Today was our first day in Amsterdam, our arrival which followed a layover in Boston and a seven-hour flight to the Netherlands seems much quicker now. I was determined to follow my own personal strategy to avoid jet lag, which is to not sleep at all until this night. I believe so far, I’m in the clear.

We started our day by meeting our guide in the airport and taking a quick train ride to the hotel, we stashed our bags at the hotel and headed off to our first activity. We were divided into our teams and sent out to do a scavenger hunt. Guided by both riddles and some assistance from google maps, we were able to navigate Amsterdam and see wonderful buildings and areas. We were first led to a large church which had a beautiful interior and ornate glass panes. We then walked past monuments, down the narrow brick streets and looked into every store and cafe. Racing against the other teams I quickly learned that the people of Amsterdam are equally determined to get to where they want to be and mopeds, bicycles and people are often on a mission. Jay walking doesn’t appear to exist as people cross streets wherever most convenient and funnily enough we learned from our guide that you can be fined for petting a stranger’s dog.

We chose lunch at a pizza, burger and pasta spot for a quick meal and some much-needed relief on our legs. Here we were able to see and pet a dog who was sitting on a chair in the cafe.

During Dinner I had chosen the Kangaroo burger as my meal, although I had expected it to taste different surprisingly it was very similar to beef. It’s weird to be six hours ahead but luckily the length of the past day and a half has me fairly tired. I am already fascinated by the city of Amsterdam with its efficient public transportation, paid public bathrooms and the sever lack of litter or dirt on the streets. Which all points towards their sustainability commitment as well as the culture of a regimented people. I’m excited for the days to come and can’t wait to explore this city further.