Today was the Ascension, so a lot of the places in the Netherlands were closed. This meant that the visits that we did today had to be more cultural sites, though that doesn’t mean they weren’t interesting. We started by visiting Our Lord in the Attic, a house turned Catholic Church turned museum. After the Netherlands got its independence from Spain, it voted to ban the public practice of Catholicism out of spite. However, people were still allowed to practice their faith in churches that weren’t identifiable as churches from the outside, so many people converted private homes into churches so people could still practice their faith. Despite the smaller size, the church was still recognizable as a Catholic Church, which is impressive considering the limited size. Visiting this museum was rather interesting, as not only did I learn more about the Netherlands, but I learned a bit more about Catholicism as well. I found it interesting that even we they passed repressive laws, the Dutch still let people practice their faith. This didn’t only apply for Catholics, but other religions, such as Judaism as well. I think that this is due to the more multicultural nature of the Netherlands, as it’s harder to oppress people for their religion when so many people have different religions. This means that it would just be easier to simply not allow people to make it public, as while that may still be awful, it is much easier to enforce.

After the church we had some free time, so a lot of us visited the Rijks Museum, a huge Art and history museum in Amsterdam. This museum was beautiful, and we got to see a ton of Dutch paintings, some from artists like Rembrandt and Van Gogh. There was also a lot of information about various parts of Dutch history, like the early Dutch arms industry. Apparently Dutch weapons used to be highly sought after before other nations get theirs set up, which is something I wasn’t aware of. However, I also got to experience one of the lesser parts of Dutch culture: having to walk everywhere. While the robust public transport system helps reduce this issue, I’m still feeling the effects of having to walk this much over the last 5 days. I’m sure that this isn’t an issue for the people living here, as they are used to it and have bikes to get around, but it can still be a pain for tourists like myself.

Our last activity for today was visiting the Anne Frank House. Like I mentioned in a previous blog, I actually read Anne Frank’s diary in preparation for this visit, and I feel that it greatly improved its impact. Because I read it in advance, I was able to recognize several quotes that the museum used in presenting its information, which made me more able to digest and understand it. Anne’s story is already impactful for many, but reading her diary makes the reader feel more like they know both her and the others in the annex almost personally. Because of this, hearing about their brutal deaths becomes even more harsh and painful. However, I feel like hearing stories like her’s is important so that we learn how to prevent similar events from happening in the future. Millions of people like Anne died in the holocaust, so if we try to stop similar atrocities from happening again then even more millions could suffer a similar fate. Overall, today provided many opportunities to learn about Dutch history, good and bad, and I feel like I’m starting to understand this country’s culture even more. I hope I can expand further upon this knowledge on the rest of this trip.