After 11 hours and 3887 miles of travel, we arrived smoothly at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport early this morning. Groggy and sore from hours of sitting and haphazard attempts at sleep we hit the ground running with a scavenger hunt around the city center. Starting at the Amsterdam Centraal Train Station, we made our way down busy streets, cobbled alleyways, and canal-crossings to both orient ourselves in the city and stave off the immense jet-lag that loomed over us. Splitting into groups, we noticed stark differences between the Netherlands and the U.S. right away. The observation that most piqued my interest was the way in which traffic in the Netherlands conducted itself.

First and foremost there were leagues less cars on the road than in the U.S., most likely due to Amsterdam (and the greater region’s) comprehensive network of rail, trams, ferries, and other modes of public transportation. When exiting from the front of Amsterdam Centraal it was amazing to see people using the street for foot traffic, only moving to accommodate the large yet predictable trams that made their way through the square. There was no sidewalk in this area as the road lay at the same plane as the pedestrian paths, bringing the trams psychologically into pedestrian territory and encouraging safer conduct among them. This same pattern extended down into Dam Square, the host of the Nationaal Monument and various performers and other oddities scattered across the public plaza.

We don’t have many counterparts to such places back in the U.S., or at the very least none as bustling as they appeared here in Amsterdam. Most of this foot traffic is due to Amsterdam being a very walkable city where you can get just about anywhere on your own two feet alone. Pittsburgh is walkable to some extent if you can stomach the hills and aren’t planning on exiting certain areas, but the proximity of different amenities such as restaurants, cultural sites, and more made Amsterdam especially accessible.

Back on the public transportation front, we were able to take all sorts of vehicles from passenger trains to the metro to make our way across longer inner-city distances. These connections eased travel time between our hotel and hotspots in the city, making Amsterdam even more accessible, even if you aren’t staying close to the action.

I’ve held a special appreciation for Dutch public transportation and civil infrastructure for quite a while now, and physically seeing and interacting with them as they come into play has been such a joy. I’m excited to get into more specific cultural and economic experiences as our trip continues, but with near 34 hours of consecutive consciousness behind me I’ll have to sign off for now with a well deserved goodnight Plus3!

– Duncan Dockstader