We are about to embark on a new adventure. Driving in a foreign country. This week, after a few different trips to the Deelgemeente Hillegersberg-Schiebroek, Bob and I traded our Maine licenses for a Dutch "rijbewijs." Ok, step one completed. Step two.... learn how to drive here. Between the "shark's teeth" that signal right of way, and yielding to cars from the right, I believe we have our work cut out for us. It will also be important that we don't hit any bikers or get creamed by any trams, since cars, bikes, and trams all use the same roads. Bob and I were both pretty good drivers in the USA, but this seems like a bit of a different story.
We've decided we're going to get a car. I know I was pretty excited not to have one, but for Bob to be able to really make some connections and hopefully play some gigs here, a car would make a HUGE difference. Right now he either has to ride his bike with his telecaster in my bass gig bag, or he can take his other electric guitar on the tram. The problem with our tram is that it only runs until midnight, and then you're stuck. There was a night bus running on week nights for a while, but they've stopped that for now and it's only on the weekends. We're going to look for a relatively cheap smaller car with low-ish mileage that we can also use to travel around Europe. Road trips, here we come!