Bike Tours Galore

As part of our program we go on a lot of daily field trips. About half of the week is spent in different cities and towns around the Netherlands looking at their bike and public transportation infrastructure. We go on a lot of bike tours, which is a great way to see a lot of things in a limited amount of time. We get the chance to meet planners and city officials from the different places and are always greeted with coffee and a treat-something I could definitely get used to. My favorite field trip thus far has been to Amsterdam. We were given a bike tour of the city and were assigned to explore more specific parts in small groups. We learned about cyclist unions and the advocacy work that they are doing along with Fietsersbond, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving cycling in the city.

Because our days out are so packed with different talks and tours we don’t have a ton of time to go to museums or art galleries. However I made it a priority to go to the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague to see some famous Dutch paintings (The Girl With The Pearl Earring, View of Delft), which was a great experience. We have an upcoming tour of the Corrie Ten Boomhuis museum in Haarlem this weekend and everyone is looking forward to it.

Until next time, doei!