CLEARLY I DID NOT GET THE MEMO

Maybe it was just me - but I had such a bugger of a time trying to figure out where the devil to walk in The Netherlands.  

It looks pretty and it looks organized, but remember - the bikes have the right of way - whether they are in the bike lanes, the car lanes, on the sidewalk, etc.   So those thin little sidewalks or whatever they are - have to be shared by everyone and every vehicle.  I'm so amazed that I didn't fall into a canal.  Not even once.



Looks like a lot of other people didn't quite know whether they should just wade through the bikes...

 

 I know it's a "walkable city" but where in the hell does one walk?  And try following a map, or google maps.  They follow the streets - but what is a "street" there?  And the streets aren't often labelled - its the canals that are named and followed.  Oh well - that doesn't matter anyways, because its all in a different and complicated language so who cares?

So here's the worst part - the cars just seem to be abandoned on the sidewalks, or drivers are driving on what I think are supposed to be sidewalks....

So just when you think you are walking along okay - then some weird truck comes up behind you on the sidewalk.  The mailtruck things also drive on the sidewalk.   And actually the little (electric cars?) drive on the sidewalks too  - but the thing about them is that they are silent, so you have no idea there's a car behind you.

 

Now this pic would make sense if this was a one way street.  It wasn't.  We stopped for a rest and every car and truck that went by made up their own rules as to which way to go.  Sometimes they stopped in the middle and "negotiated".  Maybe to the right is a bike lane.  I have no idea.

Now this is a one way street, but it doesn't seem to work well.

 

I don't know if this is a one way street or not.  I suspect its actually a bicycle lane.

When there is a lot of room on a road, then its really dangerous, because that means there's also trains, trams, and buses flying by.  This street looked spacious and organized, but like I heard someone say "you could die five times crossing this street"

So okay - as you are dodging cars, bikes, and whatever on the sidewalk - be careful you don't fall down a hole.  Every door way (which is about every ten steps) has a big hole you can fall in to.  Most of them didn't have fences around them.  Maybe that's not a big deal for most people but I'm such a klutz, that I was sure I was going to break a hip.  

The people park their bikes near their door on the sidewalk - oh and motorcylces, and even little cars.  The chain them up (even the cars) by their apartment doors. 

Well - I should stop my complaining.  I'll do a blog entry later of Nevsky Prospekt in Russia.  They have problems too.  Actually, it may be worse.  I'm just glad I wasn't driving. I would have called a cab at times, but after seeing the way they negotiated traffic, I was too scared.