As most of you know, my girlfriend Lauren moved here in May and, waiting for her residence permit to drop on the mat, it’s safe to say she’s enjoying herself exploring this city of ours.

Part of that revolves around shopping, of course. And not too long ago Lauren concluded she’d been a fool resorting to regular stores, when there are so many markets around. Value for money, fresh produce & fun!

So one Saturday we included the Albert Cuyp market in De Pijp on our route. A place so popular with Amsterdammers that the city deemed it necessary to employ a steward to regulate on-street bicycle parking. That aside, here are some samples of my market shopping impressions a la Hollandaise:

First off: you’re very likely to bump into a former photography subject, yet again

Let’s meet & don’t forget your hat

It’s very likely you’ll meet friends on your way to the market

Sit back and relax while mom does all the shopping & smile

Where, oh where did I put that [...]

Fresh & chat

K9 patience & “Whaddayamean, you can’t haul stuff on a bike?”

Dad & son/daughter, a popular combination

Together & treat yourself

Walking into one last shop along the market, the owner noticed my camera, figured at first I was a tourist, but after correcting that he let me in on a ‘public secret’ of the Albert Cuyp market. He stepped outside and pointed at the rooftops: “Look at them [seagulls & herons], there, there, there and there, everywhere, like clockwork they’ve all lined up, taken position. At any moment now, they’ll all come flying down to pick up what’s left of that fish vender’s stock. Not many people notice or know of it. I’ve been doing business here for over 20 years, but it never fails to amuse me. You should really wait for them to attack and take some nice pictures.”

I did wait for a bit, but the waiting game took too long, even for me, while Lauren was keen on riding off with the new bike basket ‘Albert Cuyp’ provided for her. Life’s little priorities, right?

Oh, and you’ve noticed, Lauren is indeed my Cycle Chic muse :).

I just had a most chillin’ Sunday, joining friends at the Appelsap HipHop Festival in Oosterpark in the eastern part of Amsterdam, enjoying some good munchin’ and good…well, let’s just say at some point somebody put Stevie Wonder on, but generally just extremely relaxed, and half the city seemed to have gathered there.

Halfway dinner (mussels, yum!) I got a text message from one good friend of mine, Wiendelt, asking me whether I had checked another friend’s Facebook page yet, in this case Gabe’s. Of course I hadn’t, and couldn’t resist, so I checked…

Suffice to say, I love it when friends get together, whip out their guitar and camera, and have a good laugh. Totally jammin’, making my day truly complete!

We Amsterdammers, and Dutch, for that matter, don’t live in windmills, we don’t go dancing in wooden shoes, we’re not high on welfare & drugs, aside from a very speculative bubble in the past, we don’t go nuts on tulips and not everything Verboten is legal in NL.

On the cycling front, there’s generally still a quite distorted perception regarding Dutch bikes: they all look the same (black), they have just one gear, most of them are beaters, they are way too heavy (and the Dutch are exceptional for being able to ride them) and they are a far cry from resembling a ‘bicycle culture’…as in, they’re not ‘personalized’.

Stereotypes, gotta love ‘m. But I’m skipping over all of that, because the most important part of cycling in the Netherlands is not lost on the ‘untrained’ eye: it’s not as much about the bikes themselves what makes people’s visit an extraordinary one, it’s what these Dutchies DO with their bikes and how they don’t have to change a damn thing about who they are. The rest would just be a distraction from their purpose; getting from A to B, conveniently.

Let me introduce you to a friend of mine: Cyrina from The Hague. A beautiful woman, a long-time blogger and a teacher.

She loves..I say she LOVES to cycle everywhere, you’ll see her tweet that on a regular basis. Recently she shot this ‘Panda’ (no, not our black/white furry friend) and with it she instantly established herself as Ambassador of Happiness. Who else can I add to this special photo gallery? I’m pretty sure there are many, MANY more :).

I was fortunate to be able to borrow a friend’s little (but sturdy) canal boat, aka The Red August, to cruise the city on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Every time I’m back on Amsterdam’s water ways, I enjoy and welcome the change in perspective. It basically feels the same way that cycling does, as in: you’re among many likeminded people (and with boating you DO give each other a quick nod or even wave) and you don’t have a care in the world. Added bonus: it really is the best escape… without fleeing the city. No obstructions, go as you please and so much more (time) to observe, taking advantage of an extra layer, dimension, a slightly better backdrop.

Splendid.

The green outskirts or the city center, it doesn’t matter, really. Just unwind on and off that bike, be it for 5 minutes or 5 hours, ’tis all good.

See it as a shoddy piece of anthropology, sociology, what have you. People on the move at some point between 6 and 9 pm. For all imaginable purposes. Observe and guess. Then guess again. Some are less obvious than others. But hey, that’s the fun of it. For me at least. Filtering out the details of the extraordinary ordinary that cycling in the city represents.

Leading questions:
- Is cycling gender-specific?
- Is cycling age-specific?
- Is cycling income-specific?
- Is cycling difficult?
- Does cycling require special gear?
- Is cycling healthy?
- Does cycling make cities more livable?
- Is cycling easy on the eyes?
- Etc… (*tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek*)

Specimen #1

Specimen #2

Specimen #3 & #4

Specimen #5

Specimen #6

Specimen #7 & #8

Specimen #9

Specimen #10

Nothing but time. Who’s in a rush. It’s summer and it’s the weekend. Many are on vacation, but who needs one when you live in Amsterdam, it’s zen on two wheels, all the way. Merely have a seat on a(ny) terrace, have a beer and observe…