FIVB World Championships Notebook - Day 12

Autumn season comes with rain, chilly weather

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It’s currently autumn season here in the Netherlands and the rains have been pounding hard since early morning.

Occasionally there are sunny days but hardly a day passes by without rain. The temperatures can be as low as 11 degrees, but on most days it’s around 14-15 degrees.

The days are longer since the sun rises at around 6am and it only gets dark from 8pm.

Due to climate change, autumn is expected to stretch into January which is a good thing for farmers who endured a long dry summer.

Elderly people cycle on less draining electric bicycles

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Monday being a free day, yours truly decided to cycle around town. As I was going uphill on one of the roads, a young man, probably a teenager zoomed past me when I was cycling at the highest speed.

Moments later, an elderly woman again passed me with bemusing ease when I was still at the highest speed.

When I narrated the story to a friend he explained why. Elderly people often use electric bicycles which enable them to cycle at an average of 30kph using less energy.

Bus service, cashless and efficient

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Travelling by bus in the Netherlands is more efficient than using your car to work. Buses have special lanes which allows them to beat traffic.

They arrive at the station on time as indicated on the e-booking system. When you board, you tap your card on a machine at the entrance door which automatically starts calculating the fare for your trip.

Inside the bus there are screens showing various destinations. Once you reach yours, you press a button and the driver stops.

You tap your card again on the machine at the exit door to pay fare and exit.