Having Fun with the Students in Houten

We enjoyed a bicycle tour of the City of Houten to explore the unique design of the ring road and the bicycle highway that runs through the City.
More about that on the Peter Koonce Blog.


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The fun we had was that we came across a zip line and they got me to take a ride. I could have been going a little faster, but here's what it looked like.

Abby bikes and Amelia Rides Through the Streets of Delft

A bike box in Delft prioritizes bikes over right turning traffic.
In the Netherlands, right turn on red isn't allowed.

Abby and Amelia joined us on the third day of the class, which would end up 36 miles later going from Delft to the North Sea and back. It was all day trip with stops at a greenhouse control system company, a greenhouse, a central market along the way, and the beach. Leaving TU Delft (the University), we wound our way through the streets of Delft which are chaotic at times and really fascinating when you're able to wander through them. When you are on your bike, the facilities seem like a joy and you want to bring them back to the U.S. When you are on your bike beside your 8 year old, they seem too narrow, with scooters zipping by and cars that are still too close for comfort.

Since Abby is an accomplished rider, all in all they are pretty good facilities.  
On this trip to the beach we added a stowaway in the form of Amelia. Where is she in this picture you ask?
She's on a tag along rack, riding on a pillow. We saw the Dutch do this on so many occassions, we thought we would try it. It turned out it worked with some modifications. Later, we took Susan's backpack off which gave her a little more room to look around. It was also clear that we needed to slide up on the seat of the bike to make sure she wasn't leaning back, but that wasn't so difficult.

All in all, a good day and a nice way to get from the beach and back. 

Copenhagen: #12 Most Expensive City in the World

... and I believe it. There was a lot of grumbling about prices as we visited Copenhagen. The US $ was near 5.2 Krone which is as low as it has been since 2007 and lower than the nearly 6 that it was last year when I was in country. It makes an expensive city even less affordable. The McDonalds Cheeseburger index even seemed askew, with the cost of one of Mickey D's finest hovering just under $2 US. Come on Danes, haven't you heard of the $1 Value meal?

Perhaps more importantly was a 12 oz. beer at the local convenience store was 11.95 Kroner, which is $2.27. We're not talking microbrews now, it's Carlsberg, which is local but is clearly a microbrewed Pilsner. I am not one to say it wasn't tasty after a long day of walking through the streets of CPH, but it does make one pause when purchasing a tasty beverage. A latte at the local kiosk was $4.77.

What's more is that Danes love to drink. I am not just talking about alcohol either. Really, anything. For the wedding, we started out with a latte, a beer, champange, white wine, red wine, cognac, baileys and coffee, and sparkling water.


Bloomberg reports the following....
No. 12 Most Expensive City: Copenhagen

Quick lunch: $38.40 Beer at a bar: $8.95
Kilogram of rice: $5.90 Dozen eggs: $7.30
Movie theater ticket: $16.20 Transit ride: $2.67

Copenhagen, Denmark's capital and largest city, fell to No. 12, from No. 8, in ECA International's 2010 ranking. Denmark's economy, hit by a real estate slump and growing unemployment, contracted slightly in 2010 and in the first quarter of 2011 as public and private consumption fell and the country entered recession, reported Bloomberg News.

I added the transit ride category to the information that they provided there. I was going to add a Starbucks coffee, but there isn't a single one that I have found. Seems a bit surprising to me, but there aren't that many McDonalds or other fast food joints either, which is nice.

So, after my trip to Tokyo and Copenhagen, I can say I have experienced some of the most expensive big cities in the world.

Another article about this was found here.

Solstice Celebration in Copenhagen

In Denmark, the solstice celebration is called Sankt Hans aften ("St. John's Eve"). In accordance with the Danish tradition of celebrating a holiday on the evening before the actual day, it takes place on the evening of 23 June. It is the day where the medieval wise men and women (the doctors of that time) would gather special herbs that they needed for the rest of the year to cure people.
It has been celebrated since the times of the Vikings making a large bonfire to ward away evil spirits. In Christianhavn, the bonfires is on the beach, and there is a community event with a band and beer tent. The celebration was complete with the tradition of putting a witch made of straw and cloth on the bonfire to recall the witch burnings from the 16th Century.

The bonfire on the beach was impressive.

Amelia napped on the way to dinner.

Danish Royal Guard on Foot Patrol

We went to the Kings Garden today and while the kids and Susan were visiting the Roseborg Castle, I was out the grounds surveying the scene. I visited the castle last year, so I wasn't inclined to use my weak US $ to visit it again.
The upside of being a cheap skate was catching the Royal Guard on their march from the barracks there near the castle to Amalienborg to the west. They leave the Gardens and march down Gothersgade right in the lane of traffic. It is an impressive display of traffic calming as they curise down the middle of the street. I am surprised that they don't take up the bicycle lane and fortunately for the folks in autos, there is room to bypass the parade of soldiers on the left as you can see from the second photo from this series. I like the combination of the Royal Guard, the blue bike paint, and the yielding traffic.

Any time you have a group of a dozen or so soldiers in black bear hats and major artillery on their shoulders, you end up with well behaved traffic, i.e. no honking, abrupt passing, or generate road rage. Just people in their cars, buses, and trucks moving orderly past the Royal Guard on a 5 km per hour pace with knees held high. It is an impressive display of coordination.
The Royal Guard is part of the detail at the Amalienborg palace. There main function is to protect the queen and the other members of the Danish Royal familyRead more: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Denmark/Koebenhavns_Kommune/Copenhagen-162183/Things_To_Do-Copenhagen-Royal_Guard-BR-1.html#ixzz1Q8kQQR8

More pictures of the changing of the guard can be found here.

Rotterdam's World Database of Happiness and other fun sites

We're planning for our trip to Europe and I was listening to one of the old audiobooks that I enjoyed awhile back titled the The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World. The author highlights the World Database of Happiness, which is in Rotterdam at Erasmus University.  http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/

Since we're going to Delft I wonder if we could break away for a day and go visit.

Another place I came across on the internet in Rotterdam is the following housing which ranks 22nd on the World's Strangest Buildings.

DC Prepares for Christmas

I travelled back to Washington DC for a FHWA workshop.
The travel took me back to the scene of one of the most exciting moments of my life (which I would prefer not to repeat). Walking past the GWU Hospital made me think back to the people that helped me during a time of need. I felt very small walking next to the Metro station and thankful that I wasn't taking another mode today.
If that wasn't enough to make one think deep thoughts, I walked past the White House on World Aids Day, with the red ribbon dorning the Obama residence on Pennsylvania Avenue.
A challenge of epic proportions which we can look across the globe and recognize that as far as we can go, there's a need to work together to meet our common foes.
My last stop in DC that was blogworthy was Union Station. I am always happy to spend a little time in this great monument to transportation and appreciative of the great things that we have done in this country that have made our world a better place.

Tokyo Tower

A mentioned the Tokyo Tower in a previous post, so this is mostly just for the pictures.
The structure of the building is impressive and probably more small members than the Eiffel Tower.
My host Mr. Tamoto and I took a cab from the Tokyo Traffic Management Center to turn quickly from business trip to tourist very quickly. It was a transition that I wasn't anticipating but Shigeshi suggested it as we were nearby and he thought it would be a good thing to visit. He said he has been two times before and I thought: why not!
An observation I will make about Japan is that there seems to be an inordinate amount of people in uniforms. It could be that I started my trip near the government sector of the City, but the Tokyo Tower had some snazzy uniforms for their guides in the Tower.

The Tower has a goofy looking mascot that I caught leaving the top of the Tower. I am not sure why the mascot is pink as opposed to the orange on the building.

Zojojoi Temple adjacent to Tokyo Tower

I visited a very nice temple after my tour of the Tokyo Traffic Management Center and the Tokyo Tower.
I needed some solace after the Tokyo Tower and paying 820 Yen ($10US) for a visit to the observatory of the Eiffel Tower replica. It was built shortly after World War II as a part of the reconstruction efforts. It was built a few meters higher than the original, but it doesn't seem to hold a candle to its inspiration. Sequels are never better, are they? The inside of the shrine was beautiful and very calming. I really enjoyed my time there and sat for awhile reflecting on my activities of the past few weeks, the trip to Japan, and priorities in life. It was a nice moment that I will keep with me for a few days.
There was a lot more to see, so I was back out in the grounds of the Temple.
Adjacent to the Temple is a cemetary that has a great view of the Tokyo Tower. Not sure if I would be all that keen of that sort of structure in the backyard, but meh!
The tombstones are tightly packed in and they grounds were meticulously maintained. There were quite a few flowers placed throughout the area and it was another nice way to reflect on the day.
This particular shrine has one of the largest old bells in Japan.

Tsujiki Fish Market

Saturday morning I woke up early as usual and headed off to the Fish Market where family businesses have been bringing in all matter of things from the sea and selling them to the sushi vendors and restaurants throughout Tokyo and perhaps the world.
The building looks like a parking structure but operates like one large loading dock. This may be one of the craziest places I have been with motorcycles, motorbikes, bikes, scooters, fork lift like wheelbarrows, semitrucks, vans, and all sorts of pedestrians. I almost got hit several times, it was hard to take pictures in some cases because the folks working in these spaces knew that the visitors weren't contributing to their bottom line. The entire place was bustling with activity.
Most of the specimens were in sytrofoam containers and sea water like these fish. I saw things in this format that I had no idea what they were including what looked to be sea anemone and they were bright red. There were several fish that were frozen in their largest form and were next to the jigsaw so that they could be cut into more manageable pieces.

Cycling through Delft

  Delft was a beautiful town with a central square (Markt) that was really quaint and large for as small a city as it is. This particular shop is where we picked up a few pieces of Delftware for the grandparents as a thank you for watching the kids.
We had a nice day cycling through Delft with the Northeastern University class that was spending a month in the Netherlands completing a college course. I was speaking to the class about traffic signals in Portland and how we were learning from European practice.
The cycling through the countryside was fantastic. We were getting a lot of nice information from one of the local regional planners from the area as a part of the first classroom lecture.
 
This picture of Susan is not even behind the biggest landmarks in the square, but I enjoy it anyway because it provides perspective on the cafes, the shops, and the chruches in the background.
We came across this gentleman in the community just crusing through. I had a chuckle becuase we were in the man's way and the group stopped him on his everyday trip to the store.  
 

I loved all of the train station bike parking areas. The number of bicycles at these locations was beyond consideration and seemed like every possible rack was full to the point where it was futile to add more racks because additional bikes would be added. Amsterdam and The Hague have structures for bikes both three stories high, which is quite an expense for infrastructure.

Tour de France, Delft Sunset, World Cup... is this in the Top 10 days of all time?

 
On the ride back to the hotel (from Rotterdam) after the prologue, we had a nice ride back with the sunset greeting us as we entered the city. It was a lovely end to a great day. Finished off by watching the World Cup and seeing a great goal by David Villa of Spain to advance. This day might have cracked the top 10 days of all time, which got me thinking. So you have to have the wedding day, the birth of your kids, graduation from college (especially for Dad), probably an OSU Civil War victory in there (when we beat Joey Harrington at home), visit to South Africa has to be in there, and then there's this (what a great day). It would have been better with the kids and more friends & family to enjoy it with, no doubt.

at Tour de France

 
So much fun at the Prologue and looking forward to Stage 1 tomorrow. Got a nice photo of Chris Horner that seems worth sharing.

Susan and Peter at Tour Start

 
Well, this is where the prologue begins. The riders shoot out of the Festina launch pad (right on time of course)! Mr. Festina himself counts down with his fingers, which is kind of funny when you think about it.

World Cup Viewing Party

I have really taken to the World Cup. It's partly due to the fact that it is played on the world stage. It's also a sport that is growing on me as it seems like a lot of skill and some luck and I don't have any idea what is going to happen. There's a certain simplicity to a 1-0 game that I can appreciate.   Denmark's national sport is supposed to be handball, but if football isn't it, I would love to see what they do when a Handball game is happening! This was the Argentina-Mexico game and the square was packed and the crowds were a lot more civil then when the Danes were playing. I could actually get into the square to see the screen. This was a Sunday night.
 

Copenhagen This Week, Next Week TDF Prologue & Stage 1

There is so much in Copenhagen to see, I find my mind wandering to the bike boxes, the Copenhagen left turns, the neighborhood bollards, the cycletracks, it's all so interesting and different to what we're used to back in the states. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that there are more bikes than cars at most intersections. Amazing!
 

But the Tour de France is calling right around the corner and I got a message about the Tour preview guide from Bicycling Magazine, so had to steal the route maps and post them here for fun. It is a bit odd that we'll be watching the Tour de France from the Netherlands, but alas, just another reason to come back to visit in the future.