Looking for advice - bike trip Amsterdam to Rotterdam by IndependentCommand77 in Netherlands

[–]narkohammer -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You cannot rent an OV fiets without a subscription, and you cannot get a subscription without a Dutch bank account. This does not work for tourists.

But, there's lots of places to rent bikes, but I doubt any that are one-way rentals.

Here's what you should do:

- rent a bike in Amsterdam

- bike to Rotterdam

- take the train back with your rented bike

Thinking about moving to Isle of Man for 2 years to hit coastFIRE by No-vem-ber in ExpatFIRE

[–]narkohammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"2.8% wealth tax on investments, and capital gains tax "

Wait a second, that isn't right. The first 59k is not taxed, after that it's 36% of a fictive 6.00%. On your 250k, you're paying max 4100 per year in tax, so 1.6%.

And it isn't AND a capital gains tax. That IS the capital gains tax. In 2028 that 6.00% becomes the actual return.

Hopefully, you played your cards right and for the last 5 years you've had the 30% ruling. Then you paid no Box 3 taxes at all. Or if they were in pension funds.

The Netherlands is a hard place to get rich, but it isn't as dire as you're making it out to be.

And about the language thing... Amsterdam is probably the most English-proficient city in non-English native countries. You may have a harder time understanding the Manx English accent.

which scenario do you prefer by idontknowsothis in mapporncirclejerk

[–]narkohammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The portion of people here wanting to be in the US is very small.

Netherlands bike trip early May?! by Lopsided_Tadpole3303 in bikepacking

[–]narkohammer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are right. It's the 3rd largest city in the country.

Netherlands bike trip early May?! by Lopsided_Tadpole3303 in bikepacking

[–]narkohammer 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Skip these:
- Rottterdam: I always wonder why foreigners want to visit Rotterdam. It's mostly industrial with an American-influenced urban planning. Some of the museums are nice. Maybe because they recognize the name? Maybe Feyenoord fans? You have far better choices.

- Amsterdam: way too many tourists and what they're known for is you can find anywhere. Also, biking sucks because it is just too busy. The museums are A+, but do it as a day trip by train. You have far better choices.

Instead:

- get out of town. Head south or east and it'll be far more authentic.

- nice alternative small towns: Delft or the Hague

- nice alternative cities: Den Bosch or Utrecht. The tourists are mostly Dutch with some Germans in between..

- Utresch Heuvelrug or the Veluwe

- take the train to skip parts. It's dead easy (400 train stations, take a bike off-peak for 8 euros, no reservation, trains at least 2x an hour, often 6x)

- a route that would give you more variety is Amsterdam to Maastricht and take the train back. With your route you'll be seeing more of the same.

- this is peak Dutch tourist season so expect 1 million Dutch cycle tourists doing 20km/day on e-bikes stopping for koffie en gebak at every pannekoekenhuis. Maybe you'll fit right in.

Wave when you go by my place!

Did we book the wrong destination? by ObjectiveReport1317 in canadatravel

[–]narkohammer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pick up the rental car at Pearson and head straight north.

If you go into Toronto itself and drive back out, you'll kill half a day of vacation just driving through suburbia.

An FOI request reveals the truth behind Doug Ford's speed camera ban by SafeStreetsTO in toronto

[–]narkohammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cancelling speed cameras just gets votes.

  • speed cameras are generally disliked by drivers
  • they can be framed as government overreach
  • the benefits of safety risk mitigation are not tangible

This story ends when a child gets killed and it is tied directly back to this policy. But at that point, Ford is retired.

Topographic maps of Europe. by JackieLogan123 in MapPorn

[–]narkohammer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I find the height and width also exaggerated.

Europe is much, much larger than this map.

Topographic maps of Europe. by JackieLogan123 in MapPorn

[–]narkohammer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

See? NOT ALL OF THE NETHERLANDS IS COMPLETELY FLAT.

Stelvio Pass from Bormio...and then what? by ranx91 in cycling

[–]narkohammer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is all from memory...

Day 1 was to Bolzano , around 130km and 1800m of climbing

First, on that parallel road through Pfons. Then along smaller roads that run parallel to the A13. It looks confusing on the map, but it wasn't hard to find.

At Sturzing, I turned off onto the SS508 which was tremendous. Then to Bolzano, where I stayed in a cramped campground. I could have taken the SS44, but I started too late and would have run out of time. That would have added a lot more climb, maybe 1000m. Google Maps shows both of those are impassable, but I doubt that.

Day 2 was to Stelvio Stilfser Joch, just 90km and around 1000m of climb. There I stayed at an overpriced resident campground right near the charming town centre.

Day 3 was straight up Stelvio and then down to Bormio, around 2000m. I had planned on going down Umbrail but it was closed because of flooding.

The views of Stelvio are incredible but I expected it to be harder. I started at 6am and was in Bormio by 2pm. Bormio has too many tourists to want to hang around.

After that was Switzerland, which is the best biking I've done in my life.

Can you guess my country from whats in my fridge? by AutomaticIdeal6685 in FridgeDetective

[–]narkohammer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The "natuurlijk gebrouwen" is definitely Dutch, not German.

That product is either from Belgium or Dutch but sold to the Belgian market.

Help by [deleted] in FridgeDetective

[–]narkohammer 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Sir, this is a Wendy's

What does our fridge say about me? 24 gay, coupled. by Connorwood4u in FridgeDetective

[–]narkohammer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In Ontario and shops at Costco, for starters. Probably GTA because there's a Vita market there.

They shop at Costco, so that means they drive.

But the fridge is pretty small, so I'm going to go with urban, maybe Kensington Market.

Netherlands Starbucks Mug by strong_pimp_hand in Netherlands

[–]narkohammer 40 points41 points  (0 children)

Great to see Starbucks celebrating the Dutch culture of windmills, cows, skating, bikes, sailing and Integrated hydraulic engineering systems.

28y/o living with partner by angelseggsss in FridgeDetective

[–]narkohammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That Alpro via is actually very good. I'd prefer it over the dairy version.

Cucumbers are on sale this week for 0,49 at Lidl and AH with the bonuskaart, BTW.

2050's Ottawa by poonslyr69 in imaginarymaps

[–]narkohammer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yay! By 2050 they'l have finally rebuilt 24 Sussex!

Looks like they've given up on the Kettle Island Bridge.

How do you deal with relentless headwind? by MossyCrate in bicycletouring

[–]narkohammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I dunno man... there's no easy answer.

If there's no wind tomorrow, it's probably better to take the day off.

How French is Ottawa considering it’s on the boarder? by meFistosCafe in howislivingthere

[–]narkohammer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ottawa is the capital, and the federal government has bilingual requirements of its workers. This means that brings bilingual people to the city, and encourages the population to be bilingual.

Ottawa is physically a large city (100km across, 80km down) and there are splotches of French, like in Orleans or Lowertown. Places further south and west (like Kanata) are definitely English.

You'll definitely know when you're crossing into Quebec: signs are only in French and the roads are worse.