Day two in Amsterdam has come to an end! We started at about 8:45 a.m. with a quick hotel breakfast. Then we hopped on the metro and headed downtown to do some chocolate tasting and a walking tour. We split into two groups, one starting with the tasting, the other with the tour.

My group began by heading to Cocoa & Spice, a chocolate shop near the old red light district. While trying different dark, milk, and white chocolates from Congo, Ghana, the Dominican Republic, and the Netherlands, Salome, the shop owner, enlightened us about looming issues with the chocolate industry and the history of Amsterdam as the largest cocoa port in the world. West Africa accounts for 70% of cocoa production, but rarely sees any large profit from it. That is why she works with companies that farm cocoa and produce chocolate directly where the cocoa is grown, like in Congo and Ghana. She also told us about the lacking standards of Fair Trade, and how Cocoa & Spice will buy chocolate from companies that pay workers four times the Fair Trade standards, as only then does their work provide them a livable wage. Besides the chocolate being ethical, it was also better than any other chocolate I have had before!

Next we took a walking tour with Salome’s husband, Ian. Ian gave us insight into Amsterdam history, some architecture facts, and some new political changes in the city. He explained how the red light district originated from the port city culture of Amsterdam as the prostitution was instated to profit off of sailors who were staying in the city between transports, as well as to save local women from harassment or assault by those same sailors. He then talked about how the block of the former red light district that Cocoa & Spice is on was shut down by the current mayor, with former brothel property sold to female business owners, like Salome. He also explained how Amsterdam property taxes are based on building width, which caused many buildings to be designed to lean out to earn a few extra inches of space. This lean also protects the lower portions of the buildings from getting wet when it rains, which protects wood from rotting and the build up of moisture that would cause food to mold. This design choice was incredibly interesting to me from an engineering perspective, and I wonder if it is implemented in other places that I did not notice.

After wrapping up the walking tour, I had time to grab lunch, and what better choice than apple pie from the top-rated spot in Amsterdam? After lunch, we finished our short day with an hour-long canal tour, which took us on a boat through many of the beautiful canals in the city and explained the different city districts. Tomorrow we have an early morning visit to Floraholland, so I plan to get some good rest tonight. See you bright and early tomorrow!