We left our B&B early this morning to get in line for the Rijksmuseum opening and experienced the most eye-opening walk we've ever had. I've mentioned the cyclists... So try them in rush hour. The deal is, we always cross at a cross walk with lights. Even then we are head-spinning our way across. But we still aren't entirely used to the idea that once you've made it through a stream of cars and two-way trams with the little green person blinking to warn you that he's about to turn red and all H is going to break loose, its not over! So you get to the curb and relax a bit, forgetting that a far greater danger is coming in hordes down the sidewalk! Oh right, that part of the sidewalk is a bike lane!!! We both have longer sleeves or shirts or anything else hanging out since the other one grabs whatever is handy to either yank forward or back. We only had two near-misses today....
You think I'm exaggerating. We have been warned about Amsterdam and bikes since we arrived in Europe, Amsterdam has an estimated 600,000 bikes, we know the cyclists rule the city, and we've witnessed two accidents and two horn-honking, shouting matches and we've only been here two days.
We also know why you never see old people here. You have to be able to move fast to survive. Keep your fingers crossed. We have two more days to survive....
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