At any given moment while walking down the streets of Amsterdam, there are probably about 10 bicycles flying at you at an alarming rate. At first it’s a little startling to realize that you have to be hyper aware because it’s not only cars and trams going in every direction on streets that look like sidewalks (cobblestones anyone?), but also major bike paths are added to the mix. Pedestrians on foot do NOT have the right of way.

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However, it’s pretty sweet to see every street littered not with trash (it’s a super clean city), but bikes! They are EVERYWHERE. Tied up to anything that can fit a bike lock around it. Piled on top of each other. Spilling out of buildings and into the street. And they all look pretty much exactly the same. Which is probably why 2 million are stolen each year over there.

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I had intended to rent a bike for a day or two, but became a little intimidated since they fly through intersections and crowds and usually manage to not hit anyone. (I did witness a couple of collisions, but they kind of just laughed and kept on their way. I swear, the Dutch are the most easygoing people ever.) If I ever decide to move over there, I’ll man up and kick that city’s ass on two wheels. If they can listen to their iPods, talk on cell phones, and navigate in heels WHILE ON A BIKE, why can’t I?

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 11:27 am and is filed under Nonsense, Photography, iEat, iListen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.