The bike of …

One day I learned about an opportunity to study industrial ecology for one year at TU Delft and Leiden University through Erasmus Mundus, and the next thing I knew I was living in Holland!



I really like it here, though I do miss the mountains and skiing in Austria. The first order of business in Holland is, of course, to purchase a bike. I originally bought a fold up bike for €70.00 at a secondhand shop in Leiden. I thought I would take it on the train with me from Leiden to Delft. However, I only actually did this twice, because it’s an incredibly annoying experience. The bike is too big to allow me to sit with it in a normal seat, so I have to lock it up in the entrance to the train car, which really annoys everyone when the train is crowded. The wheels are also at different levels when the bike is folded, so the bike won’t stand up straight. And, with as much time as it took me to fold up and unfold the bike, I figured I might as well just park and lock one bike in Leiden and then get a second bike for Delft.



So, I went online to the Delft housing Facebook group and found a nice guy willing to sell his bike for just €35.00. Actually, I like this bike a lot more than the more expensive foldable bike I originally bought. It has bigger wheels, handbrakes (as opposed to footbrakes), has working lights, and is a much nicer ride. It’s not so fancy and has some parts sticking out, but still, I like it.



Biking in Holland is generally really fun. It’s so flat and the path network is amazing. It’s also incredible to see how skilled the Dutch are at riding bikes; for example, I’ve seen people riding two bikes at once! I tried to do this when I bought my second bike, but it was impossible. The only time I don’t enjoy riding my bike is during the downpours!”

Het wordt een traditie, de jaarlijkse DSW Schaatsbaan op de Beestenmarkt. Vooral bij kinderen en hun ouders is hij erg in trek, maar ook studenten kunnen uiteraard gebruikmaken van het uiterst sfeervolle baantje. Let wel: noren zijn verboden en handschoenen verplicht. De schaatsbaan werkt dit jaar nauw samen met het Science Centre. Speciaal daarom staat er op de schaatsbaan een installatie van het Science Centre die uitlegt hoe supergeleiding in zijn werk gaat. De baan ligt er nog tot en met 9 januari.