I have arrived in the Netherlands! I’ve learned a lot just in the first few days here. When arriving in the city, I sit outside the Caffe Esprit and enjoy a cappuccino while people watching. I too a bike ride touring the countryside for the day, riding their well-maintained bike paths. I quickly learn that riding a bicycle is an exact science here and once adept on a not-so-familiar three-speed bike, it got easier, there was a lot of practicing the Netherlands cycling rules especially in the city of Amsterdam. While ringing bell to turn right, left or continue straight across the path. It became easy. Bikes have the right-of-way here…. Cars and pedestrians stop for bikes, not the other way around. The traffic is much-like Prague, cars stop for you--you don’t stop for them, like in the US. It feels unusual to me; but, once I got use to it, it’s easy to go with the flow. The experienced locals ride with ease and if you aren’t watching while walking you might get hit. A person can tell who is a tourist and who is a longtime biker. The key is always, always, to look to your left because a bike could be coming from behind and sideswipe you. In the city, you could be riding alongside a well-known mathematician, diplomat with their briefcase in hand or common-folk going to work-there is no discernment riding a bike in the city of Amsterdam-everyone does it. I learned quickly that there is not ‘really’ a country called Holland there is an Upper and Lower Holland in the Netherlands. For some reason it stuck in people’s conversations as if Holland was its own country, it’s not. The faces of the locals seem familiar, just like in Hamburg for me. As I sit on the train, it was like I saw similar resemblance to my paternal side. (I’ll have to check more into this as part of my ancestry research). I stay in a little town called Wormerveer outside of the city. In Dutch it’s pronounced “WERM-pheer.” The small town is very quaint and I comfortably RUN the parameter of this little town in the early mornings. Everyone speaks English, so it’s quite easy to get around. You can take a direct train from the Amsterdam Central train station. The Wormerveer station is only a short walk over a bridge along the canal. The train runs every 20 minutes there are two trains to the city and beyond. I quickly learned to take the Sprinters in order to arrive in if you happen to get on the wrong train, you can hop off and go to the next track where the sprinters arrive within minutes. I get the sense that Amsterdam is a very liberal deeply rooted, clever and happy-go-lucky city; rebuilt from the ground up, more-than once. It is known for having rich expertise on waterway designs to reduce flooding given the city is built on water. Many communities (from other countries) seek their city engineer’s expertise to redesign or upgrade their communities to prevent flooding. It is a science. I noticed even the cement is meticulously put together so that the rainwater seeps through the cracks to prevent water build up. You can find Van Gogh (The Dutch pronounce it Van Goff) and Picasso authentic works here. Both of these artists made a large impression on me growing up. There are many parks here; one stands out, similar to Central Park in New York, Voldenpark, located in the southwest-end of the city. I rode my bike there, about 4-5 miles of complete and utter solitude and beauty. The greenery and florescent aroma alone made it worth the ride. Many run, walk and sit enjoying chatting over a cappuccino at the cafe in the park. I saw a shelter where I imagined a symphony playing to entertain the park-goers on a breezy afternoon. By the time I was done I was so relaxed--it made it easier to continue cycling around the city. The next day, we tried Amsterdam cheese and Dutch pancakes. It was quite a treat. Hoorn was filled with stories. Our first stop was a quaint little restaurant we met up with our new friend Martin, a long-time Netherlands resident, he shared stories over local beer made by monks from the monastery the afternoon flew by. We walked along the lake by the channel in this quaint little town learning the history of Hoorn. We had dinner at the historic Hoofdtoren restaurant inside the massive defensive gate building build built in the 1700's. That’s it for now; I hope you enjoyed my stories so far!!! More to come!!!