And just like that, day 2 in the Netherlands is over. We started our morning off on the metro going to Central Station for a history of Amsterdam guided tour, followed by a chocolate tasting. It was very insightful. One of my favorite part of the Netherlands has been the readily available clean drinking water. Today, I learned from our amazing tour guide, Ian, that it was because the Netherlands uses a bio filter for clean water, which makes it clean and delicious to drink. Amsterdam bought out a clean water source that runs directly to the city, making water easy to access and delicious. Today, I was able to test out one of the public water filling stations, and it was so cool that water is out on the streets for people to drink.
We also learned from Ian that Amsterdam starting paying people for recycling their bottles, so people would rip open trashcans searching for plastic bottles that were previously thrown out, leaving trash on many streets. As a result, many cleaners come in and hydro-jet clean the streets, causing lots of trash to end up in the canals. The canals have been dirtier than ever, and our tour guide stated how disappointed it was to see. However, Ian also told us about the city’s plans of fixing this issue. There is a plan called “Plastic Whale,” where kids (or anybody) go into boats and scoop the trash out of the canals. I thought this would be very beneficial for the water and create a healthy environment, all while people are incentivized to participate.
A few hours later, though, I was at one of the local supermarkets called Jumbo, and I happened to see people returning their plastic bottles for money. This was an interesting way to see how sustainability works in the Netherlands, and it was cool to see it first-hand.
After the tour, we were able to do some delicious chocolate tastings! This chocolate tasting was very interesting as every aspect of creating the chocolate is sustainable and focuses on supporting cacao farms that pay their farmers a livable wage. It was from a business called Cacao and Spice, which is owned by our tour guide’s wife, Salomé. One of my favorite parts was trying two dark chocolates with the same percentage of cacao beans and sugar, yet both were from different parts of the world. The two tasted so different, and Salomé said it is because of the differing soils in the parts of the world. We also got to try cacao juice, which was oddly sweet and fruity. Selling cacao juice would raise wages for farmers and reduce food waste as the outside of the cacao bean, or mucilage, would be used for this delightful drink! Another aspect of lowering food waste that Cacao and Spice showed us was their floor. Their floor was made of the cacao pod, and you could see different dots within in the floor. Salomé and Ian’s presentation was amazing. It was very eye-opening on how simple daily delicacies can be very harmful for our environment.
After the chocolate tasting and city tour, we got lunch and awaited for our next journey to start: the canal cruise. The canal cruise was so beautiful, and it was very informative hearing about the different areas and neighborhoods of Amsterdam. After the tour, I sat by the water and took in the sites of the city, until I started to walk around to different areas. I saw the Anne Frank house (from the outside) and Westerkerk, which is a Protestant church in Amsterdam.
We got dinner at an Italian restaurant, and took the metro back. We explored around Jumbo for some deserts. We went back to the hotel and called it a night. I am very excited for what tomorrow has in store for us!