This morning, the girls and I unexpectedly went to the zoo! Our neighbor's children were going and we went along for the ride. Liliane was transported in a "bike box," which is a sort of cart attached to a bike in which you can transport children, groceries, odd-sized things. I took Amelie by bike. The zoo was beautiful, covered with pavers and very green. They had two playgrounds there. The cages where the big cats were kept reminded me of pictures out of children's books, with an actual big cage, and then some space, and then a fence. You could see them pretty well. When Liliane saw the baboons, she kept exclaiming, "Nana!" for banana. There was also a poffertje house. Poffertjes are special pancakes here, similar to our silver-dollar pancakes, but smaller and a little lighter. The opportunity to visit the poffertjehuis is reason alone to return!
Riding among the cyclists was fun, even though I hadn't ridden a bike for quite a while. It's so nice to cycle here because there are so many dedicated bike lanes. Most drivers seem aware of cyclist culture, so they go slowly around if there is no bike lane. The biggest reason I haven't ridden a bike in Phoenix is my fear of getting hit.
