Day 3 in Amsterdam started off strong, with an early-morning site visit to the Royal FloraHolland company during which we had the amazing opportunity to tour an entire section of the company’s warehouse while witnessing some of their work in action. I had the most wonderful time walking along the 2km bridge and blatantly staring at each worker driving their little electric cart and performing their daily tasks; the purely “organized chaos” method of the majority of the section of the warehouse (only around 1/10 of the size of the entire warehouse) was mesmerizing to follow. When I reached the large mechanical monorail system that transports each larger cart of flowers across the skybridge that connects the two parts of the Royal FloraHolland building in order to load them into their respective trucks, my eyes were unblinkingly glued to its movements. This was absolutely the highlight of my day; the mechanical workings of the monorail were so interesting to follow and each different mechanism made me appreciate the beauty of advanced technology! I did wonder, though, how this very large, motorized technology helps positively impact the environment rather than use up more energy than is necessary; perhaps, since the company hires many workers who all drive electric carts and perform most other tasks manually, the energy consumption required to operate the monorail is not as significant when compared to what the consumption rate would be if every other process was also automated.
After our enlightening site visit, we rode in our private coach bus to a public creative space called NDSM. Previously a shipyard, NDSM has now become a collection of creative studios, workspaces, shops, displays, and restaurants for local artists to display and gain support for their work. We walked around the inside of the building to explore some local artwork and then proceeded to walk further down the block and closer to the water, where we sat and chilled for some time. We then went as a large group towards Schoonschip, which the only climate neutral neighbourhood of floating houses in the world. I was immediately impressed by the design of each house and the adaptability of each typical household facility to the surrounding water. Each community member contributes to the upcycling and sustainability of their neighbourhood by nurturing a shared garden and maintaining their shared jetties. The neighbourhood uses approximately 1/8 of the electricity used by the average community–an admirable goal for every other community to reach, as well! I was very impressed not only by the overall sustainability impacts of an effort so seemingly small-scale as Schoonschip but also by each individual community member’s dedication to the larger environmental cause. I would love to live in a neighbourhood like Schoonschip someday!
After visiting Schoonschip, we walked back to the NDSM block and had lunch at a restaurant called Pllek. I had a falafel salad, which took over 30 minutes to arrive but was very tasty. After lunch, we took the ferry to Centraal Station and took a tram towards the Rijksmuseum. I enjoyed walking around each floor of the museum and observing each selection of artifacts, artwork, musical instruments, sculptures, and even delftware. After spending a few hours in the museum (up until it closed!) we walked to the Vegan Temple Bar for dinner; my pasta was very fresh and tasty, and I also tried a vegan stroopwafel for the first time–I don’t believe that any other stroopwafel can beat the one that I had! I will be sure to have it again later this week!
Overall, today was very exciting and entertaining and probably my favorite day of the week’s itinerary so far! I cannot wait for what is to come tomorrow!
