Fiets-ing

I love that the Dutch word for bike is fiets (pronounced "feets"). It's like a cute way of saying "my bike is an extension of my body".

Ever since I moved here, I’ve been tempted to spend an afternoon in a café somewhere just to take photos of fietsers. But now I just found out that someone else has already gone and done it. His blog post is fantastic, as are the comments that follow it. Check it out: 82 Pictures of Bicycles Taken in 73 Minutes

There's still room for a sequel though, as he took his photos in a tourist area on a weekday, and I think there's more potential if you sit along Weteringschans on a Saturday afternoon. That's when everyone does their shopping by bike. I've seen people trying to bring home their new beanbag chairs, floor lamps, and houseplants. Most of the time, they seem to manage it with no problem at all (and anyway, I assume that the ones who are struggling are expats).

Just today, when I was biking home from work, I wished I had my camera around my neck to capture the guy biking in front of me. He was wearing a blue pinstriped suit and top hat and had the beard of a Hasidic jew. His bike panniers were crammed full, and he had a set of skis (or perhaps golf clubs? or pool cues?) slung across his back. There was also something very wide laid across his front wheel. As I got closer, I saw that it was a baby carriage basket. And as I passed him, I saw that the basket held a big brown droopy-faced dog.

It all confirms my belief that, if people-watching was a sport, then Amsterdam is the Olympic stadium.