Anyone for moving to the Netherlands?
Ok so things are pretty quiet in my house now the oldest boys are back at school and the youngest has started Preschool. So what does one do when the house seems quiet and empty - well first you go for a ride and then of course you start reading your six year old's copy of Book of World Records 2005 and this is why we need to go to the Netherlands.
Country with the most bicycles per capita - The netherlands.
With an estimated 16.7 million bicycles in the country, the Netherlands has more bicycles per capita than any other nation. It averages to more than one bike for every person in the country.
Other useful trivial pursuit knowledge
Country with the most cars - USA
Country that eats the most meat - USA
Country that eats the most ice cream - Australia (see I told my mum it was a food group)
Country that eats the most chips (crisps for you poms) United Kingdom. :D
The Netherlands is where it's at!
My best friend and I took a trip to Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris in April, travelling by rail. One of my favorite mental images was coming into The Netherlands from Germany, passing through the countryside where there were miles of bike paths, and benches - people were stopping to eat lunch, have a sit and watch the bikes go by before moving on.
I had just decided on my bike before that trip, and was all amped about cycling, so that helped add to the excitement.
Then, when we got closer in to A'dam, each train station we saw was packed full of bike racks, jammed with bikes. I loved seeing that.
All these stories make me want to pack my bags...
...and move across the pond. Being an avid cyclist is so depressing to me at times, living in the southeastern part of the US, where the SUV is king, and there aren't even shoulders on the roads. My husband and I biked to the farmer's market and then the natural foods market on Saturday for groceries (filled up his four panniers and both our rack packs), and we were such a minority. I'd love to be in the majority for a change and live in a place where cycling is just expected and doesn't label you as a freak. Where I live, biking to run errands is virtually unheard of. People drive down to their mailboxes in the rural south!
We don't have kids so aren't tied down that way, but we both have living parents, so I just couldn't imagine moving so far again as long as they are still with us. We want to see them as much as we can while there's still time.
I sure have fantasies, though! Maybe someday.... I hear great things about Davis, California too wrt cycling infrastructure and number of cyclists per square mile, but real estate is so expensive there, and we don't want to pay that much. I want to retire at 50 so we can have more fun and adventures... sigh! :(
Emily