Amsterdam!

I've made it to Delft! But first I'll update everyone on my one day visit of Amsterdam and the trip there.

I took off from the airport on Wednesday morning at 8:35am from Portland to fly to Amsterdam through Philadelphia. The flights went pretty well, though I think flying is one of the greatest things in the world (don't mistake this with using an airline, I mean the physical act of flying). I landed in Amsterdam on Thursday at 8:40am and began my "out-of-country" experience.

On the second leg of the trip from Philly to Amsterdam, I sat next to a gentleman that writes for Bicycle magazine who was on his way to attend a celebrity bike ride around the area (which his magazine was paying for). He was quite surprised that a student from Portland State University would be attending a class in Delft to learn about bicycle infrastructure. The gentleman figured that since Portland is already a bicycle friendly city and ahead of the curve when it compares to other U.S. cities, that it was odd that they'd send me somewhere to learn more. Once the flight had landed I asked him if there was anything I should be sure to do while in the Netherlands and his response was "Lose the tie and jacket, rent a bike, and then ride around." He said that I would enjoy the experience so much that I would not be able to stay away from this place in the future.

After alighting the plane, I made my way through the gates and looked for baggage claim. I coordinated with some friends arriving through a different flight (at about the same time no less) to meet up before heading out into the city. Once we hooked up (by the luck of me seeing someone that looked like they were from New Jersey), we began to figure out where to go and by what means to get there. After some aimless wandering trying to understand the transit system, we asked for assistance at the transit ticket counter. On our whole adventure, it was a big help that everyone we asked for help was very nice, helpful, and knew English. We bought our tickets from the counter and ended up boarding the train to Amsterdam Central. I expected the train ride to be a little noisy, to hear wheel squeak or feel the track bump on the trip like a light rail vehicle, but it was as smooth, comfortable as it could be, and quite quick to reach our destination.

Amsterdam Central Station

 The group got off the train at the Amsterdam Central station. It was amazing to see the architecture of the buildings in the area, several of which looked like they dated from Medieval times. From the station we could also see the Amsterdam Bike Ramp which holds around 7000 bikes. I wish I had gotten a better picture of it to show it off but was too busy keeping up with everyone. Hopefully on the way back through.

The Amsterdam Bike Ramp at Central Station is behind the tree, but you can see the line of parked bikes moving into the distance.

From Amsterdam Central, we took a streetcar to the hotel. It took a while to figure out which streetcar we needed since there is such a huge network, and we again had to ask for help. Although the ride was similar to a Portland streetcar (rough and jerky), the streetcars in Amsterdam move very quickly, nothing like the ones I'm use to. The streetcar (and others we seen) was also full of people commuting to where they needed.

After arranging our hotel rooms and dropping off our luggage, the group sought out food and then took a canal tour. Through the canal tour, I was able to see many wonderful buildings and landmarks, including the house of Anne Frank. I also was able to start getting an idea of the city's layout while also becoming intrigued at the amount of bike traffic. Sure there were people in automobiles (lots of Mercedes, BMWs, Audis, and Volkswagens), but the number of people on bikes was just absolutely astounding. There were bikes EVERYWHERE, being ridden, parked along the canals, falling into the canals, being walked. I don't think it's possible to throw a stone without hitting a bike (who wants to accept that challenge?). They weren't exaggerating saying that 40% of all trips are made by bike in this area.

Bikes parked along the canal in Amsterdam. Cars also parallel park along the canal edge, which would be a little unnerving for me.

The attitudes of people traveling around Amsterdam was also something I couldn't believe. On most major streets, there was a lane for cars, a cycle track, and a sidewalk. Where this wasn't the case and lanes were shared, everyone moved around with a strange sense of ease. One person in the group referred to it as looking like "controlled chaos". I didn't see hardly anyone have trouble or get impatient navigating the crowds. If a bike was coming up on someone slower and wanted to pass, they rang their bell and the person would move over to let them go, bikes rode down what seemed like alleys filled with people without anyone getting upset about letting them pass, and cars yielded to bikes in many cases without issue. Throughout the day, I don't think I became tired of seeing the traffic navigate the brick roads of the city.

I'll try to get another update in soon about the bus ride to Delft, my day in orientation for class, as well as some work on the two assignments I should be doing.