the front and one person on the back...

10. Cycle to school because there is no direct tram or bus, and your parents haven't got a car, because they haven't got a parking space, and a car is no good in a city if you have nowhere to park it, and getting a parking space involves a long waiting list...

That last one is, I have to admit, a bit autobiographical.

The number #3 tram used to go all the way from our temporary apartment to Teenager #2's new school. It was cancelled the week before we arrived here, which means we can either (a) take a tram for half of the route and walk the rest or (b) just cycle and save time.

And now I'm off to inadvertently terrorize the innocent cyclists by wobbling ineptly down the cycle lanes--am building up stamina ready for supermarket shopping. Can't wait until I can cycle without hands!

More tomorrow from me about Red Tape and Slagroom...(and no, slagroom does not mean a room full of slags)

Bye for now!

xx

Posted by Michelle at 11:41 AM | Comments (1)

Comments

Posted by: Lani at September 5, 2004 8:54 PM