Goedeavond! I had a very eventful second day in Amsterdam, starting off with a walking tour of the historical Warmoesstraat and the surrounding alleys with our guide Ian, who’s an Amsterdam native. As we wandered the streets, Ian detailed the local history and the changes that the area has undergone throughout the ages. He discussed the metamorphosis of the former red light district into an area filled with local women-owned businesses, the reduction of crime rates through increased restrictions on alcohol, and the minimalistic renovations of the facades of old buildings to preserve resources. 

I found the architecture of the stores and homes to be particularly interesting, especially when I learned that the forward leaning of the buildings is intentional. Many of the buildings have a wooden beam at the top of the roof with a hook on them, and I was surprised to learn that these hooks were used to hoist up furniture to the upper floors of the buildings, often because of how narrow the stairwells within the buildings are. Additionally, the forward tilt of the buildings allows for some more room within the buildings themselves, as well as preventing rain runoff from permeating exposed wooden beams on the facades of the buildings so that they wouldn’t rot. However, Ian was also quick to inform us that any sideways leaning of the building was unintentional, and is due to the structural failure of the building’s interior beams.

Afterwards, we ventured into Cacao & Spice, a small chocolate shop in Amsterdam’s old city center. There, we met the owner Salome, who educated us on current issues in sustainable cacao and chocolate production. I had never stopped to consider how inefficient chocolate production is until I learned that while 70% of cacao is produced in Africa, only about 1% of chocolate is produced there. Therefore, the chocolate industry produces a large amount of CO2 emissions from transportation alone. Salome also mentioned how much of the cacao fruit is wasted in chocolate production and introduced us to all of the creative ways in which the plant can be used, such as cacao husk tea, cacao juice made from the fermented beans, and even cacao flooring! 

Then, following a quick lunch, we hopped on a boat for our canal tour! As we cruised through Amsterdam, we saw a plethora of picturesque scenes along the famous Dutch waterways. Later, a small group of us made our way to the Magna Plaza mall and then we walked through the Jewish Cultural Quarters of Amsterdam before grabbing dinner and heading back to our hotel for the night.

Notes on Sustainability

Today’s walking tour gave me some much-needed insight into the trash scattered throughout the streets that I mentioned in yesterday’s post. Due to the Mayor instating a financial incentive for recycling bottles, many people who are struggling financially will rip through trash bags and scatter the garbage across the streets looking for any bottles to recycle. Then, the trash often ends up being blown into the canals, causing a huge amount of pollution. When we were talking to Ian, he mentioned an initiative called Plastic Whale which employs local kids to hop on a boat and collect plastic from the canals, which is then melted down and turned into more boats!

And now, all that’s left for me to do is get a good night’s rest in preparation for tomorrow’s early start. Welterusten!