Today was a very museum-heavy day in Amsterdam and our final full day in this city.

We started off the day by visiting a catholic church located in the attic of three conjoined row homes, aptly named “Our Lord in the Attic.” This space existed as a running Catholic church during the Protestant Reformation at a time when Catholicism was not officially allowed to be practiced. A wealthy merchant who was socially ranked among nobility commissioned this church to be built so that Catholic citizens of Amsterdam would have a place to practice. The church then became one of the most prominent but secret safe havens for people who were not allowed to practice their religion out in the open. Currently, this house and its attic are a museum that tourists and locals can visit. Something that I learned while touring was that the church was not actually as big of a secret as I thought. In fact, many Protestants were aware of its existence, and a Protestant man even owned conjoined property. This is one of the many instances where I noticed that Amsterdam is generally so accepting and tolerant of different practices and identities, which is hard to come by in many other places.

Next, after a quick lunch break, we headed over to the Rijksmuseum, a famous art museum located near the heart of Amsterdam. The sheer amount of artwork here was overwhelming, but we easily spent several hours walking around and admiring the stunning historical pieces we saw. Some famous highlights include Vincent van Gogh’s self-portrait and the “Threatened Swan.” It was very interesting to finally see paintings that I have only ever seen in textbooks and images in real life. However, I enjoyed viewing pieces that I had never seen or heard of before just as much. The experience of visiting the museum was also fun in and of itself, as I got to witness people from all over the world admire the same pieces of art. It was a great reminder that art transcends all cultural and language barriers, and it has the power to unite all.

Finally, we visited the Anne Frank House as our last museum visit of the day. This museum contains the place where Anne Frank and her family hid during the Holocaust, and a guided audio tour helped contextualize what I was viewing with what she had written in her diary. This experience was somber and emotional, but also very informative. It reminded me that we oftentimes anesthetize ourselves from realizing the effects of such devastating historical events, dismissing them because they happened so long ago. Gaining insight into the lives of ordinary people who were victims of the Holocaust by visiting the Anne Frank House and reading her diary has the power to remind people that real individuals were deeply affected by this, and it was not as long ago as it seems.

I am extremely thankful for another great day of learning about Amsterdam’s culture. I am excited to see what Rotterdam has to offer!