Groningen

written by Rob Turner - Tour Manager

Jon and I just returned to Podium Cafe Peter en Leni after a quick drive to and hangout in Groningen.  It is a delightful city in which to walk.  Century-old architecture mingles with the more modern.  It is crawling with young, vibrant people, which elicited some Logan's Run jokes from Jon.  It seems as though everyone is healthy, and certainly this is in part due to the fact that so many use their own feet or bicycles for transportation.  I was the fattest guy Jon saw all day.  Back in Atlanta, many people stroll blindly into the street without checking for oncoming traffic.  These folks would get swallowed up and spat out here, as you constantly have to be mindful of the (often very speedy) bicycle traffic.  Foot pedestrians often take refuge on cobblestone'd areas.  Even the occasional automobiles are constantly yielding to bicycles.  Which seems appropriate, as the bicyclists aren't wasting any gas.  We saw three churches' breathtaking architecture and a ton of pubs.  Was sorta difficult to find parking, and then to figure out how to pay for it, although a couple of local lovelies helped us out.  We chose a pub and had a beer while watching the people.  I quickly discovered that surprisingly many text while bicycling.  One particularly adventurous young lad was riding while walking his dog and playing a harmonica as a guitar sat precariously in his bicycle basket.  I tried to get a pic, but the dude was moving along too fast for us.