On day 3 of 95+°F the group met with Meredith who quickly assigned us a day long scavenger hunt. Though it was quite different than the one we did in Copenhagen early on in the trip, we were still out exploring the city with a partner and talking to locals on the way. Jaden and I started out by going to Sint Antoniesbreestratt, a street in the city center that was completely redone in the 1960s to accommodate for the underground metro that was constructed at this time. We were trying to find some older Dutch folk to ask if they were there when the changes happened, but all the people we asked had moved there after the 60s. It was still very interesting talking to Dutch people quite a bit older than us when we are constantly surrounded by the youth of our classmates. They all seemed to still love bikes, even if a few were a little too old to still ride one. On this same street, Jaden and I parked our bikes on the side of a building by themselves. When we came back, there was an entire lineup of bikes along the same building. As Rudd from Utrecht taught us, you can park your bike pretty much anywhere and when you come back, there will always be bikes parked in a line next to it. The Dutch don’t put their bikes just in the middle of the sidewalk, but it is almost a guarantee that they place their bike to follow in line with whoever started it.
The two of us carried on to Amsterdam’s Central Train Station to do a bit more observational work. We ate lunch just inside the station and then proceeded to stand and observe an intersection of ferry goers, pedestrians, bikers, mopeds, and the occasional Canta (a small two person car that can go and fit just about anywhere). This intersection has just about no signage at all and it was constantly busy. There would be huge rushes when a ferry came in and we watched as bikers and pedestrians alike swerved out of the way of others. It was a very hectic scene, but not once was there an accident. We attempted to talk to a few people on mopeds and Canta drivers, and were somewhat unsuccessful in getting straight answers out of them. It seemed as if the bikers and pedestrians were happier and more willing to talk to us than people using other modes of transport. I have two hypotheses on this: 1) Bikers and pedestrians are in fact more happy and social because they are in the environment that allows them to be more free and able to converse; and 2) Mopeds and Cantas are probably all driven by locals who are in a rush and don’t want to be bothered by nosy tourists. I think both of these are true, but again generalizing people based on how they get around is not always a great idea.
Jaden and I decided to take the long bike ride to the suburb of Osdorp to complete our missions in the post war neighborhoods. It was a ways away, so we stopped a few times to bike through a fountain, kick a soccer ball around, go swimming in Sloterplas, and climb up a hill that had some sort of giant copper art that we couldn’t quite tell what was going on. We also got smoothies at a small market and talked to two ladies that worked there about how they get around. They both had small children and lived outside the city, so they had good reasoning for driving cars. They thought it was too dangerous to be biking or taking transit with such small kids, but we were hopeful that they teach their kids to bike when the time comes.
After biking in the heat all day, we went with a few others to a swim spot on the Noord, the area just north of Amsterdam across the water. It was an awesome spot for jumping in, but we witnessed a motor boat capsize right in front of the swim area. A couple of dudes drinking beer in a boat and next thing you know the boat is rocking in some waves and flips completely over. It got some cheers from the crowd, but I don’t think the guys were too happy about all of their stuff getting soaked and their motor breaking. After swimming for a while and making sure everyone was okay, we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.
