Photos

a common scene in the street of Amsterdam

Upon arriving in Amsterdam you can’t help noticing that the Dutch like bikes. In fact, the 750,000 people who live in Amsterdam own over 600,000 bicycles. In a city built for pedestrians – sporting such car-unfriendly features as narrow streets and canals, far too few parking spots (at premium fees), and single-lane one-way only traffic mazes – a bicycle is the most logical form of transportation.

In Amsterdam, just about everyone bikes. It is not unusual to see mothers, grandmothers, business people, police officers, hippies, and so on happily bike along. Some people walk their dogs by bike. Others use it to bring home groceries, flowers, furniture, children, girlfriends or anything else one can think of.