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July 31, 2017

Getting to know the Netherlands

BY: Héctor García

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Fun in the port

 

Today we work up in port and although we had some new Dutch colleagues coming on board the Neptune, we didn’t get the chance to meet them before we had to leave the vessel. A few of us had to come off for a few days to make room for the Dutch divers and PhD students. It’s sad to leave our workmates behind for a few days but also exciting to get to know Groningen a little better and take away with us a bit of Dutch culture.

I am a bit envious of life here; there are so many people on bikes and walking everywhere, people on motorbikes with helmets, many electric cars and above all people seem to respect the cyclists and walkers, giving them priority over cars.

This completely the opposite to Spain; lots of cars and motorbikes producing lots of smoke everywhere, few people riding a bike and little respect for pedestrians. This has taught us a lesson, without a doubt, about new opportunities and how a well-run and totally different city works.

We’re still as happy and excited as we were when we started the expedition, but now all strangers I met at the start have turned into one big happy family!.