I would love to tell you where the day started off, but I am honestly not entirely sure. I will begin in Pittsburgh Airport at 8 AM US time on May 10th, where we waited for about five hours for our first flight to Boston, Massachusetts. The airplane was small and a little cramped, but somehow, I ended up being able to shut my eyes (not sleep) for about 30 minutes. There was a little turbulence, but blasting music in my headphones helped take the attention away from it. From there, we had to sprint to our second flight, as it was already boarding by the time we landed. The flight was very smooth sailing, but a few crying babies made it quite difficult to get any sleep on the way there like I had intended to. Nonetheless, 6 hours and 50 minutes later we had landed in Schiphol Airport, just in time to catch this beautiful sunrise at 5:50 AM local time.

From there, we entered customs and took the metro to our hotel room. We were not able to check in till 3 PM, so we had to make an outfit change for the day’s activities and leave our bags there. We then took part in Brian’s (our SAA guide) Fault in Our Stars Scavenger Hunt, which was really difficult but super nice to get to know our way around the city. After that, the group quickly grabbed a snack, and we headed back to Centraal Station to catch the metro to the Keukenhof busses. As soon as we arrived in Keukenhof, all of my drowsiness disappeared. The bright flowers were captivating, and the smell alone was enough to wake me right up. We walked the entirety of the park and stopped to take a picture with all 17 of us who went in front of the dead tulip fields (since we arrived at the end of the season).

After bussing back from Keukenhof, we all finally checked in to our rooms and prepared for dinner at Batavia 1920. We all took the metro to dinner and got to see the locals riding around on their bikes which was very nice. At dinner, we were served a traditional Dutch meal, which was absolutely delicious and a great way to kick off the food tour of Amsterdam.

In total, although this day didn’t involve any company visits or practical lessons, it was important for the overall trip. It was nice knowing that I wasn’t the only one who was extremely tired, and that we were all suffering from the jetlag, which helped me persevere through the day. It was also important that the trip did not exactly follow a strict plan, and we had to adapt throughout the day, especially with the extra planning involved with the Keukenhof trip. Going to Keukenhof without a mentor or guide was scary but ended up working in our favor and teaching us how to use the metro effectively. Overall, this day was important for the entirety of the trip, and I am excited to continue our journeys in Amsterdam.