The morning of our fifth day in Amsterdam began with a trip to the Anne Frank House. I hadn’t read The Diary of Anne Frank before coming on this trip, so I didn’t know too much about her life. I knew the basic things, but nothing very specific. The museum was fascinating while also solemn and very sad. There was an audio tour we listened to as we walked through the house and connected exhibits. The first part of the museum that really stuck out to me was the height markings on the wall of the attic in which Anne Frank and her family hid. Seeing this was devastating. It showed how much Anne and all of the kids grew throughout their time there. It is such a human thing that it made me really realize that real people were up in this attic who all had their own lives that they were forced to live in fear. The other part of the museum that stuck out to me was hearing the stories of people who knew Anne Frank and lived to tell stories about her. These stories also made the whole thing more real. Visiting the Anne Frank house is definitely an experience I will never forget.
After the emotional visit to the Anne Frank house, I and some others went to the Van Gogh museum. This was nice after our emotional morning. I am not huge into art, but I have liked most every painting by Van Gogh I’ve seen, so I was excited to go to this museum. We walked through pretty much the whole thing, seeing paintings by artists that inspired Van Gogh, artists that were related to him in some way, and of course, many paintings by Van Gogh himself. One of my favorite paintings I saw there was Amandelbloesem (Almond Blossom) by Van Gogh. The colors used and the way the strokes of paint all come together to form something beautiful is incredible.
After the museum we went to a dinner with some Pitt alumni. It was so cool to see people that used to be in our position as college students at Pitt who are now successful and living in this great country. It was inspiring. I didn’t learn much about sustainability today, but I did learn about history and the culture of the Netherlands overall.