Post No. 21 — On the Move in Groningen

How you get from A to B is a big part of the story of living in the Netherlands. When we lived in Kansas City, I spent hours each day in the car. Here in Groningen, I’ll go weeks, even months, without stepping foot inside a car — including taxis or Ubers. Looking back at the 4 years that I’ve lived here (piecing time together since our first year in 2018-19), I’d estimate that MAYBE I’ve spent a total of 40 hours in a car over that time — so about 10 hours per year. Maybe.

Most of the time, I’m on foot, on my bike, on a bus or on a train. I can get wistful when I think back to summer roadtrips with drive-throughs in the States, listening to favorite songs, or hanging on the play-by-play from the football or baseball game. But all in all, I don’t miss owning or driving a car.

Okay, there are those fall and winter days in Groningen when you’re biking in the cold rain with stiff winds. And there are those times when you need to haul stuff and a good ‘ol SUV would be great. (I’ll say more about that in this post!)

And I’ll confess that as someone who used to revel in packing the trunk for a long drive (I just KNOW we can fit everything in here!), I apply that same attitude to seeing just how much I can transport on my bike. Some locals have told me that that compulsion is very Dutch of me, which I take as a compliment!

Here’s my bike on a recent shopping run.

So the place of the bike in Dutch society runs deep. One of my favorite public sculptures in Groningen is that of a father and daughter as she’s learning to bike. It speaks to the tight familial bonds that one sees with parents transporting one, two or three children on their bike, or guiding a child with a hand on the back as they bike side by side.

And this of course extends to pets who either run alongside bikes or are tucked into baskets in front or behind.

We use a K-9 backpack with our Schnauzer Reggie Max, which he loves.

While we are usually biking around the city, my wife Janet, our daughter Elyse, and I enjoy the occasional excursion into the countryside where the extensive network of bike paths takes you through open fields and small towns. The vistas can be gorgeous.

But when I titled this post “On the Move in Groningen,” I meant it literally as back in the early summer we moved from our house on the northside of the city to our new home just south of the city center.

Our house on Boteringesingel was a great spot for us to live for two years. The dwelling, the location, the neighbors were all great; and it felt like home. But then the owners needed to sell. We explored that possibility for a minute, but Dutch mortgage rules are very restrictive for expats, which limited our options. So we jumped into the apartment search which proved rather stressful as the housing supply in Groningen is tight. We went weeks without seeing any viable housing choices for us. But then we were fortunate to find a neat apartment just south of the city center and near the train station which is a plus for our travel around the country.

We made our move over a 10 day period, shuttling the smaller things over to the apartment with the help of friends + their cars! So, many thanks to Sam, Coretta, Nicholas and Henk, as well as Todd and Anna who lent us their car for a day.

Actually being behind the wheel in Groningen helped me realize afresh JUST HOW NUTS the bike traffic can be!

Reggie and Loeki Ann, were a bit on edge amidst all the boxes. And then it was time for our movers who were coming for the bigger items.

Given the typically steep, tight, and curvy staircases in Dutch homes, it’s common for movers to set up a conveyor belt that runs from the street up to a 2nd or 3rd story window. The belt holds a cage into which boxes, tables, chairs, lamps, and anything else imaginable are strapped in and then sent down to the truck below. The large windows on the front of our house didn’t open, so our movers had to navigate the staircases up to the second and third floors.

The crew did a great job.

In addition to the neighbors and house, I knew I’d miss our front and back gardens. The roses out front had EXPLODED this spring. It was almost as though they were giving us a parting salute. I gave them a final trim.

With Frans, one of our wonderful neighbors.

In every house/apartment move I’ve made over my life, it’s the final items that can wear you out — there’s always just one more box or bag or lamp shade! As Janet and I looked to ferry the last remaining items on our bikes, Frans came out and insisted on getting his car to make the final run.

Here’s the front of the building for our new apartment, along with a photograph that hangs in our lobby entrance (below) that was taken perhaps in the 1950s or 60s.

We got settled into our new place. One feature we especially enjoy are the huge windows that run across the front and back of the apartment. Janet takes a break from unpacking on the front windowsill, and the pets were getting acclimated too.

While the front of our building faces a busy main street, behind our building, one steps into a quiet neighborhood that almost has the feel of a small village. One of the streets is bedecked in summer by a stunning progression of roses.

After the move was complete, I enjoyed exploring the neigbhorhood with my mother-in-law Doris who had come for an extended visit. One day, we ambled past an unusual sight (speaking of being on the move) — a full sized American pick up truck.

Then there was this pocket-size Fiat that mom was ready to take for a spin!

A classic Peugeot RV!

On another day, this truck that was unloading in the neighborhood caught my eye. I was curious given how LOW the truck was sitting. When I reached the back of the vehicle, I saw how it had a double-decker storage arrangement.

As with any move, you often have to pick up some odds and ends to fill out your space. And we were in luck, because how often can you live within a 5-minute bike ride to BOTH the center of a medieval city AND your local IKEA?!

At 41,000 square meters, our “local neighborhood store” is the largest IKEA in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. The only challenge may be getting your purchases home — that is, if your only vehicle is a bike and you’re racing against the clock!

We made our IKEA run one day, filled our cart, and then found ourselves in the checkout line with a guy actually wearing wooden clogs, which isn’t a common sight.

I loaded our purchases into one of the transport bikes that you can rent. My challenge was that I only had 45 minutes to get back to our apartment, unload, and get back to the store before they closed.

IKEA caters to the Dutch bike riding public, so one can rent a platform bike if you have items that you can’t negotiate on your own bike. I loaded my parcels onto the rental and set out. I was a bit pressed as I only had 30 minutes to get back to our apartment, unload, and get back to the store before they closed.

I had a smooth ride back to our new home, unloaded, and made my way back to the store.

Along the way, I saw some women who evidently were returning a product to IKEA — a full bed which they decided not to disassemble!

I just got in under the store closing deadline, earning a friendly thumbs up from the IKEA Customer Service agent when I turned in the rental.

With our apartment now put together, I was able to check out other parts of our new neighborhood — and that included the biggest construction project in Groningen — a major renovation of the train station. We had front row seats to this project as the train station sits about a block away. A construction crane is visible from our front window.

This is a view of the front of the Groningen train station which dates to 1896.

The construction was taking place behind the train station where new platforms, featuring cast-iron framing to match the original building, and a subterranean plaza were being constructed.

The project was behind schedule, so crews were working 24-7 for three months. They were replacing all the tracks leading into the station which was a huge job.

I have always been curious about the precise purpose of these blue “railpro” cars that I have seen along the train tracks from time to time, so I was glad to catch this on video. I found the process of laying gravel for the tracks to be somewhat mezmerizing!

With the crews working around the clock, the tracks were completed . . .

. . . and full rail service resumed.

It was cool to walk into the brand new underground concourse. There’s still more construction to complete as they’re moving the bus platforms to this back side of the train station and installing a bike garage that will hold thousands of bikes.

We’re enjoying the upgraded station and its proximity to our apartment — a leisurely 5 minute stroll, or a 2 minute sprint if you’re running late for your train!

In the midst of this renovation, an intriguing relic (above) from a bygone era of train travel remains, as I explain in the video below.

The street in front of our building, as I mentioned, is busy. And particularly during the morning or early evening rush.

Probably the most — shall I say entertaining? — aspect of riding a bike around Groningen comes with the intersections! When the bike traffic picks up, negotiating a four way cross in an interstion can be a bit harrowing! I shot the video above from the safety of the sidewalk. In the video below, you get to join me in riding through an intersection yourself. As you’ll observe, there ARE rules about some right-of-way which are communicated by the markings on the bike paths on the street. But you can often find yourself threading your way through a maze of cyclists.

Cycling in the Netherlands is far safer than biking in the U.S. given the extensive biking infrastructure, and the culture and laws that privilege cyclists. That said, there are risks stemming from the volume of people pedaling, and then the increasing presence of heavy e-bikes which go at a good clip.

I had my first head-on collision with another biker back in the summer. It happened when a large truck stopped in the middle of the street. I was biking across the street at the time and went around the back of the truck. As I rounded the back of the trailer, I met another cyclist doing the same thing from the opposite direction. There was no way to avoid the collision and we both went down.

Thankfully, we were fine, and the only impact was that the basket on the front of my bike (above) was a bit bent out of shape. But that beats having to get your car towed to a body shop if you get into a fender bender in a car!

I want to wrap up this post with two final bike experiences — one planned and one unexpected!

A couple weeks ago I was meeting my Dutch friend Henk for lunch in the town of Zuidhorn which lies to the west of Groningen. The November day was chilly and wet, and yet beautiful as I made my way through the small hamlet of Leegkerk. I love this setting in which the 13th century church is cradled in a grove of trees. It’s just the latest example of what awaits you when you get off the beaten path.

Then last week, I was faced with one more challenge of moving something from A to B on my bike. We have a tradition of decorating our home for the Christmas holidays following my wife Janet’s birthday in early December. I had found a Christmas tree at our local Praxis store (it’s akin to Home Depot in the U.S.) which was a 10 minute bike ride from our apartment. I knew that transporting the tree home on my bike was ambitious — but thought it might be doable once the tree was wrapped in mesh.

I carried the tree to my bike and began to explore different ways that I could deploy my bungee cords to secure it. That evidently looked crazy to some others as a car pulled up next to me, the passenger window came down, and a woman said to me, “Heb je hulp nodig?” (Do you need some help?) Upon finding out where we lived, the couple in the car, Maikin and Orestes, offered to transport the tree for me. I was expecting to hop in the car with them and then I’d walk back to collect my bike. But once we loaded the tree in the car and they confirmed our address, Maikin and Orestes started to pull away. I then realized that they expected that I’d bike home and they’d meet me there.

This was incredibly considerate on their part, but I couldn’t help thinking — “Did I just give our Christmas tree away? What if this kind couple was actually part of an organized Groningen Christmas tree theft ring?” After all, I had no information about them.

There was nothing to do but cycle home quickly and hope that I would find them there. Sure enough, as I rounded the corner to our apartment, I spied what looked like their car parked out front of our apartment. But no one was there and the back of the hatch was empty. Was this the right car? But then out came Maikin and Orestes from our building. They had carried the tree up to our apartment and deposited it by our door. It was just one more case of someone in Groningen doing us a nice turn.

Getting from A to B. What’s that like in your own life? Or if you’ve traveled to a different part of the world, what’s that one transportation story that immediately comes to mind? Share it in the comment section! And thanks for being a reader of My Dutch Diary!