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Hello and welcome back to Oosterdam Day 11! Today’s blog post is going to be a little shorter than usual, since we did a single visit, went on a canal tour and then carpe diem’d (which I’ve so masterfully verbalized, you’re welcome Frank) the rest of the day. Similar to what we did a few days ago at the University of Amsterdam (that’s the visit, we were there again for the third time this trip), but instead of touring the engineering school, we toured the business school. 

The buildings here seem to house a variety of amenities as opposed to back at home, where we have one building dedicated to living space, another for athletics, another for lectures, and so on. Halls here can be expected to have study areas, lecture halls, theaters, dining spaces, labs, offices, and gift stores, and bike garages, and probably other things I failed to mention. It’s a clever way to save space, especially what with the Amsterdam housing crisis and the lack of space around the city. It’s why students don’t live on campus. According to our tour guide, Thomas, a vast majority of students live in the city, which allows them to fully immerse themselves in the Amsterdam environment. The University of Amsterdam simply exists as a part of the city—it’s not its own separate area, by any means. I’m not sure if I support this thinking, but I do agree that Pitt seems like a bubble sometimes, as most students exist firmly within the sphere of the Pittsburgh campus. We do explore and travel downtown from time to time, but it still feels like I’m not really in Pittsburgh—I’m just at Pitt, if that makes sense. That could just be a me thing, though. Living on campus can be more immersive, but only really in the context of Pitt. I know Emerson College in Boston does something similar to the University of Amsterdam, but it was kind of underwhelming when I visited it.

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We actually learned quite a bit about the bike culture here in the Netherlands while touring. It’s fairly obvious that bikes are commonplace for every household, and while they certainly have their benefits, bikes can prove to be quite the nuisance. For one, extra space must be allotted for the bikers. Bike accidents are common. Bike thefts are common, too, even if bikes are locked in place—someone will simply take the frame and dip, which is probably why I saw someone walking around carrying a bike wheel yesterday. Losing a bike can be disastrous, as they get loaded up onto a truck and thrown in a gigantic warehouse that stores thousands upon thousands of bikes. In the winter, people will continue riding in wintry conditions, and fall, often. Oh and apparently the canals here are incredibly dangerous because they’re littered with a tangled mess of just bikes. Thomas explained how drunkards would often fall into the canal and get caught in a spoke or a stray gear, and drown in the canal. And bikes are often scrapped as well, not salvaged or recycled, because there are simply too many of them. That’s the issue; the sheer number of bikes there are in the Netherlands. There are more bikes than there are people. I’m genuinely not sure if I’d rather live in a bike-heavy city, or in a car-heavy city. Certainly bikes are better for the environment, which seems to be a common theme here in the Netherlands, but are they more convenient?

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After the campus visit, we went into the heart of the city to take a canal tour. By now, we’d certainly walked along and across the canals a hundred times, but we’d never had the opportunity to physically be in one. To be honest, I was too mesmerized by the sights to really pay attention to the audio, but I will do my best to recall what I remember. Here are some random facts I learned during the tour:

Amsterdam is home to a massive pagoda-like restaurant floating on the water, known as the Sea Palace Restaurant. It’s part of the local Chinatown, and although Amsterdam’s isn’t the largest, it’s certainly one of the oldest in Europe. 

Amsterdam fosters a culture of self-indulgence and taking one’s time, so one can expect to see higher-end facilities and fashion. In the wealthier neighborhoods of Amsterdam, the “nobles” liked to flaunt their wealth by purchasing massive residences, which aren’t very practical today (especially since, well, housing crisis.) So the buildings are mostly occupied by banks now. 

Quite a few celebrities have swum in the Amsterdam canals. And they all survived, I think.

The NEMO museum features numerous hands-on activities and exhibits for kids and adults to enjoy. It’s a lot like COSI back in Columbus—a science museum and research center. The building itself, pictured below, looks much like a boat, but the architect himself has stated that this is merely a coincidence. The museum slopes gently towards the sky, which is meant to serve as a foil to the tunnels that burrow underneath it. 

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…And more, probably.

Anyway, we were let off our leashes later and released into the wild to wreak havoc upon the city. We walked around a bit (and hit another vintage market) before heading back to the Generator. It was all very gezellig—good vibes.

Only one day left and then we’re leaving! Tomorrow morning I plan on heading to the Van Gogh Museum, and then I believe we have something planned at 2:00. 

Should be interesting to see. Alright, that’ll do it for today. Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you tomorrow.