I knew the Dutch people biked a lot, but I didn't realize the extent of what "a lot" really means. This photo is a tiny taste of how many bikes can be parked in front of a single restaurant or shop. At the central rail station and harbor, there is a tri-level bicycle parking garage that could easily work as a mid-sized lot for cars. Bikes line street corners and canal bridges.

They bike everywhere, sharing tiny narrow streets with two-way vehicle traffic, trams, pedestrians every which way, motor bikes. No one wears a helmet, and a couple passengers (or a dog) may be simply sitting in front of or on the back of a single person bike. The women bike in skirts and dresses, no problem.

B. and I are not biking. I am so scared when I bike in the city; I hate biking next to cars and am nervous about getting side-swiped. Seattle drivers can sometimes be aggressively anti-bike, and I've seen other bicyclists do really stupid things on the road at home. However, Amsterdam makes me wish that Seattle was a little less averse to biking in the city. The locals make it look so easy!