This is the first update from my trip to Europe.  The flight was long enough, very packed into my economy class seat.  Remarkably, my seat mate was a woman from Eugene. There were clouds most of the way but I did see some Canadian Rockies, maybe Baffin Island and southern Greenland with lots of sea ice.  Nighttime never arrived, dusk was all and then sunrise over Greenland.  Somewhat disorienting, most of Europe is abbot 9 hours earlier in the day.

Below are more fotos than I can fit in an e mail.  You can enlarge the fotos.

This is Greenland. An icy world from 30,000 feet.

This is the plane's route to Europe. The image here is actually distorted, the earth is not flat. Imagine a globe, the flight flies over the nearly top of the globe.

Overflow bike parking in Groningen.

This is the train station in Groningen. Lots under construction. Hanneke lives a ten minute walk from the station and center of city is also 10 minutes across a canal. Very convenient.

Looking down at the Forum, Groningen's ultra modern and ultra impressive community center.

A basic model of the Forum. The Forum includes a library, cinema, cafes, roof top terrace, maker spaces, computer access, displays and exhibits, meeting rooms, hang out spaces,,, on and on,

Another beautiful space in the Forum. A cafe on about the 6th floor. The architecture is simply amazing, almost overwhelming but welcoming at the same time. So many small habitats for people whether you want to be by yourself or with others. A lot of care, thought design work went into this place. Hanneke told me there were 3 basic designs for the public to choose from. There was a not so successful commercial center there and the process to choose and fund the Forum took years.

Looking down from the upper part of the forum.

A small park and residential only a few blocks from centrum. My guess, this view is very similar to hundreds of years ago. Much of Groningen was destroyed in WW II.

These buildings almost 500 years old.

Outdoor cafe and 500 another 500 year old building.

A typical alley near centruum. I saw only one person in sitting with sign asking for money. I saw no homeless camp or tents anywhere.

A cannabis cafe.

Another alley between Centruum and where Hanneke lives. Her place is the next street, basically an ally, to the left.

Around the corner from the previous foto, this is where Hanneke lives.

First evening in Groningen, in Europe, Hanneke went to bed and I went out to see Groningen on Saturday night. Temps were chilly but a lot of people out walking, biking, in cafes. I returned to the Forum and had a beer in the

Hennike's very tasteful and contemporary home, with large windows to her small outside space,

This is Hanneke's back patio. There are maybe 10 small back properties surrounded by the respective residences. Makes me wonder what they could do if they cooperatively managed these spaces, Its really nice andgreen.

We did a bike ride Sunday around a nearby lake. People live in a denser way but that makes available tons of accessible public outdoor space.

We stopped at this cafe/restaurant for tea. Lovely terrace, sunny, boats out on the water. Even some kids went in for a chilly swim.

Still on the lake. This is an artificial beach. After all, the lake used to be a peat bog. Lots of kids playing beach volleyball. I gave Hanneke some frisbee lessons.

Later that day. I needed an electrical plug adapter. Different countries have different wall outlets. None in Europe are like the US. So these were big box stores and you can see the big box store parking lot. You move away from the older part of Groningen and the land use becomes more car centric. Still bikes but not like the older part of town, I biked away from centruum in other directions and the same pattern. More big stores and more roads and cars. Sad to see this,

This area a bit of counter culture. Reused buildings on the margin of legal with alternative small businesses. The one on the right will be torn down while on the left will be allowed to stay. Businesses on the right will move to the left side.

Hanneke voluneers at this garden. It suppies veggies to the food bank. People who receive public assistance can volunteer in the garden to continue receiving assistance. Hanneke told me working in the garden great way to meet different people. I was surprised to see a small fig tree in the garden.

Return to Centruum. I saw lots of different residential designs. Most accepted cars but bikes and walking were encouraged. All these residential styles could be described as "missing mildle." A form of housing between suburban and apartments,,, like duplexes and quads row houses, courtyard houses andother designs. These are more dense but still spacious, espcially if there is a nearby park such as at the end of this street.

Another car free street with missing middle housing. The idea with missing middle is to provide more options for people. Being more dense can often mean more affordable.

Closer to centruum. There are lots of bikes, sidewalk cafe. There's a canal just to my left, See he different architecture.

Even closer to centruum. You can see more residential with a lot of people out in the cafes.

You have to walk through an old heavy wooden door to see these courtyard homes. Very conpact. Hanneke told me the place was to be sold for conversion into upscale residential. The lower income rent paying residents fought the plan. I dont know exactly what the process was but the gentrification did not proceed and the people who were living here continue to live here.

Hanneke in the kitchen. The alley/street is just outside the window. Hanneke is vegan and does not have a car. Both her adult kids are counter culture oriented. She shared her sizable home not far from here with two adult friends as an intentional community for ten years.

The bike shop where I bought my bike.

Bikes and potted olive tree. Surprising to see potted olive trees and hardy palm trees in Holland.

This is the pedestrian bridge over the canal between Groningen centrum and the train station and transportation hub.

Bike parking by the train station in Groningen.

The ceiling at the train station in Groningen. There used to be a false low ceiling but later they removed the false ceiling to show the art work,

There are buses at the train station, as well. Coordinated transportation.

Return to the bike shop to pick up my new used bike. They rebuild and refurbish used bikes and gear.

Me and the new bike. We will spend a lot of time together.

The guys at the bike shop have a lunch break.

Near the bike shop. The city bike pound. These bikes were picked up for various parking violations. People can come to reclaim them within 4 weeks, if left unclaimed, they go to other places for reuse or recycle.

Towards the bike shop, many more cars and spread out like USA, but still bike ways.

Street view away from Centrum, Groningen. The more distance from centrum, the more cars and car related land use and business,

Moving closer to centrum, fewer cars, more pedestrians and bikes, more walkable land use.

Same ride returning from the bike shop, closer to centrum. Hanneke was a great help with connecting me with the bike shop.

Another foto of Groningen. Almost every Dutch city has canals.

A warm day brings people out to the parks.

A foto of me in from of beautiful fountains and park. I as very impressed with public places in Groningen.

I met this fellow and his visiting mom. They are both from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nice chat.

So I left Groningen.  Wonderful visit with Hanneke.  We belong to a travel/peace organization.  That is our connection.  I left Groningen on the train for Amsterdam bu way of Leeuwarden. See fotos below,  The Dutch country side is very flat and green.  Passing train stations in small towns, you always see a lot of bikes.  There are bike ways between towns everywhere.  There are many windmills and solar voltaic on buildings, My next task was to bike from Amsterdam to Houten through Utrecht, a distance of about 35 miles. I would be staying in Houten for several days.  Houten is a new town designed to discourage cars and one of my primary destinations for the entire trip.  I would be staying with Peter and Mariam.