Although I’ve recapped the activities of my 5-day trip to Amsterdam…
posts here:
Travel day and hotel
Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, and Keukenhof Gardens
Canal Cruise, Museum of the Canals, and the Old Jewish Quarter
Anne Frank House, Amsterdam City Museum, and Oude Kerk
Day trip to Rotterdam
…I would be remiss to conclude a recap of my trip without mentioning the incredible bike culture in Amsterdam. Yeah, yeah, it’s legendary, but I still couldn’t help being amazing when basically every.single.road had a protected bike lane along it. Not only were there bike lanes, but also bike traffic signals, bike parking garages, and bike culture was clearly strong enough to be considered a primary means of transportation for more than just the most committed segments of the population.
Wow – this sure would be a fun city to bike in! Before the trip, Noah and I had thought that we would definitely rent bikes one day and do some sort of bike trip or tour. Unfortunately, when the weather was very different than we anticipated (ie, rainy and cold instead of sunny and warm) biking no longer seemed like the best activity for the day. Still, we loved seeing so many bike paths and bikers. It reminded me a little of my beloved Minneapolis (admittedly, this may be the first city I’ve seen to really rival – and dare I say, succeed – Mpls’ bike path system).
Oddly enough though, with all these bikes, I didn’t see one helmet. Hmmm…
[source]
One other noticeable difference between the Amsterdam streets and others I’m familiar with was the abundance of electric vehicles. Even the taxis were electric – we got from the airport to the hotel in a Tesla Model S!
There were charging stations for electric vehicles along almost every street. Here’s a picture of a charging station near one of the canals by our hotel:
And a nearby charging station with a Tesla plugged in:
Yes, Amsterdam certainly seems to be a good city for the eco-conscious!
