Today we arrived in the Netherlands (at 5:16 A.M)!! Immediately I was shocked by how walkable everything was. This was crazy to see especially because the U.S requires transportation vehicles. This ability to walk around allowed us to check out many different food places, museums, and shops in just an hour.

Later on in the day, we had a tour telling us Netherlands history and how it relates to today. During the tour, the guide told us about a brewery which uses rainwater to make their beer. I found this fun fact to be something I could write about because of its sustainability. Using the rainwater prevents water runoff and eventual flooding. It also requires less energy that is used for filtering and transporting water. Both of these factors cause less harm to the earth, while being innovative.

After this, we had chocolate tasting. I loved this part as of course the chocolate tasted amazing, but also I loved learning about growing cacao and the store itself. We learned that altering the environment around cacao trees changes the taste of the chocolate. This could done by creating a more biodiverse soil or planting fruits near the trees. This was so interesting to hear but it was even more fun to taste the difference!

Even though today was so tiring I had so much fun learning more about the Dutch culture and I can’t wait to spend two more weeks here!