Today, we went to the neighborhood of Zaans Schans to see the historic windmills. Walking into the town felt very magical- the combination of the beautiful buildings and vibrant greenery made it feel like something out of a fairytale. The town itself pays homage to traditional Dutch culture and history. This was evident but the traditional style businesses such as a cheese shop and a clog museum/shop. Here, they demonstrated how clogs are made- watching the process and machinery was really interesting.

The windmills themselves were very cool to see and also learn the history of. Due to the fact that nearly a third of the Netherlands is below sea level, it’s very important that they prevent flooding. Windmills played a crucial role in this by pumping water in order to drain land or provide water for livestock. As a result, cows are very easy to take care of, thus making cheese a prime product for the Netherlands. This led to the modern day windmill, which is used to generate electricity in a sustainable way that doesn’t produce emissions.

Afterwards, we had free time to shop and eat before heading towards the Anne Frank Museum. This was definitely the heaviest part of the trip so far. Being in a place where horrible atrocities occurred and where such an important person lived really put everything in perspective and made me reflect on lessons learned from the past. 

We finished the day with an alumni dinner, where we ate Dutch food with Pitt grads. It was very cool to hear about their experiences living and working abroad as well as gain new perspectives on engineering and other fields.