Saturday, November 20, 2010

Amsterdam: I biked in Amsterdam and lived to tell about it . . .

I think the my title says it all. . . . I have been nervous about trying my hand or should I say legs at cycling . . . I found a place near Rembrandtplein the other night to rent my bike and when I checked the weather forcast I noticed that it will be clear for a few more days and then it is expected to rain sometime next week around Wedndesday.  So I decided it was time to conquer my fears. And it's not so much about riding a bike, my fear are well the "other" things . . .

I'm referring to the other bikers, the mopeds, the pedestrians, the cars, the buses and the trams . . . the dutch know how to ride with such ease and can yield, turn, cross the tram rails as a tram is coming without skipping a beat.


One way to feel at ease is to head for Vondelpark and wide open lanes with less obstacles in the way..

Now this is more like it. Wide open roads, joggers, casual bikers . . . And it is such a pretty park and a perfect day to be cruising . . .



You have people exercising . . .

 
You have families with their kids chasing after the ducks . . .



The rental guy was very nice . . . and  I didn't even have to tell him to lower the seat. :) 



13 comments:

  1. I'm glad you were so brave. I bet it was fun and better yet to pat yourself on the shoulders and say "I did it!" yay for you.

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  2. I'm glad you were so brave. I bet it was fun and better yet to pat yourself on the shoulders and say "I did it!" yay for you.

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  3. Yeah - Vondelpark was probably a smart move. We went as a group - one of the Yellow Bike trips and so we had someone guiding us and it made it easier. But riding in the country side on a fietspad is so much fun. You don't realize how many bike paths there are between the cities.

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  4. What a wonderful way to see the city!

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  5. Hi everyone , thanks so much for all of your comments

    It's nice to have two weeks in one place there's no pressure to get everything done at once. I try to remind myself of that philosophy whenever I want to try :)

    Barb, you're right I'm so glad that I did it it had been on my mind whether I could :)

    Marta I thought about doing the group thing but then I thought that I wanted to be able to stop whenever I wanted to but I did get list a bit so maybe that would've been better :)

    Sandra, thanks it was definitely a fun and also a taste of the locals way of things :) I have to admit it was a little scary and seeing that crash the other got me hopping off and on at intersections rather than yielding . . . But I survived in tact

    Thanks everyone

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  6. Hi Marta Thanks so much for your wonderful tips on the markets, I'm going to look up when market day is in Haarlem I have my train tickets but haven't yet decided which day I'll be going maybe if they have a market dy I can go on that day ...I'll check out the other possibilities of towns too and see what will work. I'm almost done with most of my "must sees" and then it's a matter of really chilling . I'll have to make a post office run though since I've bought so much souvenirs I need to lighten my load before I leave for Berlin

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  7. It sounds like you are having a fantastic time. Have you happened to notice how gorgeous the men are in Amsterdam? Maybe I was trippen when I was there... let me know. :)

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  8. Hi Shannon, thanks so much for your comments. Yes, I'm definitely having a fabulous time here... and no you weren't trippin. Your recollection is spot on right. I would have to say that the guys (next to Italians and Spainards of course) are pretty gorgeous here. Tall and gorgeous. :)

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  9. Hi Kathy, your adventure continues! Sounds like everything is going good. I'll agree that there are some good looking guys around the Netherlands!

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  10. Hi Maya thanks so much for your comments...yes the adventures do carry on :) so it's unanimous on the Dutch men, tall gorgeous and very handsome...might bee a theme post in the making :)

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  11. You MUST do a blog post on the men... get some photos please!

    The best looking man I ever saw was a garbage collector in Amsterdam.

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  12. Sounds like a great way to see the sites. Love biking and from what I hear Amsterdam is the pace for that.

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  13. Hi Shannon well I do have Friday and Saturday as lazy kick back days I could lounge away by a cafe and do some investigative rearch for my "the Men of Amsterdam" post :) I'll get on it....

    M, yes Amsterdam is definitely the place to do it :) it does give one a totally different perspective.

    Thanks girls...

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It's me Trekcapri (aka Kathy). Thanks so much for visiting and leaving a comment.