Mawhorter Sabbatical 2013: Groningen

Tuesday we drove to Groningen in the northern part of the Netherlands, where Rich gave a talk at the university. The lab is at the extreme northern end of the university out in the middle of some fields. While they were talking physics/chemistry, I took a walk along some bike paths through the fields and along the canals. I passed some horses chasing each other around a paddock, an adventure playground with kids doing cross-country challenges, and got to see a shepherd with a sheepdog moving some sheep from one field to another. Since it was around 5:00 (after work) there were lots of bikes, people walking dogs, and roller bladers. No cows or tulips, but one of the physicists said it still too cold for either to be out yet.

Nuclear Accelerator Institute

Groningen has 50,000 students, a quarter of the population, and they all have bikes. The non-students all have bikes too. One German said that the only Dutch sentence he needed when he worked in the Netherlands was "My bike was stolen." The Dutch group all agreed that the Dutch were usually honest, but not when it came to bikes, and one needed a good lock. Often they are stolen and then just dumped in a canal.

There are so many bikes that they clog the streets, and there are lots of signs warning that if you lock your bike anywhere but in the bike racks, it will be towed away. I like the picture of the crane towing a bicycle.

Dutch Warning Sign: Your Bike Will Be Towed

It's a bit hairy crossing the street with so many bikes and it drove Jens crazy trying to drive without hitting any with bikes all over the road. People cycled in unlikely clothing; I saw someone in cowboy boots and what looked like a square dance dress cycling. Instead of holding hands, I saw several couple cycling together with one hand on the handlebars and other around each other's waists. Wish I'd gotten a picture, but they whiz by pretty fast and I was trying not to get run over, although I had a couple of close calls. The cars and trucks were law-abiding and tame in comparison.

After we checked into the university guesthouse, our hosts walked us around the town a bit. We saw many students dressed in tails and formals and high heels on their way to a ball.

Students in tails on the way to the ball

Because it's a huge student town, we were told that there were more than 300 bars, one for almost every day of the year, and it was fairly noisy past midnight, but dead silent in the morning. Jens and Rich headed off to the lab, while I walked around the town, went to the maritime museum, and climbed the church tower for a view of the city.

The queen Beatrix has abdicated in favor of her son Willem-Alexander, who will become king on April 30. In honor of this, there were orange coronation flags along all the streets in the city center. The big ruckus is over the song that was written for his coronation, which so many people disliked. More than 40,000 people signed a protest petition, so the songwriter finally withdrew the song.

Goudkantoor (Gold Office) built in 1635 with Orange Coronation Banner

Almost every building is built of red brick. I like the Dutch shutters. Everything is narrower and steeper than in Germany, including the stairs. There's just not so much room.

Dutch shutters, building on square with oldest university building

The canals are lined with barges, most of them permanently moored and used as houseboats. Some are ship-shape and some are pretty scuzzy.

Houseboat Barge

We did see a windmill, but saw many more locks and drawbridges. I like the word for drawbridge in Dutch: slagbomen. Sounds like something that will hit you and reminds me of a boom, the part of the sailboat that holds the bottom of a sail and will certainly hit you if you don't keep your head down when tacking.