Amsterdamis elades ei saa ratastest üle ega ümber ning seda absoluutselt igas tähenduses. 
Esiteks muidugi seetõttu, et ratas on Amsterdamis A ja O ning igal endast vähegi lugupidaval Amsterdammeril on ratas. Kuigi ma ei ole just maailma suurim rattafänn (tegelikult küsivad mu siinsed sõbrad minult alati kerge pilkega hääles, et kas ma pole tõesti endiselt rattasõitmisega harjunud, kui kuhugi jalgsi liigun), oli ka minu jaoks esimeseks suureks ja oluliseks ostuks ratas. See tõi Hollandile kohaselt kaasa omajagu probleeme, ent praeguseks on mu väike roostetanud ratas mind juba kaks nädalat ausalt teeninud. Ja ma loodan, et teenib sama ausalt edasi.
Igatahes olen ka mina lõpuks aru saanud, et tegelikult pole see jalgrattasõit nii kole midagi – ei ole nii ohtlik kui ta esialgu tundus ja tänu rattale on mul siiani ühistranspordile kulunud umbes 4€ (kaks käiku IKEAsse). Lisaks veel igale naisele oluline lisaboonus: ilusad jalad. Suurepärane, eksole?
Amsterdamis on jalgratturid kuningad, kes ei pea mitte kellelegi teed andma. Hoopis autojuhid peavad vaatama, et nad oma masinaga ette ei jääks ning jalakäijad peavad muudkui silmad lahti hoidma, et neid alla ei aetaks. Tundub, et terve linna transpordisüsteem on välja ehitatud esmalt jalgrattureile mõeldes ja nii kaua kuni ma sadulas istun, kõlab see minu jaoks suurepäraselt. Rattateed on siin head ja parkimisprobleem üldjuhul puudub. Mõne posti, kuhu külge oma ratas kinnitada, leiab alati. Ma pole küll endiselt kindel, kuidas ma suhtun kombinatsiooni paduvihm ja jalgrattasõit, sest ma absoluutselt keeldun pandakaruna kooli jõudmast, juuksed veest tilkumas. Siinkohal pean ma tunnistama, et ma olen ikka liialt suur esteet, et end iial tõelise Amsterdammerina tunda.
Ratastest ei saa üle ega ümber ka selles mõttes, et kui näiteks laupäeval Heinekeni tehase taga asuvale Albert Cuyp’i turule minna ja parkida oma ratas suhteliselt pingevabalt mingi suvalise seina äärde, siis paar tundi hiljem metsiku toidukotiga tagasi jõudes järgneb suure tõenäosusega avastus, et enne minemasõitmist tuleb oma ratas välja kaevata. Jaa, muidugi räägin ma oma tänasest kogemusest. Kuna mu värske toidu varud olid otsakorral ja ilm oli suurepärane, mõtlesin ma turule minna. Albert Cuyp’i turg on selles mõttes väga lahe, et seal on kõike. Seal on metsikud juur- ja puuviljaletid, seal müüakse kõikvõimalikke mereelukaid ning umbes miljonit sorti teed, juustu, šokolaadi ja lilli. Loomulikult saab sealt soetada ka odavat kosmeetikat, pašmina salle, saapaid ja riideid – ehk siis kõike eluks vajalikku. Igatahes olin ma oma poekoti paksult kartuleid-porgandeid täis ladunud ning raske kott ei ole sugugi abistavaks teguriks, kui sa pead parasjagu mingite egoistide roostetanud jurakaid eest ära tõstma, et üldse enda rattani jõuda. Ajaloo huvides tuleb ilmselt märkida, et missioon sai õnnelikult lõpetatud ja kannatanuid (ei inimesi, rattaid ega juurvilju) ei olnud. Juurviljad said küll veidi hiljem kannatada, kui ma nad koju jõudes ära püreerisin.
Nagu ma juba mainisin, on rattateed siin head, mis muidugi ei tähenda seda, et nad ei kulgeks pidevalt keset autoteed. Esialgu on suhteliselt kummaline rattaga autode vahel ringi kimada (või mis kimada, Amsterdammerite rattahierarhias sõidan mina ilmselt sama kiirusega nagu mõni kohalik vanaema), aga õnneks on autojuhid siin ikka suhteliselt viisakad. Eestis samasugust sõitmist harrastades oleks ma ilmselt juba ammu kümme korda surma saanud. Ja kui teid huvitab, et kas kohalikud ka kiivreid kannavad, siis ei. Ma pole siin oldud kolme nädala jooksul mitte ühtegi kiivriga ratturit näinud. Isegi väikesed lapsed ei kanna siin seda.
Peale autode ja jalgrataste on siin muidugi ka suurel hulgal vespasid ning mingeid masinaid, millele ma ei oskagi nime anda. Tegemist on mingite imetillukeste kastikujuliste masinatega (kujutage ette Smarti, ent palju madalam ja natuke kandilisem), millel on luba jalgrattateedel liikuda. Ma siiani ei saa aru, kuidas sinna inimesed üldse sisse mahuvad: ma peaks end ilmselt kolmeks kokku voltima ja ka sel juhul oleksid põlved vastu rinda ja gaasipedaali vajutamine oleks täiesti võimatu. Igatahes on tegemist masinaga, mille eesmärk mulle suhteliselt ebaselgeks jääb. Peale selle, et sinna on pea võimatu midagi sisse toppida, on see ka neetult aeglane. Passisin täna oma kümme minutit ühe sellise taga, sest asjandus liikus teokiirusel ning suutis terve rattaraja täies laiuses enda alla mahutada.
Amsterdam is all about bikes and every Amsterdammer who has even a bit of self respect, has to have one. Even though I am not the biggest bike fan in the world (my friends usually ask me a bit ironically if I am still resistant to biking when I show up somewhere on foot), it was still one of the first things I bought after arriving here. It did cause me some problems initially (but causing problems already sounds such a Dutch thing!), but now my little rusty bike has served me well for 2 weeks already. And I really hope it will continue to do so. After a bit of resisting I understood that biking isn’t actually that horrible – it’s not as dangerous as it might seem at first and thanks to biking I’ve only spent about 4€ on local transport (two trips to IKEA). You can’t really forget the additional bonus that’s important for every woman: great legs. That sounds good, doesn’t it?
In Amsterdam the bikers are the kings who don’t need to give way to anyone. Actually, the drivers are the ones who have to pay attention not to block the bikers’ way and the pedestrians have to keep their eyes open not to be run over. It seems to me that the whole transport system of the city has been constructed prioritizing the bikers and as long as I’m sitting on the saddle, it sounds awesome. The bicycle paths are good and you don’t need to worry about parking. You’ll always find a post to tie your bike to. Nevertheless, I am still not sure how I like the combination of heavy showers and biking as I am totally refusing to arrive at the university looking like a panda-bear (clue: think about the eyes!) and water dripping from my hair. I guess I just need to admit that I’m too much of an aesthete to ever feel like a real Amsterdammer.
It seems to me that Amsterdammers like markets and if you happen to go to the Albert Cuyp market on a Saturday and park your bike without much hassle to a random wall you’ll probably discover a couple of hours later (equipped by a huge bag of groceries) that before you can even think about leaving, you first need to dig out your bike.
As I was running out of fresh food and the weather was great, I decided to go to the market this morning. I love Albert Cuyp market as they have everything. They have huge counters with fruits and veggies, fish (and other creatures of the sea), tea, cheese, chocolate and flowers. Of course you can also buy cheap cosmetics, pashmina scarves, shoes and clothes – everything you might need. Anyway, my shopping bag was full of potatoes and carrots and a heavy bag is not much of a help if you need to make your way (includes some serious bike lifting as well!) to your bike through a sea of rusty things that some egoists have parked on your way. I have to say that my mission was successful and there were no victims (no people, no bikes, and no veggies). The veggies suffered a bit later though when I chopped them up.
As I mentioned before, the bicycle paths here are good, which of course doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t sometimes run in the middle of the street. At first it’s a bit odd to scoot (or well, in the Amsterdam bike hierarchy I’m probably sharing the same level with some local grandmas) between the cars, but luckily the drivers are quite polite here. If I would drive like that in Estonia, I would have died already about 10 times if not more. And if you’re interested if the locals wear helmets, then no. During those 3 weeks I’ve spent here, I haven’t seen a single person wearing a helmet. Even toddlers don’t wear helmets here.
Besides the cars and bikes there are also many vespas and some weird machines driving around. Those weird machines that I can’t even name look like tiny boxes (a bit like Smarts, but lower and more facetted) that are allowed to drive on the bike paths. I have no idea how the people fit in there the first place as I would have to fold myself in three and even then would have my knees up to my chest and it would be impossible to get to the pedals. Anyway, I cannot figure out what could be the purpose of such things as besides the fact that it’s almost impossible to cram something in there, they’re also damn slow. I had to drive behind one of those things today for 10 minutes and it was horrible! I can swear I saw some snails passing us on the way.
Esiteks muidugi seetõttu, et ratas on Amsterdamis A ja O ning igal endast vähegi lugupidaval Amsterdammeril on ratas. Kuigi ma ei ole just maailma suurim rattafänn (tegelikult küsivad mu siinsed sõbrad minult alati kerge pilkega hääles, et kas ma pole tõesti endiselt rattasõitmisega harjunud, kui kuhugi jalgsi liigun), oli ka minu jaoks esimeseks suureks ja oluliseks ostuks ratas. See tõi Hollandile kohaselt kaasa omajagu probleeme, ent praeguseks on mu väike roostetanud ratas mind juba kaks nädalat ausalt teeninud. Ja ma loodan, et teenib sama ausalt edasi.Igatahes olen ka mina lõpuks aru saanud, et tegelikult pole see jalgrattasõit nii kole midagi – ei ole nii ohtlik kui ta esialgu tundus ja tänu rattale on mul siiani ühistranspordile kulunud umbes 4€ (kaks käiku IKEAsse). Lisaks veel igale naisele oluline lisaboonus: ilusad jalad. Suurepärane, eksole?
Amsterdamis on jalgratturid kuningad, kes ei pea mitte kellelegi teed andma. Hoopis autojuhid peavad vaatama, et nad oma masinaga ette ei jääks ning jalakäijad peavad muudkui silmad lahti hoidma, et neid alla ei aetaks. Tundub, et terve linna transpordisüsteem on välja ehitatud esmalt jalgrattureile mõeldes ja nii kaua kuni ma sadulas istun, kõlab see minu jaoks suurepäraselt. Rattateed on siin head ja parkimisprobleem üldjuhul puudub. Mõne posti, kuhu külge oma ratas kinnitada, leiab alati. Ma pole küll endiselt kindel, kuidas ma suhtun kombinatsiooni paduvihm ja jalgrattasõit, sest ma absoluutselt keeldun pandakaruna kooli jõudmast, juuksed veest tilkumas. Siinkohal pean ma tunnistama, et ma olen ikka liialt suur esteet, et end iial tõelise Amsterdammerina tunda.
Ratastest ei saa üle ega ümber ka selles mõttes, et kui näiteks laupäeval Heinekeni tehase taga asuvale Albert Cuyp’i turule minna ja parkida oma ratas suhteliselt pingevabalt mingi suvalise seina äärde, siis paar tundi hiljem metsiku toidukotiga tagasi jõudes järgneb suure tõenäosusega avastus, et enne minemasõitmist tuleb oma ratas välja kaevata. Jaa, muidugi räägin ma oma tänasest kogemusest. Kuna mu värske toidu varud olid otsakorral ja ilm oli suurepärane, mõtlesin ma turule minna. Albert Cuyp’i turg on selles mõttes väga lahe, et seal on kõike. Seal on metsikud juur- ja puuviljaletid, seal müüakse kõikvõimalikke mereelukaid ning umbes miljonit sorti teed, juustu, šokolaadi ja lilli. Loomulikult saab sealt soetada ka odavat kosmeetikat, pašmina salle, saapaid ja riideid – ehk siis kõike eluks vajalikku. Igatahes olin ma oma poekoti paksult kartuleid-porgandeid täis ladunud ning raske kott ei ole sugugi abistavaks teguriks, kui sa pead parasjagu mingite egoistide roostetanud jurakaid eest ära tõstma, et üldse enda rattani jõuda. Ajaloo huvides tuleb ilmselt märkida, et missioon sai õnnelikult lõpetatud ja kannatanuid (ei inimesi, rattaid ega juurvilju) ei olnud. Juurviljad said küll veidi hiljem kannatada, kui ma nad koju jõudes ära püreerisin.
Nagu ma juba mainisin, on rattateed siin head, mis muidugi ei tähenda seda, et nad ei kulgeks pidevalt keset autoteed. Esialgu on suhteliselt kummaline rattaga autode vahel ringi kimada (või mis kimada, Amsterdammerite rattahierarhias sõidan mina ilmselt sama kiirusega nagu mõni kohalik vanaema), aga õnneks on autojuhid siin ikka suhteliselt viisakad. Eestis samasugust sõitmist harrastades oleks ma ilmselt juba ammu kümme korda surma saanud. Ja kui teid huvitab, et kas kohalikud ka kiivreid kannavad, siis ei. Ma pole siin oldud kolme nädala jooksul mitte ühtegi kiivriga ratturit näinud. Isegi väikesed lapsed ei kanna siin seda.
Peale autode ja jalgrataste on siin muidugi ka suurel hulgal vespasid ning mingeid masinaid, millele ma ei oskagi nime anda. Tegemist on mingite imetillukeste kastikujuliste masinatega (kujutage ette Smarti, ent palju madalam ja natuke kandilisem), millel on luba jalgrattateedel liikuda. Ma siiani ei saa aru, kuidas sinna inimesed üldse sisse mahuvad: ma peaks end ilmselt kolmeks kokku voltima ja ka sel juhul oleksid põlved vastu rinda ja gaasipedaali vajutamine oleks täiesti võimatu. Igatahes on tegemist masinaga, mille eesmärk mulle suhteliselt ebaselgeks jääb. Peale selle, et sinna on pea võimatu midagi sisse toppida, on see ka neetult aeglane. Passisin täna oma kümme minutit ühe sellise taga, sest asjandus liikus teokiirusel ning suutis terve rattaraja täies laiuses enda alla mahutada.Amsterdam is all about bikes and every Amsterdammer who has even a bit of self respect, has to have one. Even though I am not the biggest bike fan in the world (my friends usually ask me a bit ironically if I am still resistant to biking when I show up somewhere on foot), it was still one of the first things I bought after arriving here. It did cause me some problems initially (but causing problems already sounds such a Dutch thing!), but now my little rusty bike has served me well for 2 weeks already. And I really hope it will continue to do so. After a bit of resisting I understood that biking isn’t actually that horrible – it’s not as dangerous as it might seem at first and thanks to biking I’ve only spent about 4€ on local transport (two trips to IKEA). You can’t really forget the additional bonus that’s important for every woman: great legs. That sounds good, doesn’t it?
In Amsterdam the bikers are the kings who don’t need to give way to anyone. Actually, the drivers are the ones who have to pay attention not to block the bikers’ way and the pedestrians have to keep their eyes open not to be run over. It seems to me that the whole transport system of the city has been constructed prioritizing the bikers and as long as I’m sitting on the saddle, it sounds awesome. The bicycle paths are good and you don’t need to worry about parking. You’ll always find a post to tie your bike to. Nevertheless, I am still not sure how I like the combination of heavy showers and biking as I am totally refusing to arrive at the university looking like a panda-bear (clue: think about the eyes!) and water dripping from my hair. I guess I just need to admit that I’m too much of an aesthete to ever feel like a real Amsterdammer.
It seems to me that Amsterdammers like markets and if you happen to go to the Albert Cuyp market on a Saturday and park your bike without much hassle to a random wall you’ll probably discover a couple of hours later (equipped by a huge bag of groceries) that before you can even think about leaving, you first need to dig out your bike.
As I was running out of fresh food and the weather was great, I decided to go to the market this morning. I love Albert Cuyp market as they have everything. They have huge counters with fruits and veggies, fish (and other creatures of the sea), tea, cheese, chocolate and flowers. Of course you can also buy cheap cosmetics, pashmina scarves, shoes and clothes – everything you might need. Anyway, my shopping bag was full of potatoes and carrots and a heavy bag is not much of a help if you need to make your way (includes some serious bike lifting as well!) to your bike through a sea of rusty things that some egoists have parked on your way. I have to say that my mission was successful and there were no victims (no people, no bikes, and no veggies). The veggies suffered a bit later though when I chopped them up.
As I mentioned before, the bicycle paths here are good, which of course doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t sometimes run in the middle of the street. At first it’s a bit odd to scoot (or well, in the Amsterdam bike hierarchy I’m probably sharing the same level with some local grandmas) between the cars, but luckily the drivers are quite polite here. If I would drive like that in Estonia, I would have died already about 10 times if not more. And if you’re interested if the locals wear helmets, then no. During those 3 weeks I’ve spent here, I haven’t seen a single person wearing a helmet. Even toddlers don’t wear helmets here.
Besides the cars and bikes there are also many vespas and some weird machines driving around. Those weird machines that I can’t even name look like tiny boxes (a bit like Smarts, but lower and more facetted) that are allowed to drive on the bike paths. I have no idea how the people fit in there the first place as I would have to fold myself in three and even then would have my knees up to my chest and it would be impossible to get to the pedals. Anyway, I cannot figure out what could be the purpose of such things as besides the fact that it’s almost impossible to cram something in there, they’re also damn slow. I had to drive behind one of those things today for 10 minutes and it was horrible! I can swear I saw some snails passing us on the way.
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