Today, we started off the day at the Amstelstation taking the metro to Centraal Station. From there we had about 15-minute walk to the Anne Frank house, where we would have a guided audio tour following us through the museum. The exhibits were stunning and even showcased her real journal in a glass case, where you could read her excerpts. The museum was gut wrenching, but definitely a necessary piece of history to describe how heartbreaking the reality of the Holocaust really was. The most striking part to me was seeing the marks where Otto Frank measured his daughters (Anna and Margot) heights over the years. During the time spent in hiding (about 2 years), Anna gre 13 cm while Margot grew 1 cm. The markings on the wall were a reminder that the Frank family, and especially Anna and Margot, lived long enough in hiding to display things like height changes. Another part that was important to me were the models of the house which were created by Otto Frank in 1961 to give visitors a real impression of what the interior looked like when they lived there. There were no pictures allowed inside the museum, but I included below a picture of the outside facade.
After that excursion, our group stopped at an Indonesian restaurant for some quick rice bowls. We then went to the amazing Van Gogh museum, where we saw paintings like The Bedroom, his famous self-portrait, Sunflowers, and so much more. The museum was enlightening, and so amazing to see so many famous works in person.
We then took a bus and a train to Pacifico, a restaurant in Haarlem where we would meet part of the Pitt alumni network for dinner and begin networking. Meeting with the alumni living in Amsterdam currently was amazing, and definitely offered some insight into what they think are the most lucrative new industries, work life in Amsterdam, and how to earn those first positions as a college undergraduate. They offered great advice and even better conversation, and the highlight of my night was talking to Christian about quantum computing (I just love the physics). I really hope to keep in connection with the alumni and even meet up for a drink in the future if I ever come back. Big thanks to our alumni for the opportunity.
Goedenavond!