A First Look at Groningen

Some things I have already learned about the Netherlands:

1. You are never far from water. Forget Venice. This whole country is riddled with canals. Oddly enough, for all the waterways I've seen in the short time I've been here, not one of them has been natural. It's possible that some of the canals are based on natural waterways, but all of them travel in perfectly straight lines.
2. The Dutch are very serious about their flowers. Flowers are big business in the Netherlands, but also a very central part of Dutch culture. And they are everywhere. Also, they're very cheap here. A dozen roses for 5 Euro. (Right now, a Euro is roughly a dollar.) Tulips are 20-50 for 5 Euro. 
3. English and Dutch are used almost interchangeably. Advertisements are just as likely to be in English as they are in Dutch. Same with graffiti, weirdly enough. I went to church in an old cathedral in the center of town today. Everything was in Dutch except the sermon topic: Robot of God. Note that this isn't one of those things where the Dutch words happen to be the same as the English ones, except maybe robot. I was dying to know what the sermon was about, but unfortunately, the title was the only English part. I did learn that robot is pronounced rowboat, so there's that. 
4. Bikes rule, cars drool. Driving, at least on city streets, appears to be virtually impossible. The streets are narrow, and everyone--EVERYONE--has the right of way before cars do. Also, driving directions are literally embedded in the streets themselves. Streets paved with yellow brick are off limits from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. Streets with small red bricks have a lower speed limit. Confused? I think they are, too. That's probably why you don't see anyone driving around here.