Sadly, today was our final full day in the Netherlands, sadly meaning my amazing experience with this trip and trip group is coming to an end. Despite this, today was one of the most rewarding days regarding sustainability topics, with today’s visits to the floating farm and to RDM both producing a litany of interesting…

Today, we had two tours of Rotterdam, one focused on the sustainability efforts made in communities around the city and one led by our guide Brian focused on exploring some highlights of Rotterdam that might otherwise go unnoticed. As I have spent more time in the Netherlands, I have really cherished being able to uncover…

Today, we had the chance to explore the Neeltje Jans Delta Park, a sort of hybrid museum, aquarium, and delta works that highlights the importance of the construction of the Delta Works projects done in the Netherlands to protect against the flooding of the area due to high water levels. After a tour highlighting the…

Today I had the opportunity to explore the city of Delft, first at TU Delft, one of the world’s foremost engineering and architecture institutions. I really enjoyed the chance to get hands on with an institution (TU Delft) that has both deep expertise and investment in the topics associated with sustainability (illustrated by the green…

Today, we had a large portion of the morning free, giving me the chance to go for a walk with my friend Umur and explore what else Rotterdam has to offer. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to see parts of the city I usually wouldn’t explore and to find portions of the Rotterdam day…

For our first day staying in Rotterdam, we actually decided to spend the day in another nearby city, taking a quick train ride to the Hague. The city is the seat of government for the Dutch and is famous for hosting the International Court of Justice, but we learned the city had much more to…

Today was bittersweet, as we had to say goodbye to the wonderful city of Amsterdam while getting on the road towards Rotterdam. However, we had the chance to explore a company Nouryon that put a serious emphasis on sustainability and presented this well to us, helping to show how a major company places an emphasis…

Today gave me the opportunity to further investigate Dutch history and culture, experiencing one of the most powerful historical experiences I have had through the Anne Frank house and using my free time to explore Dutch art and food. I am beginning to feel immersed in the Dutch way of life, and it excites me…

Today, it initially seemed like we did not directly interact with a lot of sustainability-related visits, but there actually was some content relevant to the ideas we are investigating on this trip. Additionally, we further explored Dutch culture, and I enriched my understanding of how agriculture focused life in the Netherlands has both changed over…

Today in Amsterdam, I had the opportunity to better acclimate to the city I am going to spend the next week in and begin to understand what exactly the way Amsterdam operates and what educational value this offers. I am starting to see how integrated sustainability is into the way of life in Amsterdam while…

After a long first day of travel, flying from the Pittsburgh airport to Boston and (unsuccessfully) trying to sleep on the flight from Boston to Amsterdam, we arrived in Amsterdam this morning early at around 6 am. We met with Brian, the liaison for the trip in the city, and he got our trip underway,…