Grocery shopping (by bicycle) in the Netherlands | Week 33 2024

[@wyldlibrarian3549]

heya Paul... oooooooooh looks so sunny today for you ! Looks awesome. Thanks for your cheery "Keeping it real" videos! Hope you are well and life is good. Do bikes have right of way then ?

[@PaulvanGulik]

It was really nice out. After a few very hot weeks, it was around 20 degrees (68 F), Perfect for cycling. When you ask about the right of way, do you mean when I go the "wrong"way on a one way street for cars? Or interact with cars in general? Under Dutch law, bikes and cars (or any vehicle for that matter) have to follow the same basic rules. They're legally equals. So for example, cars backing out of a parking spot have to yield to all through traffic, regardless of whether it's a car or a bike, and regardless of which direction the bike is going when it's a one way street for cars. And unless otherwise signed/marked, all vehicles (so that's bikes, cars, or any other vehicle) have to yield to all vehicles coming from the right. So technically, I had to yield to that dark grey car coming from the right just before I pulled into Lidl, but we made eye contact and she let me pass. She looked like she was unsure which way to go, so I think that's why she let me go past, while she figured that out. But yeah, who has the right of way depends on the road and who mainly uses it. On smaller/less busy streets, bikes and cars are treated equally when it comes to priority. Like you saw here. On main roads for cars where they cross a bike path, cars tend to have right of way. When main bike paths cross a road, bikes tend to have right of way.

[@teresacrowley4076]

Hi Paul. I enjoyed the tour around your city and hearing about some of your city's history. Its great to see so many people cycling. Holland is perfect for cycling. Have a good evening!!

[@PaulvanGulik]

I had a whole monologue about how they created this land from the sea as I was cycling along the canal, but unfortunately, that was one of the clips where the audio was corrupted. I'll have to tell that story again another time! You have a great evening as well. Pedantry corner: This isn't Holland, it's the Netherlands. Holland only encompasses Noord (North) Holland (where Amsterdam is) and Zuid (South) Holland (home to Rotterdam and The Hague), 2 of the country's 12 provinces. It's kind of like calling the United States Dakota, because there are 2 of those. Though Noord and Zuid Holland have been the economic engine of the country for centuries, especially when they were still one large province/county, and the majority of sites tourists come to see are in these two provinces, you'll still irk quite a few people when you call it Holland. Especially when talking to those from one of the other 10 provinces. Except when it comes to football. Then for some reason Holland is totally acceptable.

[@teresacrowley4076]

Apologies for calling where you live Holland. Thanks for educating me!

[@teresacrowley4076]

I would appreciate hearing that story another time re how that land was reclaimed.

[@PaulvanGulik]

Shall I include it in my next grocery shopping video, or should I do a stand alone video and go in to much more detail? It could be a quite long video!

[@teresacrowley4076]

@@PaulvanGulikif it's a long video, I think make it a stand alone video.