Early Winter Benelux Tour 2012

 

A Wintry Tour of The Netherlands and Belgium sans Luxembourg

26 November – 8 December 2012

Amsterdam (26 November 2012)

The travel bug has bitten again. This time round it makes the victim (that’s yours truly) taking a risk of a different kind.  After last year’s adventures in the land of the Pyramids amid the Arab Spring revolution, we are going to fly some 11,000 km to Europe.

I know either Dutch, nor French nor German, yet I am taking my family single-handedly on a trip, embarking on a journey to the Benelux countries (namely Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), without joining a tour group or tour agency of any sorts, and foremost of all, without much fanfare.

Amsterdam being our first stop, is the largest city, and of course, the capital of the Netherlands. Its principal language is Dutch. The city's status as the capital of the nation is governed by the constitution with a population of 820,256 within city limits, an urban population of 1,209,419 and a metropolitan population of 2,289,762 in year 2010.

Amsterdam's name is indicative of the city's origin: a dam in the river Amstel. Settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age.

As Netherlands' commercial capital and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) study group.

The city is also a cultural capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and 7 of the world's top 500 companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city.

It is also a city of sin. 

Sometimes I wonder how come Amsterdam is thriving economically yet other neighbouring cities in other parts of Europe are falling behind economically.

Now I know the answer.

Other cities such as Rome, Athens, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin, and Warsaw etc. are slowly wallowing in economic depression while Amsterdam is still bustling with economic activities.

There are hordes of tourists in Amsterdam even in the cold winter months. The one bringing in the tourists and reeling in the money are the red light district, the sex trade and the coffeeshops, the poison ivies. Everyone pay taxes, including the prostitutes, and the coffee shop owners.

For the addicts, there are HEMP, the marijuana, the coffee shops, the addiction, the fun, alcohol and clubbing.  Partying till the wee hours are the norm even during weekday nights.

The area around the DAM Square is so happening that some of the eateries and pubs and clubs stayed opened until 3am in the freezing morning when the shops and mall closes at 6pm, 7pm tops.  The pubs and 'coffee-shops' around DAM Square are something like Boat Quay or Clarke Quay.

When I asked for the opening hours during a late night chicken-drumsticks shopping-for-supper adventure, the answer from the shop owner really surprises me.  There are stalls that stay open around that area near Oude Kwerk and Nam Kee Chinatown till 3am!

The surrounding lodgings, inns and budget hotels are booming as well.  Everyone and every business are thriving in Amsterdam. All thanks to the tourist dollars.

Recently the newspaper reported the car-maker OPEL is going under as Germany’s economy falters.  For the whole of Europe it seems as if its economy is falling into ruins with the growing crises in Greece, Italy and Spain due to mounting economic debts.

Vice trade does pay.  This is especially true for Amsterdam. 

In Belgium, even the churches need to open up for tourists. All the churches in Bruges are still in operation during weekends. They are church services on Friday, Saturdays and Sundays.  During the weekdays they are open to the public and tourists alike

Most of the cathedrals and churches in Bruges, Gent, and Leiden do not pose entry charges for visitors.

Den Haag (29 November 2012)

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands with a population of 500,000 inhabitants in 2011.

With more than one million inhabitants including the suburbs, it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam.  Curiously, is the fourth largest city is Maastricht or Brenda?

Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation.

The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government and parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands which constitutionally is Amsterdam.

But when we visited on 29 November 2012 it seems like a small quiet town with some modern office looking buildings near the Centraal Station.

A 20-minute walk to the historic centre cuts through the shopping street and the KOPITIAM of Netherlands called La Place food court is found there in HEMA.  Actually it is like Marche…which happens to mean The Market in French.

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands lives at Huis ten Bosch (home) and works at Noordeinde Palace (office) in The Hague.  We explored the latter’s garden as it is opened to the public. We saw a couple of folks walking their dogs in the desolate “Istana” grounds and managed to chat a little with the Security at the Guardhouse– a lone police officer and a young lady at such.  She looks no more than 20 and yet has to guard such vast garden grounds despite being a little a run-down for an office of the monarchy.

Most foreign embassies in the Netherlands and 150 international organisations are located in the city, including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.  Again woefully and regretfully we didn’t get to visit as the post-card shop owner graciously pointed out it’s a good 40 minutes’ walk, at least. If not, the tram is available for us to make the visit in rain.  The problem is we don’t know where or how to take the tram and do not have any inking how to get the tickets or which stop to alight.

On hindsight perhaps we should make it a 2-day stop-over at Den Haag in the future. Same goes for other big cities such as Rotterdam and Antwerp.

Zaanse Schans (30 November 2012)

Zaanse Schans is a neighbourhood of Zaandam, near Zaandijk in the municipality of Zaanstad in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.

Zaanse Schans is also the de-facto standard destination  in Chan Brothers, SA Tours, ASA and CTC’s itineraries package.  All the tour groups will, must, have and need to have a stop there. Surprisingly we didn’t see any such tour group…perhaps we were at the wrong side of the village.

Or perhaps all of them were at the Zaans Museum, established in 1994, which we didn’t get to see – a real pity.  Oh yes, we saw a China Tour Group…all shopping for diamonds and jewellery

It has a collection of well-preserved historic windmills and houses from all over the Zaanstreek were moved to the museum area in the 1970s. The windmills were built after 1574.

The Zaanse Schans is an anchor point of ERIH, the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The neighbourhood attracts approximately 900,000 visitors every year.

Regretfully we couldn’t get up closed to the windmills as the rain pelted heavily and incessantly with brief stops of around ½ hour.  We couldn’t even get near them as it requires big rounds around the road of distance of at least 2 to 3 km or perhaps even more.  Smart people cycled and we saw plenty of cyclists peddling furiously and getting up close to the windmills, whilst we can only envied from a distance and tried to head back to the Train Station as the weather turned really dreary.

Haarlem (1 December 2012)

We arrived in Haarlem on a Saturday. It is a city and municipality and the capital of the province of North Holland. At one point in time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic.

By the end of 2011 Haarlem had a total population of more than 151,000.  This is the place where we joined the Children’s Party with Sinter Klaas and Black Peter.  This pre-Christmas-children-favourite holiday is not a gazetted public holiday but children young and old celebrated this arousing day throughout The Netherlands (5 Dec) and Belgium (6 Dec). 

The shops and especially toy stores opened up till late around 9pm on the eves of these 2 days.  Usually during winter months, the retail shops closed around 6 or 7pm.

Haarlem is located on the river Spaarne at no more than 20 kilometres from Amsterdam and a train ride of 15 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal Station.

Haarlem, in the 16th and 17th centuries, became known as a mecca for Dutch painting. Frans Hals, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Adriaen van Ostade were all located here. Haarlem was voted best shopping city and offers wonderful mix of large chain stores, shops, boutiques and art galleries.

For those who are wondering: yes, the famous New York City neighbourhood of Harlem is named after this once powerful Dutch city.

Haarlem is the centre of a flower-growing district and a major export point for flower bulbs. According to statistics some 750,000 people visiting the city each year.

With about 150,000 inhabitants, Haarlem is 13th on the list of largest cities in the Netherlands but when it comes to tourism, it's the 4th most visited city.

Some guide books stated that the town is fairly quiet in off season and its growing popularity does come with ample opportunities to eat and sleep.

Actually it is not true as we were in town during 1 Dec 2012, a Saturday, when we witnessed hordes of people from neighbouring towns to participate in the Sinter Klaas and children loved dressing-up as Black Pieter.  We have seen it with our very own eyes – this Black Pete is everywhere.

The first record of the name 'Haarlem' dated back from the 10th century. Located on a busy north-south cross-sectioned route, the city became the seat of the Count of Holland. In 1245 the city was granted rights by Count William II of Holland.

Due to the heroic acts of knights from Haarlem during the Fifth Crusade and their valuable contributions to the siege of Damiate in 1217, Haarlem was granted permission to showcase a cross and a sword in the city's coat of arms.

Rotterdam (2 December 2012)

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands.  Starting as a dam constructed in 1270 on the Rotte River, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre.

The port of Rotterdam was the world's busiest port from 1962 to 2004 till it was surpassed by Shanghai.

In fact, Rotterdam's commercial and strategic importance is based on its location near the mouth of the Nieuwe Maas (New Meuse), a channel in the delta formed by the Rhine and Meuse on the North Sea.

Again it’s a pity as we only managed to catch a glimpse of the whole city at night. We did not see much of its magnificent port because it was as dark as 10 pm in Singapore when it was only 7pm local time.

We should have been up at Euromast early in morning as it opens at 10am-10pm.  Then perhaps we will have a bird's eye view of the city.

Regretfully, we did not have a clear view of the whole city skyline. The plans were thwarted because we are supposed to buy the boat ticket to Kinderdijk on Ronald’s boat and they didn’t turn up amid the hail and sleet and rain!

It is indeed a cosmopolitan city and with few cyclists compared to Amsterdam and far more joggers!  The people there are really health-conscious…we see people jogging all time of the day from morning till night and in most parts of the city.

 

Kinderdijk (2 December 2012)

Kinderdijk is one of the highlights of this Benelux tour and one of the out-of-city destinations in this short trip of ours.

We took the GVB newly started service called WATER BUS from Rotterdam to a small town called Alblasserdam.  It costs 6 Euros for adults and child costs lesser.

This is the alternative after we were left astray by Mr Ronald van Vliet - from the Rebus Sailing Events – Partyship “Nehalennia”.  This Partyship Winter Season trip was booked and confirmed in advanced in Singapore via email since Sep 2012. Yet they didn't turn on up on this fatefully cold day. 

This owner-of-the-ship, Ronald, wrote an email to inform his customers to cancel on 30 November, a Friday, when we planned it for 2 Dec 2012, a Sunday.  The problem is - I do not have access to emails as the Tulip Inn in Amsterdam Centre does not provide free WI-FI access.  How am I able to read his email in time?

However, we decided Kinderdijk is a must go!  Once in a life-time experience!  Whatever it takes, we have find out way there!

It is the one of the remaining main highlights of our Benelux Tour since two TOP attractions of Holland are closed during winter months. Keukenhof is off-season till April and the famous Rijksmuseum is closed for renovations till end 2013.

The name Kinderdijk is Dutch for "Children Dike". In 1421 during the Saint Elizabeth flood of 1421, the Grote Hollandse Waard flooded, but the Alblasserwaard polder stayed unflooded.

It is situated in a polder at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers. To drain the polder, a system of 19 windmills was built around 1740.

This group of mills is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands. The windmills of Kinderdijk are one of the best known Dutch tourist sites. They have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. For the record, there used to be over 10,000 mills all over Hollland. In modern times the numbers have been reducted to less than a 1000.

The is a story that goes with this place.  There was a terrible storm and when it subsided, someone went on to the dike between these two areas, to see what could be saved. In the distance, he saw a wooden cradle floating on the waters. As it came nearer, a cat was seen in the cradle trying to keep it in balance by jumping back and forth so that no water could get into it. As the cradle eventually came close enough to the dike for a bystander to pick up the cradle, he saw that a baby was quietly sleeping inside it, nice and dry. The cat had kept the cradle balanced and afloat. This folktale and legend has been published as "The Cat and the Cradle" in English.

In Alblasserwaard, large canals, called "weteringen", were dug to get rid of the excess water in the polders.

However, the drained soil started setting, while the level of the river rose due to the river's sand deposits. After a few centuries, a new method has to be devised to keep the polders dry was required.

It was decided to build a series of windmills to bridge water level differences. It has to be able to pump water into a reservoir at an intermediate level between the soil in the polder and the river; the reservoir could be pumped out into the river by other windmills whenever the river level was low enough; the river level has both seasonal and tidal variations. Although some of the windmills are still used, the main water works are provided by two diesel pumping stations near one of the entrances of the windmills site. Unfortunately, this we did not get to see as the journey is too cold and the area too vast to explore before it gets totally dark by 5pm.

  

Brussels (3 December 2012)

Brussels (French: Bruxelles; Dutch: Brussel) is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union (EU).

It is also the largest urban area in Belgium comprising 19 municipalities in addition to the seat of the French Community of Belgium and of the Flemish Community.

Flanders or Flemish refers to the area, people, culture and language pertaining to the Dutch ethnicity within Belgium.

Brussels has grown from a 10th-century fortress town founded by a descendant of Charlemagne to more than one million inhabitants.

The city has a population of 1.1 million with the metropolitan area has a population of over 1.8 million, both making it the largest in Belgium. 

Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a main centre for international politics.

Hosting European Commission and European Parliament as well as the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the city has become the polyglot home of numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants.

This city on 1^st impression looks okay.  However as time goes by you will know it is extremely crowded, dirty with plenty of migrants.

The roads filled with chewing gums.  Graffiti covered the walls of buildings and can be found even on metros and subways. Some called it art – as there are comic strips painted on buildings.  However black darken soot covered most places and buildings.  You can see people smoking everywhere, in cafes, alone pavements, everywhere in Europe

It is very crowded during peak hours in the subway and metro stations. Trains are filled with people and packed like sardines.  This is not unlike Singapore.  Worst still in winter months, everyone wears layers of clothing with thick winter jackets and were made to squeeze together with layers of clothings!

In addition, it is stated in the guides, the Brussels Zuid and North Train stations are not safe to shop at night. But perhaps we didn’t explore enough?  Perhaps there are safer place to walk around at night?  Too late  to find out now as we are already back in Singapore.

Overall, Brussels is pretty boring if you asked me.  The world renowed Manneken Pis is pathetically small in size yet attracts crowds from all over the world.  To me, that is strangest of all strange things.  The Atomium is almost half a century old and tickets are not cheap. Mini-Europe is deserted during winter months and during week-days and is one the verge of closing down.

Based on first impressions, it is an expensive, unsafe and dirty city.  Brussels has been degraded to hordes of police cars and ambulances screaming the night away ever so often perhaps due to terrorist scares.

During the nights and perhaps even during daytime, I suspect, even without European Commission or Parliament sittings or meetings, it is still bustling with diplomats, tourists and plenty of economic migrants from turkey, from Baltic States, eastern bloc etc.

Bruspack, Atomium and Mini-Europe (4 December 2012)

Today we arrived at Bruspack, a large recreational area that includes many attractions including the very popular Mini-Europe; Oceade Water Park, Kinepolis 24 screen cinema, and 'the Village' for food and drinks and children playground.  However the area looks desert except for a bus-load of nursery kids led by their teachers perhaps for a day excursion. There was only a tickle of tourists, perhaps it was too cold or perhaps it was a week-day and a working day as such.

Specifcally, our main destination is the famous Atomium. The rest such as the Planetarium, and close by is the Park De Laeken, are not really worth visiting at this time as it is too cold.

Atomium is located at Metro: line 6 / Heysel station in which Clyde has first-hand knowledge of and is very interested in.

The Atomium was originally built for Expo in 1958 for Brussels World's Exposition or World Fair. Designed by André Waterkeyn it stands 102 meters (335 ft.) tall, each spheres is 18 meters in diameter. Originally planned to stand for six months, it stands still today, as one of the Brussels' most stunning attractions.

Mini Europe

In Bruspack itself is miniature park Mini-Europe, built on an area of 24,000 m². The initial investment was of €10 million in 1989, on its inauguration by Prince Philip of Belgium.  A pity it is closing to close soon

The monuments were chosen for the quality of their architecture or their European symbolism. Most of the monuments are made using mould casts. The parts are made from various materials and then copied using silicone moulding.

It showcased some of the most beautiful cities of Europe. There are also Big Ben, gondolas and mandolins, Kinderdijk, Eiffel Tower, medieval villages, all in model scale. There are even model-scaled trains such as ICE, TGV and Thayls.

With its 350 or so miniature models and sites, all the monuments have been recreated down to the smallest detail. Big Ben is 4m high, the Eiffel tower is 13m.

All the buildings are on a scale of 1 to 25.  You can make some of the models work yourself: the eruption of Vesuvius, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the bullfight in Seville, etc.  There is also an interactive course on the history of the EU called "Spirit of Europe". Clyde was simply facinated with the Sprinter, Thalys and ICE model trains which went on their rounds with the press of a button.

Brugge (5 December 2012)

Bruges (Dutch: Brugge, French: Bruges) is the capital and largest city of province West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium.

Bruges' historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is oval-shaped and about 430 hectares in size. The city centre area is about 13,000 hectares, including 1,075 hectares off the coast, at Zeebrugge (meaning "Brugge aan Zee" or "Bruges on Sea").

The city's total population is about 117,000 of which 20,000 live in the historic centre. The metropolitan area and outer commuter zone, covers an area of 616 km² and has a total of 255,000 inhabitants as of 2008.

We didn't realised the city was almost as big as Singapore but actually all the people lived in landed areas and looked very spacious to us as we wandered into their private courtyards or back gardens inadvertently.

We tried taking their buses and it is as crowded as in Singapore. The downside is without their Day Pass the bus ticket costs 3 Euros just for a 15 minutes trip to the bus interchange.  But the upside is it is free for children, hence Clyde need not pay for his bus ride from Town Square to the train station.

Often compared to Venice for its canals, Bruges also has a Florentine touch, evident in its Renaissance flamboyance thanks to a prosperous period in the 16th century.

The Count of Flanders, one of the richest noblemen in the West, was based here in Bruges, and the town was a hub of commerce, with merchants from 34 different countries regularly trading here.

Like Venice, Bruges was famous for its high quality lace but we didn't knew about it at all as  there were no tour guides to brief us and neither did we see any shops selling laces here.

Bruges received its city charter in 1128 and new walls and canals were built. Since about 1050, gradual silting had caused the city to lose its direct access to the sea.

A storm in 1134, however, re-established this access, through the creation of a natural channel at the Zwin. The new sea arm stretched all the way to Damme, a city that became the commercial outpost for Bruges. Again we didn't have the time nor the strength nor the energy(warmth) to explore this region. Perhaps next time!

Antwerpen (6 December 2012)

Antwerp (Dutch: Antwerpen; French: Anvers) is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp province of Flanders.

Antwerp's total population is about 507,000 (2011) making it the largest municipality in both Flanders and Belgium in terms of its population.

Its total area is 204 km square, giving a population density of 2,300 inhabitants per km².

The inhabitants of Antwerp are locally nicknamed Sinjoren, after the Spanish honorific señor. It refers to the leading Spanish noblemen who ruled the city during the 17th century.

Antwerp is also known for its diamonds, fashion and Flemish artists such as Rubens and van Dyck.

It is one of the most happening city based on my understanding of the tourist guide books and knowledged gleemed from the 1-day tour of Antwerp city.  The Centraal Station is enchanting and they take the effort to spruce it up like a palace.

Herein lies the most value for money hotel - IBIS.  Its rooms are cheap at 70 Euros per night.

Furthermore it is only about 20 or 30 metres away from Antwerp Centraal Station. Right at the door-step!  Compared to Brussels Euro Capital Hotel, we have to heave heavy lugguages 500 metres across tram tracks and roads before reaching the hotel from the Brussels Zuid station.

The shopping is fantastic – with Meir the renowned Orchard Road look alike – and usually 2^nd largest cities are by far better than Brussels – the so called capital of Belgium.

There are many activities to do and places to explore which we have not done so.  We simply do not have enough time as we only made a day trip there on 6 Dec 2012.

It is a great pity!  But we will be back!

Antwerp is a big city and a big port / harbour with historical castle (Het Steen) and sewerage and fortifications and cathedrals and steep in history --- yes we will be back!

  

Rain - Hail - Sleet - Snow - Frost and Ice

I have come to appreciate the rain in Singapore.

Torrential. Heavy.  Splintering. Spluttering. Monsoon. Whatever.

It is still 10 times better than the rain in Europe.

The weather in Europe during winter months are described as harsh, cold and grim.

In Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag, Haarlem, it rains every day during Nov and Dec months.

Drizzle can kill. Rain can kill. The temperature dropped to freezing with every raindrop.  With rain and wind come the biting cold and the bitter frost.

We touched down at Schiphol on 27 Dec 2012.  The moment we touched down we can feel the strong cold draft in the airport and train station.  We now know it is coldest during the few days before it starts snowing.  The rain comes first and the wind gets colder and colder before finally it snowed on 3 Dec 2012.

The winds are horrendous.  They blew the umbrellas away.  They turned the umbrellas inside out. You have to hold the umbrellas really tight or else you might get blown away yourself.  This is indeed a life experience which I will never forget.  

The cold is simply extraordinary. This is the first time ever, since we visited Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang Ancient Village in China, where I experienced such icy condition. The weather at that time was rain coupled snow and it was supposedly to be extremely chilling when the temperature plunges to zero overnight.  The cold cuts through the bone. That was sometime during December 2010. 

This year December, some 10,000 kilometres away from Singapore - in Holland to be precise - the surrounding cold air makes my eyes tear. ‘Smarting’ is usually used to describe one’s eye condition due to excess smoke.  This word is seldom used to describe discomfort to one’s eyes due to extreme cold. This is an exception. This unbearable Arctic-like temperature really makes one eyes smart.  How I wished someone has invented a sort of dark glasses to protect the eyes from the freezing weather.

It sounds like as though we have reached the Antarctica.  I am not joking.  With eyes smarting, sinus fluid starts to drip simultaneously  from my nostrils. It is not mucus. It is pure liquid and it started flowing like water. The feeling is terrible.  It is worse than frost bite.  It is pure torture to stay outdoors for more than 30 minutes.

In Rotterdam one Sunday (2 Dec 2012) it was sunny one moment (~20 mins) and the next it rained (~25 mins). The temperature plunges drastically. It becomes very cold.  Worse still, suddenly it rained hard ice.  Actually it was hail, accordingly to the hotel reception at Amsterdam. Sleet is worse than pure snow.

In the Eskimos' vocabulary, it is stated there are a hundred and one words to describe snow.  In ours, the word 'angst' is enough to describe the snow.  In my mind, snow is better than the rain.  The 'pre-snow' days was more torturous.  It is extremely freezing and much colder than when first snow started to fall in 3rd December 2012.

Though my vocabulary for the rain and snow are limited to chilling, frozen, frost, freezing, I will remember the bitter cold for a long time to come.

It all depends on the temperatures of the different layers of air. Snow forms when the temperature is cold enough that water droplets crystallize as soon as they form and the water stays frozen as it falls.

Hail is formed when rain is blown by updrafts to higher, colder levels of the atmosphere where it freezes, then falls.

Typically this process happens several times, especially in more powerful thunderstorms with stronger updrafts. Storms such as these produce hail with larger diameters.

Bicycles in Amsterdam

In Amsterdam you can see bicycles everywhere.  They are omnipresent.  The cyclists, on the other hand, displayed great self-control. You can feel the bicycles everywhere engulfing you.  It feels exciting and exhilarating. It is simply amazing to see so many cyclists on narrow lanes, on the roads, everywhere!

In the days when we are in Netherlands we have never seen a collision between a bicycle and pedestrians or between bicycles and other vehicles. There are other types of vehicles on the roads as well. 

Everyone exists in well-strung harmony. Everyone's in a hurry. The bikes in Amsterdam are really fast and big, and the riders, well, aggressive if you asked me.  Such narrow lanes, and so many tourists yet they never let down on their speed.

For bicycles, there are masses of them. Each bicycle poses a risk for tourists.  How the riders sped on. You’ve got to keep a lookout for them.  To me it is really a miracle that the speeding bicycles did not knock down anyone or any tourists. At least not in the 6 days whilst I was in Amsterdam.  I didn't get to see any, that is.

Surprisingly there are not so many bicycles in Rotterdam or Den Haag or the other cities.  Though the number of bicycles paled in numbers, they are plenty of roads and pathways constructed specially for bikes and motor bikes usage in Rotterdam and Den Haag.

It was a really fun and memorable experience in the kingdom of bicycles - Amsterdam.