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25,000 Dutch fans walked Houston
For decades, traveling Dutch fans have donned orange, assembled by the thousands, and walked city streets behind the famed orange bus to the hosting stadium. This time they took public transit and biked to a university campus at the edge of the museum district, then headed south.
The route followed a residential avenue shaded by old growth oaks, emerged onto Main Street, crossed a waterway bordered by a pedestrian trail, and then ran alongside the light rail's red line southbound to the stadium center. It covered 3 miles, or 5 km, through wooded, fairly compact neighborhoods, crossing canals and pedestrian trails.
Americans know Houston as unwalkable, sprawling, and car-obsessed, in a state and a country known for being car-obsessed. For the Dutch fans, the heat was the one thing out of the ordinary.
Why do Dutch fans wear orange?
Orange is the color of the House of Orange-Nassau, the Dutch royal family. The family takes its name from the principality of Orange in what is now southern France, which William of Orange inherited in the sixteenth century. William led the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, and orange became tied to Dutch national identity. The national football team has played in orange since the early twentieth century.
Why did Dutch cities become so bike-friendly?
Car traffic grew rapidly in the Netherlands after World War II, and in 1971 more than 3,000 people died on Dutch roads, including many children. A campaign called Stop de Kindermoord, which means Stop the Child Murder, pushed for safer streets. The oil crisis of 1973 added public support for driving less. In the following years the government built separated bike paths in cities across the country.
Why does Houston's humidity feel hotter?
Houston sits near the Gulf of Mexico, which feeds warm, moist air over the city. Humid air slows the evaporation of sweat, which is how the body cools itself. The National Weather Service's heat index combines temperature and humidity to estimate how hot the air feels. In summer, the heat index in Houston often runs well above the thermometer reading.
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