Dutch bicyclists fly by the Cafe Luxembourg in Amsterdam.

Audio: A waitress in Amsterdam explains how the Dutch can bicycle without helmets and survive.

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While I have been accused of being overly safety-conscious, the bicyclists in Amsterdam are surely in the wrong. In what is known as the bicycle capital of the world, where everyone cycles because it is so flat, no one wears a helmet! In America it is uncommon to see someone without helmets these days.

It was sitting with W-QED FM's Jim Cunningham in the beautiful Cafe Luxembourg, which overlooks Spui Square, when this observation struck me.

I asked our waitress, Manuella, if she could explain the laisse-faire attitude of Dutch bicyclists:

"Everybody learns to ride a bicycle at a very early age so they are very good at driving the bicycles and they don't know any differently," she said, matter-of-factly (and in Dutch first).

Besides not wearing helmets, or even hats (and it was damp and chilly) the riders could often be seen wearing high heels, or worse, talking on their cell phones. Maybe they are not so different than us after all.

The Begijnhof House.

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Cunningham and I also discovered the oldest house in Amsterdam, the so-called "Begijnhof House," which was built in 1460 along with many other houses in an enclosed sort of gated community called the Begijnhof in Amsterdam.

Many of the others burned down and are now stone or brick. This one still looked pretty solid to me!