I actually slept more than 5 hours for once! I woke up completely recharged and ready to go today and considering how looooong our plans were, it was very much needed. My daily adventure first started at De Vrije Universiteit, where I had a guided tour with everyone else. Some parts of it reminded me of Pitt, like the main building we started in. I was getting some real Posvar vibes from that part of the campus, maybe it was the ceilings and the pathways inside. Anyways, I visited other parts of campus, including newer class buildings and student recreation rooms. One of these buildings was incredible inside and was nicer than just about every interior on Pitt’s campus.

I was incredibly shocked how much cheaper attendance is compared to university in America, including the fees of flying back home regularly. Mom & Dad, this is my formal request to transfer here to save some money and buy season tickets for Ajax while I’m at it.

After scavenging for food in the free time I had, it was time to bus our way back to Schiphol. No, we aren’t getting deported back to the states for misbehavior, we were just able to go inside the hangars where KLM occupies. Of all the visits we have done, this has been my favorite by far. When we arrived, I was unable to take pictures at first in the offices due to some international law that prevents me from doing so (clearly censoring my ability to deliver a quality blog post). However, after a quick presentation, we left and I was finally able to capture the moments inside the hangar. I got to see an older KLM jet go under inspection and maintenance, which was EXTREMELY cool. Seeing parts of the jet deconstructed and the engine internals uncovered was incredibly intriguing as everything seemed so delicate and complex. There were far too many components for me to understand. I was also offered the chance to walk inside the cabin, which was being updated. This was the closest I have ever been and ever will be to a first class seat.

When everyone got out, we were all told why the cabins were being deconstructed. Historically, commercial airline cabins have been divided into three categories: economy, business, and first class. With a very low demand for first class seats, the airline had to ditch that and instead pursued and intermediary between traditional business and economy seating. Just recently, KLM began adding first class seating to their cabins, reflecting more a traditional approach. This was fascinating as the active demand for airline seats directly affected the layout of the cabins over the years, with the airlines making adequate changes in order to accommodate customer needs/desires.

Later on, I ventured into other parts of the hangar, learning about how heavily regulated the airline industry is in order to ensure the safety of passengers. Every oil, alcohol, other liquids, in addition to general components were sufficiently labeled so that if problems arose in testing, it is easy for KLM to locate and dispose of that batch of product. This is an example of how economically sustainable the industry is, as the significant regulations aim to reduce the need for increased maintenance and potential damage. Afterwards, I got to take a look at the engine testing room, inhaling the fumes of petroleum in the process. Unfortunately, no engines were present for testing today, but maybe another day if I am lucky enough to return! To close our visit at KLM and Schiphol, we were gifted a hard shelled reusable coffee cup and took yet another picture with the infamous flag in a mock cabin!

Dinner was catered at Pakhuis de Zwijger and unfortunately the couscous was not heated up, a massive disappointment to me as I love my couscous heated up. Nonetheless dinner was good and to close off a nearly 12 hour day, we attended a Designing Cities For All podcast. For lack of better words, it was… interesting (I’m sure everyone else here had a blast writing about this part of the night in their blogs so check it out!). Anyways, after that I was finally able to go home and get yet ANOTHER full night of sleep too after this long day! See you in the morning!