“Are you up for a little bike ride? To start the real Dutch experience?” My friend Lisa’s text reads. I see it while riding the train from Schipol Airport to Utrecht, the start of a week with two close friends. I love real travel experiences, but I had just arrived from the US. With luggage. And it was freezing outside, an unseasonably cold winter in the Netherlands. My gloves and jacket were more San Francisco “layers” – thin enough to pile on over each other and remove without bulk – but certainly not for freezing bike rides. Read more at: http://takeyourbigtrip.com/2012/03/11/winter-biking-holland-unexpected-pickup-utrecht/