amsterdam 2 the dutch love their bicycles. there are a whole lot of people in amsterdam. and most of them are going somewhere at any given time. by bike, boat, bus, car, foot, train, tram, truck, and more. i thought about spinning some yarn about how we ice skated on the frozen canals to get places. cause it was pretty frikken cold. being 52 degrees north does that. even on the summer solstice. but still. it was cold. i wanted my warm hat. and gloves. anywho. bicycles have their own lanes. and seem to have right of way over pedestrians. which have right of way over motor vehicles. not sure about cars and trams. was a little busy trying not to die. the granny style sturdy dutch bike is preferred over all other styles of bikes. i saw a few high tech jobs. but 99.44% were the rusted tank style. we rented bikes one day. that was fun. i couldn't steer the first one. coaster brakes. seriously? gads. lotta dutch text and bike. some text with both hands. it seems to work for them. i saw one collision. everyone seemed really really surprised. the gentleman turned out to be as sturdy as his bike. which was good. many bikes carry multiple passengers. little kids sit on handlebars. gramma sits side saddle on the rack in back. which older kids stand on. i saw one toddler riding on dad's hip. okay. i'm seeing the value of coaster brakes. sometimes bikes are modified for passengers. saw some with an enormous cow catcher wheelbarrow thing in front. in which several children could have played tag or had a piano lesson. i got yelled at a couple times because i'm sure i did something stupid. no idea what. but for the most part it was organized chaos. the general rules seemed to be 1) you're responsible for yourself, 2) don't kill anyone, and 3) traffic rules are only in play when there are multiple parties. so they can be ignored. provided you abide by 1) and 2). which pretty much makes amsterdam my kinda of place. except for the cold.  ¶ 8:00 AM