Well, it appears that we've been hit with a wave of SUMMER. There are a few wisps of white, but other than that, clear blue skies and glorious sunshine all day long. I swear, I'm solar powered. When the sun is out, my energy peaks!
Anyway, I was feeling a bit restless studying all day, so I decided to take a little trip into the center of Utrecht (as it is called in Dutch, Centrum) to hand in the last form for my residency application. I took the scenic route along the canal and enjoyed the warm breeze as a tootled along. I usually bike with purpose because I have places to be and things to do, but today, I just enjoyed the sights, smells and sunshine!
On the way back, I made a wrong turn near central station and ended up at the entrance to the monitored bike racks. It never ceases to amaze me how many bikes are in this teeny little country.
This goes on for rows and rows and rows
While I'm talking about bikes, I feel this is an appropriate time to share my forever scarring bike experience in Amsterdam. Sander and I were on our way back from our appointment at the Immigration Office and had to pass through a busy part of Amsterdam. Let me sum it up for you: there are cars, buses, trams, bikes and tourists everywhere! Each mode of transportation has it's designated area to drive in-- a concept tourists have a really hard time understanding as you're almost always ringing your bell at someone who is walking on the bike path. Basically, it's annoying and for an non-native Dutchie like myself, quite stressful. There are too many things to be aware of all at once. In these situations, I usually like to follow Sander because I get overwhelmed. However, it so happened that we were waiting at a light to turn left and I was in front. I was kind of nervous as it was super busy but I figured it would be okay. I was the first person and the lane was clearly marked on the road. There was no way I could end up going the wrong direction. Well, guess again. As I was crossing the intersection (which has bike lanes, traffic lanes, and tram tracks) I got a bit spooked by the big van next to me. I was 100% focused on what was happening around me that I forgot we were crossing the tram tracks at a shallow angle and BOOM-- my tire gets stuck in the rut of the tracks! I fell off my bike, and instinct kicked in. By some miracle, I managed to stay on my two feet, albeit some flailing, run my bike to the corner of the intersection and hop back on like nothing happened.
It was terrifying at the time, but now it'll always be the funny story of Sander and I biking in Amsterdam. Never ever will I forget about tram tracks!
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