The perfect bike

Impressed by the Dutch cycling culture, my husband was determined to make cycling a usual habit when we came here, a year and a half ago. He already had a cycle, which he used for the first couple of months, until it had a problem with its pedal. "I think its time I buy a new bike." So, out he went on a bike search and came back shocked at the high prices of cycles in Netherlands. Even though cycles are the most common household items here, they are not cheap at all.
Hence, my husband bought a second hand mountain bike from one of his colleagues. It looked super cool, but we soon realised why his colleague wanted to get rid of it. If you want to ride a bike in the city, you don't want a mountain bike. What you want is a typical dutch bike with a large frame and large wheels, which doesn't look trendy or modern, but is just right.
My husband sold the mountain bike on marktplaats (another very important discovery we made, the local ebay), and ordered another one from there. This time again he was conned into buying something that was not worth it. That bike got returned and the search for the perfect bike continued.
When the perfect bike was found and bought, all he needed was the perfect weather to start cycling to work. But every morning as he referred to my technique of looking at the bedroom window to judge the weather outside, he would be disappointed. Netherlands would always be windy and rainy, and only true Dutch people can cycle in this kind of weather, the rest of us will just keep waiting for the perfect day.

The joy of living high up

I live in an apartment on the 9th floor, and from my bedroom's full size windows I get an amazing view of the city.
Whenever I decide to go out I go to my room to analyse the weather outside. Since I am too dumb to understand the weather guide when it tells me the speed of the wind and amount of precipitation outside I prefer to rely on my own judgemental skills instead.
The tuincentrum (garden centre) in front of my house has mounted some banners outside it. If these banners are vibrating vigorously I know its windy, if they are gently swaying, I know its safe to go out.
Then there is the conundrum of how to dress up to go out. The inside room temperature of my house remains 21 degree throughout the year, which makes it hard to fathom how cold or warm it is outside. Again, I go to my bedroom window, and this time look at the people already outside.
The oldies would always be overdressed, the youngsters would always be underdressed. I keep looking until I find someone whose dressing sense I can rely on and then decide how many layers of clothing I need to wear while going out today. Not only that, but when I am really bored, my bedroom window becomes a big tv screen for me. I can choose which floor of the opposite building to watch. My favourite being the top floor, where I see a baby boy growing up to different stages. Its amazing how fast these little ones grow.