Today was an amazing day. We started off by getting breakfast in the hotel at 8. I had a delicious ham and gouda sandwich with a banana and some other fruit, before taking the train to Central Station to get on a canal tour for 10.
The tour was absolutely amazing and took us all around the city. We got to learn about how houses are taxed on width, the price of houseboats and the reason for their use, and how the Dutch used to identify their addresses. Some of the houseboats are extremely expensive (over 1 million dollars) and have been used since the 1960’s when there was a housing crisis similar to current day. People only have to pay fees to dock the boat on the canal along with the price of the actual boat, making it a worthy investment long term. In identifying houses, the dutch used guilding stones placed on the front of the house. Napoleon changed the system to using numbers when he took over during the Napoleonic wars. We also learned about how many houses were built back in the 1600’s completely in wood. This led to many devastating fires that took out many houses. To prevent this, the dutch covered the wood structures with bricks so that fires would not spread as easily but they still can have fire problems to this day. Along with all the information we got from the tour, it also provided beautiful and scenic views of the canals and bridges. At 11 the tour was over.
After the canal tour we had about an hour and a half to get lunch and walk around. I went with a couple of guys to a cafe & bar and got apple pie. We then walked around near central station checking out souvenir shops seeing if we liked anything. I also went in the McDonalds to see if the serving sizes were different in Europe like Id heard. They weren’t, so the US can’t blame fast food on our obesity levels. We then met up with the rest of the group to go to Cacao & Spice. While the girls got to try the chocolate first, the guys went on a tour led by Ian. Ian was an unbelievably good tour guide with a vast knowledge of the city and the Red Light District. I was really appreciative of Ian’s down to earth and genuine perspective on the city. He humanized the prostitutes who I have only heard bad things about and really made me change the way I thought about them. He provided an in depth history about the beginning of the prostitution, the Jewish neighborhood and how it was affected by World War II, and sustainability initiatives that the local government started with his help. Ian has deep connections in the city dating back hundreds of years which meant he had much insider information that many others could not provide. For example, he told us about how the canal walls are collapsing and it has been kept on the down low because of how big the problem actually is and how it can negatively effect tourism in the area.
After the tour with Ian, he took us to him and his wife’s chocolate shop, Cacao & Spices. In the chocolate shop we learned about sustainability in the cacao industry and how there is much work to be done. The Wagenhuis’s have done much in the industry, including establishing connection with local Brazilian tribes to produce their cacao healthily. Their chocolate was absolutely delicious, and the way Solame spoke about it, made it seem like it was actually healthy for me. I bought a couple of bars to take home with me before we were let out for our free time.
The guys and I then shopped around the city before eating dinner at a pizza bar which was also very tasty. We got back to the hotel at around 7:45.