Slow cycling along lush greenery with just the chirping of birds and a polite ‘Entschuldigung!’ by a cyclist overtaking me,  is what I have in mind whenever I think of a cycle ride. Having lived in the quaint old city of Erlangen in Germany, my view of cycle tracks and cycle culture was rather polished, one might say. So when we decided to take the city tour of Amsterdam, it came as quite a rude jolt to me!!

Amsterdam, as one may know is the cycling capital of the world, and rightly so! There are hundreds of cycles everywhere, big ones, tiny ones, tall ones, funny ones! Old people, little children, elegant women, young tikes, youth, middle aged people – in fact just about everyone – is on bicycles, well, even pregnant women!!!  The people of this city have taken great efforts to make their city car free and emission free. They have made their lanes narrower, put barricades, one ways and made it quite inconvenient to drive a car, quite intentionally of course! I really applaud this huge effort which dates back to 1970!

We visited Amsterdam way back in 2015 when our daughter was just 10. She, like my husband, is quite a cycle enthusiast! So, the three of us and two of our friends took the Mikes Bike tour of the city. Our tour started from Kerkstraat, with our shaggy haired guide Chris. He first told us about the bikes we were to use. They were all Electra 7 speed bikes. There was a smaller one for my daughter, it had a pedal brake, which took a while to get acquainted with. We were told to follow all norms and were made aware of all the hand signals and the ‘look over shoulder’ rule to be followed as well.

As we took off on our bicycles, feeling the cobbled stones quiver under us, it let out that little jump of freedom that automatically surges within when I ride a bicycle. We whizzed past in designated cycle lanes and followed traffic lights especially meant for cyclists. And with an occasional ‘Ja, Hello!!’ when an irked cyclist sped past losing his patience at our speed!

The city of Amsterdam is alive! It has freedom stamped all over, there are no dogmas of any kind. The people are quite preoccupied with their own sense of freedom and respect yours too! So, the city is not for the faint hearted super prudes. One gets a rather open view of life here!

We went on to Museumsplein where you will find 3 beautiful museums! The Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, and Stedelijk Museum. It is a beautiful square bustling with activity  and ever so alive. The famous I AMsterdam sign is located in front of the Rijksmuseum. We went past the Vondelpark just barely getting a glimpse of its green landscape and the bronze monument of Vondel.

Riding in the Jordaan district was especially fun. We learnt about the intricate canals that are used efficiently for transportation and how the merchants started this canal system and worked to perfect it. The houses around this place have a unique way of visiting cards! They put out a stone tablet on the front façade of their house displaying a sign of the family profession.

I had read about brave little Anne Frank and was so wanting to visit her museum, but struck it off out list seeing the winding queue to it. Our merry cycle group then went on to the Old Church! What a beautiful church that was! It’s called the Oude Kerk, and happens to be from the 13thCentury. Surprisingly, this beautiful church is located in the red light area of the city. We got a glimpse of this so called entertainment district too. Much as I would have liked to  have avoided my daughter see such sites, I just let her, as we went past unimaginable sites in this area.

We went past the beautiful flower market too. The site of those tulips was a treat. Oh! The colours!! This market was a part of the famous Albert Cuyp Market. One can find almost anything out here. We decided to revisit this place on foot later.

We finally ended our 3 hour long cycle trip on the ‘Skinny Bridge’ or the Magere Brug as it is known in Dutch. Chris told us a story of 2 sisters who built this bridge so that they could visit each other as they lived on the opposite sides of the Amstel river. Our tour ended with this quaint little story.

We returned our bicycles to the shop that rented it to us. And we each got a bike bell as a souvenir of out trip! It was a great trip and definitely has found its place in my memory of the loved-it-done-it section.